Dion Johnson competed in wrestling at Mardela High School and just kept getting better. As a senior, he had a 16-0 regular season record was 23-4 overall record and placed fourth at the Maryland State Wrestling Tournament. He also competed at Delaware State University in a tough Division One College Program. Dion returned to Mardela as a Business Education Teacher and used all his lifelong skills and mat experience to build a wrestling program. His former assistant, Bill Duck, was once a longtime opposing coach at Wicomico High School and said, “We always had some epic battles, but Mardela always came out on top despite my school having three times the enrollment as his”. With such a small school, less than 350 students eligible for high school sports, just fielding a team is an amazing accomplishment.

Dion has shown that his coaching style is capable of constantly raising the quality of his wrestlers from beginners to champions. He has had fifteen state place-winners and six state finalists. Justin Bradley was a 2003 state champion and Lester Andrews placed four times in the state tournament winning it twice. Dion won the “Centurion Award” in 2012 for 100 wins and the “Titan Award” in 2015 for 150 wins. But more than his ability to field competitive teams and coaching state champions, Coach Johnson has established a legacy of honesty and sportsmanship unparalleled in the Bayside Conference. He never deviates from expectations he sets for his teams, even at the cost of a victory. Dion, who has won the conference Sportsmanship Award six times first in 2003 and recently in 2018, says that he models his coaching style after National Wrestling Hall of Fame Coach Dan Zottarelli. Dion hosted and directed the MSWA Novice Tournament from 2006 to 2018 and has been the East Region Dual Meet Director since 2017. He was also named the Conference Coach of the Year in 2005.

Moreover, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Maryland Chapter Coach, Alphonso Henry says, “Coach Johnson is a strong role model for kids and he has been a father figure to many”. Dion is constantly checking on kids to make sure that their grades are up to a respectable academic level, not just barely passing. He prepares students for life and tries to instill self control and nurture self esteem, skills he learned from his lifelong mentor Mr. Ira Smith. Dion’s patience, wrestling knowledge and work ethic have been crucial in his building a successful program at Mardela. Dion lives in Salisbury, Maryland with his wife Lorraine and two children, Kai and Bria