Avery Sullivan ready to bear down at TMU
One of the lasting images of the 2020-2021 high school wrestling season was a photo — captured by Keith Deal — of Lafayette senior Avery Sullivan leaping in the arms of Coach Jason Johns moments after Sullivan’s 132-pound Class 3A state semifinal win in Macon.
Sullivan and Johns were together again for some more memorable photos last week, this time to commemorate Sullivan signing papers to continue his wrestling career with the Bears of Truett-mcConnell University in Cleveland, Ga.
“It’s going to be different, but I think it’s exciting to take that next step for wrestling,” Sullivan explained. “I can definitely say I worked hard enough for it.”
Johns said Sullivan is a wrestler that, above anything else, simply loves the sport.
“Avery’s one of those guys that has been dedicated to the sport, no matter what,” Johns began. “He works on his own, outside of the wrestling room, and he doesn’t just do what we do here. He goes out and seeks more. The improvement that he’s made the past three years that I’ve been here with him has just been tremendous.
“He was really tough on the mat for everybody this year. He pretty much tore through a lot of people and didn’t leave much of a doubt that he was the better wrestler.”
Sullivan amassed a 24-3 record as a senior with all three losses coming against state champions. He finished with a career record of 13939 with the Ramblers with 20 of those losses coming as a freshman.
“He led this team by example this (past) year in the way that he wrestled and in the way that he busted his tail in practice,” Johns continued. “He was always there, whether it was a holiday practice or just anytime the room was open.”
Sullivan said TMU just felt like the right fit for him.
“On the college visit, I felt like I connected with everybody on the campus and then the team brought me in as a family member when I met them,” he said. “Hopefully I can give them a starter at 133 pounds that’s solid. Their coach said they’re looking for one.”
Johns explained that he bought multiple copies of the paper with the state tournament photo in it and even had the picture blown up as
a reminder of that day and what it
represented for both he and Sullivan.
“I was just really happy to see him reach that goal that he was shooting for, making it to the state finals,” he added. “You can tell by that picture, we both had tears in our eyes right
then. It was a beautiful moment and one I’ll never forget. I’m really proud of this kid.”
Sullivan said he plans to study exercise science with plans to one day become a physical trainer.