BEATRICE, Neb. - Few sports have more family ties than wrestling. An example of that, is the Beatrice Orangemen and Lady Orange… Led by their father and head coach Jordan Johnson, siblings Merrick and Aubrey Johnson found their way to the podium at this years state wrestling tournament.

Coach Johnson says the bond of the sport tying their family together, goes back to his roots.

“I started around third grade and I’ve always been around the sport, so my kids have always kind of had no choice, but to be around it,” Head Coach Jordan Johnson said. “It’s just something we do every week and for eight months out of the year. Some days you enjoy it, some days it’s a grind.”

To say the Johnson’s bond of wrestling was on display in Omaha, would be an understatement. Especially for junior Merrick, who took home the state title in the Class B 175 pound division, persevering through a grueling overtime battle.

“It meant a lot, starting really young, I worked for awhile and worked on a lot of different things in the offseason, during the season,” Merrick said. “It takes a lot so when you get to that moment, and feel all that hard work paying off, it felt really good.”

And as Merrick celebrated with dad afterwards, during was stressful for Coach Johnson, as both coach and father.

“It wasn’t exciting match, they were going back and forth, and I kind of knew what the match as going to be,” Coach Johnson said. “It was exciting, it was fun, it was a sigh of relief to see all his hard work come to fruition.”

Meanwhile, in her first state tournament appearance, Aubrey took home a medal as well, taking third place in the Class A 105 division. For Aubrey the goal was clear, and for Coach Johnson, the most impressive element was her ability to regroup after a close loss in the semifinals.

“I just wanted to pin her,” Aubrey said.

“That semifinal match was a match we really didn’t think was going to be that close, Coach Johnson said. “For her to come that close and fall short, it was a really quick turn around to get her mind right.”

A coach/dad balance can be difficult, but when it comes to wrestling, Coach Johnson says they make it work by balancing a strive for improvement with enjoying the sport.

“It’s been special, you try to shut it off sometimes when you get home, but even my youngest son wrestles around at home… It’s just such a big part of our life,” Johnson said. “Shutting it off and trying to enjoy it sometimes hard because you’re always thinking ‘How can we fix this, how can we fix that’' but we make it work.”