'M' graduate coaches Illini over Wolverines By Dan Williams Daily Sports Writer FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The ineptitude of the Illinois wrestling program in the 1970's led Mark Johnson, a native son, to attend Michigan in 1974. The former Wolverine finished second twice in the NCAA wrestling championships, in 1976 and 1977. But when he became a coach, Johnson hoped to eventually returning home to resurrect the Illinois program. "I always wanted the Illinois job," Johnson said. "For years and years it was a very poor program. I always wanted to turn it around." When the opportunity arose in 1992, Johnson left his head coaching job at Oregon State to coach the Fighting Illini. Illinois athletic director Ryan Gunther promised Johnson the university would allocate more resources to wrestling. "They gave me a commitment," Johnson said. "They doubled the budget, gave me a full staff and upgraded the facilities." Johnson admits that during his college days, he fell in love in with Michigan's sports teams and the town of Ann Arbor. But Johnson cast those feelings aside when he agreed to turn the Illinois program around, something he's done successfully. In 1998 Johnson led his squad to a seventh-place finish nationally - the best showing in more than 40 years. The win over Michigan on Friday upped Johnson's record against his alma mater to 5-4. Of those five wins against the Wolverines, the latest one may be the best illustrator of Johnson's success in resurrecting Illinois' program. In the 26-9 triumph in Champaign, the Illini grapplers handled one of college wrestling's traditional powers with relative ease. This win may legitimize Illinois as a national title contender. "Their program is in good shape," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "Mark's done a great job with this team over the years, no question about it." Michigan can probably look forward to numerous hard-fought matches with Illinois in the future as long as Johnson is the Illini coach. And Johnson can look back on his college days in Ann Arbor fondly, as long as he remembers that his chief allegiance now is to Champagne. "I still pay a little more attention to Michigan," Johnson said. "But as good as Illinois treats me, I want to see them win over Michigan every time. I know where the paychecks come from." Originally on page 3B in the 1-31-2000 issue of the Daily.