Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102140251
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
When Shull, a 152-pound junior, reached the championship last weekend, his opponent was familiar - Blacksburg's Zach Shifflett. Shull's challenge was to find a way to beat a fellow who had won four of the previous five bouts between them.
What to do? Enter big brother.
"He listened to what Scott had to tell him," said Buddy Shull, the Bobcats' coach and the father of the two young men. "Scott told him: `Listen, this is what you have to do. You have to make him wrestle. Shifflett is a real good counter-wrestler. This time . . . make him make the first move."
In other words, wrestle defensively, counseled Scott, who is out of high school now.
However, for Jess Shull and others, wrestling defensively is harder than it may sound. Defense is a strategy that goes against Jess' nature.
"They want to get out there and get after it," Buddy Shull said. "There's a fine line between being defensive and aggressive."
Most of the time, Jess was on the fire-breathing side of that line. That was clear from his fondness for big moves. Such tactics offer high rewards in points, but they also offer high risk.
This time, Shull was going to play it close to the singlet. The dividend rolled in. Shull scrapped his way to a 7-4 victory, handing Shifflett his first district loss of the year.
"All I wanted to do was score first and stay out of all his counter moves," Shull said.
Shull improved to 19-6 and will be the New River's No. 1 seed in the Group AA Region IV tournament Saturday in Marion. In small part, that helped make up for heartache from last year.
Wrestling at 145, Shull entered the tournament sick and was knocked off in the first round. It was easy to understand how that happened since he'd dropped down to 136 pounds.
"I felt real weak," he said. "All through the year, I felt like I could use my muscle when I needed it. When I got to the district, I felt like everybody was stronger than me."
He felt even worse when it was over. "I was very disappointed," he said. "At the very least, I wanted to qualify to wrestle in the region so I'd have that experience before my junior year."
Shull hadn't been on the varsity as a freshman. The lineup could not be cracked, with such people as two-time state champion Andrew Hall and Todd Huber, Scott Morgan, and Scott Shull settled at the weight classes Jess could have made.
He opted to try out at 130, but could never beat his incumbent brother.
Jess Shull started wrestling as a fifth-grader, taking on the smallest of the varsity wrestlers in addition to second-teamers at varsity practices. By sixth grade he was traveling with the eighth-grade team.
He missed his eighth-grade season because of a broken leg, an injury from horsing around and jumping down a flight of stairs.
Unsurprisingly, he's known as a free spirit. He and teammate Mike Goff visited the barber this season and emerged with modified mohawk 'dos. The haircut was not received with a great deal of enthusiasm in the Shull household.
Jess' mother, Cheryl Shull, "didn't talk to me for a while," he said.
Coach Dad took the cut more philosophically: "I told him it was his head and if he wanted to look ugly, he could look ugly."
Shull isn't apprehensive about the regional tournament despite his lack of experience. "I've been to regionals every year that Dad's been the coach," he said. "Plus, I know most of the wrestlers that I'll be facing there. I know what to expect."
by CNB