GREELEY — The moment Dale Shull steps on a wrestling mat, the outside world becomes a thing of the past.
He’s all business.
The three-time state champion from Fort Lupton stepped on the prep mat one more time at the 53rd annual All-State Games at UNC’s Campus Rec Center and once again showed his worth, disposing of Chaparral’s Caleb McDowell (a Class 5A runner-up at 130 pounds) 14-3.
“I knew I could win, it was just a matter of how long I could go for,” said Shull, who will wrestle next season at North Carolina State. “A lot of short bursts was the way to go, rather than two huge ones, where you end up killing yourself.”
Shull’s victory help propel the Blue team, coached by Green Mountain’s Sung Baek and Fort Lupton’s Tom Galicia, to a 23-18 victory over the Red team.
Shull understands his legacy in the Colorado grappling scene, but Division I wrestling is a whole different challenge — one he’s ready to tackle head on.
“It’s a whole new school, a whole new state and just a whole new level of wrestling,” said Shull, whose lone loss at the state tournament came in the championship match of his sophomore season, a 12-10 overtime defeat to Pueblo West’s Victor Sanchez.
“It’s cool to think on my way there about the high school championships and national championships, but once I’m there I’m not anybody and I have to prove myself again.
“I’m just a name and a weight.”
The team race came down to the last match between Heritage heavyweight Al Erle, who had already wrestled and lost his first match via pin to Rifle’s Tad Davis, and Chaparral’s Andrew Diehl.
With a lot of guys getting tired quickly — and not in the greatest wrestling shape — Erle stepped on the mat a second time and helped his team to victory with a 5-1 decision.
“My forearms are on fire right now,” Erle said. “I’m pretty sore. Those guys weigh a lot.”
The match of the day went the way of Chaparral’s Tyler Stenger, who scored a late takedown against Green Mountain’s Mikie Burgess to win 8-6.
“There was no way I could end my high school season with a loss,” said Stenger, who missed the state tournament this season due to injury, but had victories over four of the top five guys in his 145-pound weight class. “This is a little bit of sweet redemption.”
Another exciting match saw Yuma’s Zach Diaz erase a 13-6 third-period deficit at 160 pounds against Chaparral’s Bryce Thurston to win 14-13 with three late near-fall points.
BLUE 23, RED 18
112 — Anthony Guillen (Grand Junction), B, major dec. Phillip Nguyen (Aurora Central), 16-3.
119 — Jeff Ibañez (Aurora Central), R, dec. Alex Quiñonez (Hotchkiss), 4-3.
125 — Cort Siegele (Green Mountain), B, dec. Trevor Huntsman (Bayfield), 5-3.
130 — Dale Shull (Fort Lupton), B, major dec. Caleb McDowell (Chaparral), 14-3.
140 — Cole Kembel (Brush), B, dec. Jace Casey (Grand Junction), 2-0.
145 — Tyler Stenger (Chaparral), R, dec. Mikie Burgess (Green Mountain), 8-6.
152 — Scott Lohndorf (Fairview), B, dec. Kenny Stancil (Chaparral), 3-1.
160 — Zach Diaz (Yuma), B, dec. Bryce Thurston (Chaparral), 14-13.
189 — Markus Eckstein (Bayfield), R, dec. Cesar Trejo (Yuma), 6-3.
215 — Brian Key (Rifle), R, dec. Fabian Guerrero (Fort Lupton), 5-3.
Hwt. — Tad Davis (Rifle), R, pinned Al Erle (Heritage), 3:20.
Hwt. — Al Erle (Heritage), B, dec. Andrew Diehl (Chaparral), 5-1.
