Evan Johnson’s career-threatening injury suffered in high school brought him closer to his younger brother, Kory.

Four years later, he’s happy to finally return the favor.

The elder Johnson broke his ankle in the first round of the state tournament as a senior at Punahou. He was bedridden for nearly a month and confined to a wheelchair for an additional eight weeks.

Without the ability to walk, or even use crutches, Evan was left to rely on Kory, who was a sophomore, to help him get through the end of his senior year.

Now a senior on the Johns Hopkins University wrestling team, Evan is teammates with Kory, who decided to follow his brother to JHU.

Evan paved the way in college for his brother and has helped him get adjusted to a new way of life nearly 5,000 miles from home.

"(Kory) is definitely his own person. He’s very independent and has (experienced college) different than I did," Evan said. "But I’ve been able to help out a lot and make it easier on him to understand the choices he makes and all of the opportunities school provides us, so it’s been great to be able to help him out and return the favor for my ankle."

Evan’s ankle was completely shattered in a freak accident at the Blaisdell Arena on the first day of his final high school wrestling meet.

It happened during his first match and he spent the night in the hospital wondering if he’d ever be able to compete again.

"Worst-case scenario was that I might have trouble walking again," Evan recalled. "I had just been recruited (at Johns Hopkins) for wrestling and knew I had a team that was expecting me to be prepared when I got there and I didn’t know what was going to happen."

Evan had surgery a week later after the swelling went down and had to miss about a month of school as he laid bedridden, not allowed to put any pressure on his ankle.

He finally was able to return to the Punahou campus using a wheelchair, as it was still two months before he was allowed to use crutches.

During that time, a lot was put on Kory to help his older brother get around and get all of his classes taken care of in order to graduate.

"He basically had to take care of me," Evan said. "Now we’re living together."

Kory Johnson was more into football than Evan and was looking at small schools on the West Coast during his junior year.

He finished fourth in states that season as a wrestler and decided wrestling might provide a better opportunity for college.

He had visited his older brother multiple times at Johns Hopkins University, and as soon as he realized he might wrestle instead of play football, the opportunity to join his brother in college came about.

"I think when he realized he might want to come here and wrestle, he came up and met the team and decided this was it," Evan said.

The Johnson brothers are both 6 feet 1 and have wrestled at 197 pounds, which Kory has exclusively competed at this season while Evan has made the cut to 184 pounds.

Because they are so close in stature, they always find themselves going up against each other in practice. As close as the two have grown in the past few years, it’s still incredibly competitive when they go at it on the mat.

"Sometimes we have to be split up," Evan said. "After practice we can walk away and be cool with each other, but it can get pretty heated. There’s just something about losing to your brother that doesn’t feel right."

The two have combined for 13 wins this season, with Evan Johnson posting a 9-11 record so far.

After just missing out on nationals a season ago, Evan is focused on finishing in the top three at 184 in the Northeastern region in order to qualify.

"I have my best record so far, so it’s been a good year," Evan said. "I’m looking to becoming an academic All-American and I think I could make it to nationals this year after getting so close."

Evan and Kory’s parents will be in the stands this weekend when Evan competes in his final home meet on Saturday against Washington & Lee and Merchant Marine.

"One month from now, wrestling will be over and that will be it for me," Evan said. "I think I’d be a different wrestler now if it wasn’t for my ankle, but to be able to make it back and make the starting lineup as a freshman after not being in control of being able to walk has been huge for me."

UCLA’s Dydasco drafted in soccer

Kamehameha School alumna Caprice Dydasco was chosen with the 19th overall pick in the third round by the Washington (D.C.) Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League Draft last Friday.

The UCLA senior was part of the most successful class in program history, finishing with a 77-6-11 record and one national title.

Dydasco led a defense that tied a school record with 19 shutouts and six goals allowed in 2014.

Over her four-year career, the 5-foot-3 Dydasco started 89 of the 94 games she played in and scored five goals with 23 assists.

AROUND THE NATION

MEN’S BASKETBALL

» Nick Demusis, Mililani ’09: The 6-foot-4 Whittier (Calif.) guard had a double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals in a 67-47 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday. Demusis leads the team averaging 15.9 points per game this season.

» Brandon Bautista, Kohala ’10: The Oregon Tech senior had 15 points, seven assists, two steals and a rebound in an 84-80 loss to Southern Oregon on Saturday.

» Ikaika Phillip, ‘Iolani ’14: The Grinnell (Iowa) College freshman had seven points, three rebounds and an assist in a 139-131 loss to Carroll University on Saturday.

» Shane Jacob, Seabury Hall ’12: The Pacific Lutheran guard had six points and a rebound in a 62-55 win over Willamette (Ore.) on Saturday.

» Dylan King, Seabury Hall ’11: The Regis (Colo.) guard had eight points, two assists, a steal and a block in a 78-70 loss to Fort Lewis on Friday.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

» Lia Galdeira, Konawaena ’12: The Washington State guard notched 22 points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist in a 79-76 win over Oregon on Sunday.

