North Carolina State University Athletics
Wrestling Signs High School National Champion Dale Shull
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. You can never have too many national champions, or so says NC State wrestling coach Carter Jordan. With NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell already on the roster, this week Jordan signed high school national champion Dale Shull of Fort Lupton High School in Greely, Col.
“Dale Shull is a tremendous young wrestling prospect who should be able to step right in and help our program as a freshman next year,” Jordan said. “He’s a high-quality kid with exceptional wrestling skills. People don’t understand how difficult it is to win a high school national championship, and he did it in what may have been the toughest weight class in the entire tournament.”
Jordan said Shull will wrestle for the Wolfpack next season at 133 pounds, although ultimately he possibly could wind up moving up to 141 before his career is through.
“It feels like I just got a bunch of weight taken off my back,” Shull said of his decision to sign with NC State. “They have a good program, and I got along with everybody there and I got along with the coach. NC State was the only one that just kept keeping in touch.”
A three-time Colorado 4A state champion, Shull defeated Jeremy Goree of Oklahoma 9-5 in the finals at the Senior National High School Wrestling Championships this past Sunday at Virginia Beach, Va., to claim the national championship at 130 pounds.
“I don’t know to explain it,” Shull said of winning the national championship. “I literally was pinching myself a few times because it’s one of those things where you thought about it a lot, but it’s amazing when it happens. I didn’t expect it to happen. My goal was to be an All-American (a top 8 finish) and win more matches than I lost.”
Shull, who finished his senior season at Fort Lupton with a 41-3 record following a 6-5 decision over highly regarded Dan Frank in the Colorado 4A state finals. Shull and Frank both were two-time state champions, making their showdown the most anticipated bout of the Colorado state tournament.
Bothered by an ankle injury most of the season, Shull spent much of the championship bout in pain after Frank accidentally fell on Shull’s ankle late in the second period. Shull led 3-0 at the time, but had to take an injury timeout before continuing.
“It’s cool now, but I know in a few days I’m going to be thinking I should have been a four-time (champion),” Shull said. “I knew I couldn’t hold on. I knew if I took the smallest break, he would have capitalized on it. If he were to see that I was broke, it would have been over.
“I didn’t want to show the ankle was bothering me. I got up like it was no big deal. I didn’t want to show him I was tired, but it came out a little bit. On a one-to-10, I’d say (the pain) was an eight when I fell. But as I was lying down, I remembered where I was and I remembered what I needed to do, and it went down to a two or one.”
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