» Dawnyelle Awa, Konawaena ’12: The WSU point guard made all three field goals she attempted and totaled six points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal against the Ducks.

» Kylie Maeda, ‘Iolani ’12: The Brigham Young guard had six points, nine assists and a steal in an 89-72 win over Pacific (Calif.) on Thursday.

» Alohi Robins-Hardy, Kamehameha ’14: The BYU forward had four points, five rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal off the bench in a 61-51 loss to Saint Mary’s (Calif.) on Saturday.

» Hailey Ann Maeda, Punahou ’11: The Whitman (Wash.) junior shot 7-for-11 from the field and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a 67-64 win over Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday.

» Casey Poe, Kamehameha-Hawaii ’14: The Whitman freshman guard had five points, two assists, two steals and a block against the Boxers.

» Ashley Agcaoili, Maryknoll ’11: The Puget Sound senior guard finished with 13 points and three rebounds in an 88-55 win over Linfield (Ore.) on Saturday.

» Julia Brand, Punahou ’11: The Willamette (Ore.) forward had five points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal in a 67-63 loss to Pacific Lutheran in overtime on Saturday.

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

» Josh Yee, Thompson Academy ’12: The Oklahoma junior scored a 14.10 on the pommel, a 14.650 on the vault and a 13.40 on the high bar to help the Sooners finish in first place at the Rocky Mountain Open on Saturday.

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

» Tracie Villanueva, Moanalua ’13: The Seattle Pacific sophomore finished third on the uneven bars with a 9.825 and scored a 9.70 on the beam to help SPU finish third in a tri-meet at Central Michigan on Friday.

» Tiana Montell, St. Joseph’s ’11: The UC Davis senior finished seventh in the all-around with a score of 38.475 as the Aggies finished fourth in a quad meet on Friday. Montell scored a 9.750 on vault, a 9.550 on bars, a 9.475 on the beam and a 9.70 on the floor exercise.

» Jenna Frowein, Punahou ’12: The Stanford junior finished fourth on the floor exercise with a 9.775 in a win over Pennsylvania on Sunday.

MEN’S SWIMMING

» Ryan Brem, Baldwin ’11: The Cal Lutheran senior broke his own 1-meter diving record with a mark of 274.75 in a 3-1 win over Redlands on Saturday.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

» Krislyn Cha, Mililani ’13: The La Verne sophomore took first in the women’s 500 freestyle with a time of 5:36.58 in a non-conference win against Mills on Sunday.

» Rachel Miyoga, Aiea ’14: The La Verne freshman clinched first in the women’s 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:17.49. She was also part of the first-place women’s 200 freestyle relay team.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

» Sophie Curatilo, Moanalua ’11: The Seattle University senior finished 13th in the 3,000-meter race with a school-record time of 9 minutes, 51.28 seconds at the University of Washington Indoor Preview on Saturday.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

» Michael Fisher, Hawaii Baptist ’13: The UCLA outside hitter led the Bruins with 12 kills in a four-set loss to BYU on Saturday.

» Jaylen Reyes, Kamehameha ’10: The BYU libero picked up seven digs in Saturday’s win. He also recorded five digs in a three-set sweep of UCLA on Friday.

» Larry Tuileta, Punahou ’14: The USC freshman put down nine kills in a three-set rout of Stanford on Monday.

» Micah Christenson, Kamehameha ’11: The USC senior setter dished out 40 assists in the sweep over Stanford.

» Gabriel Vega, ‘Iolani ’12: The Stanford outside hitter finished with four kills in Monday’s loss to the Trojans.

» Evan Enriques, Kamehameha-Hawaii ’14: The Stanford freshman picked up a team-high eight digs in the loss.

» Josh Taylor, Punahou ’11: The Pepperdine outside hitter recorded 13 kills and eight digs in a four-set loss to USC on Friday.

» Rocky DeLyon, Seabury Hall ’12: The Cal Baptist outside hitter hammered 10 kills in a five-set loss to Stanford on Friday.

» Puna Kaniho, Kamehameha ’13: The Grand Canyon setter posted 32 assists in a three-set win over Coker on Friday.

» Chayse Nobriga-Antonio, Waipahu ’13: The Holy Names sophomore picked up 17 assists in a three-set loss to UC Santa Cruz on Friday.

MEN’S WRESTLING

» Zack Hernandez, Punahou ’12: The Columbia (N.Y.) University junior earned a 6-2 decision win at 184 pounds in a 27-9 win over Buffalo on Friday.

» David Terao, Mid-Pacific ’11: The American University senior won a 2-0 decision at 125 pounds in a 26-15 loss to Old Dominion on Sunday.

» Josh Terao, Mid-Pacific ’14: The American University freshman won by pin less than two minutes into his match at 133 pounds against ODU.

Compiled by the Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com.