On a Pack wrestling team consisting of mostly underclassmen, freshman Dale Shull, who hails from Fort Lupton, Col., found a way to quickly turn heads.

Shull, who was unsure if he would even wrestle much at the beginning of this year, gained the starting position at the 141 weight class early in the season.

According to coach Carter Jordan, Shull has come a long way already this season.

“He is a true freshman wrestling,” Jordan said. “It’s going to have its ups and downs. He works so hard and has such a great attitude and he wants to be good. That’s all you really need to be successful.”

Shull is 11-8 on the season, with three falls, and has won both of his ACC matches. Over break, Shull suffered to find a groove, losing three matches in a row before winning the final three.

“I did good in the beginning of the year, earning a starting spot,” Shull said. “I’ve taken some bumps and I’m now learning from them.”

Shull has learned numerous techniques from winning matches, and according to Shull, that’s when things start to click.

“It’s when I lose that my body shuts down, really every match I win I walk off knowing what I did right, when I lose it’s the opposite,” Shull said. “There really are only two matches this year that I’ve lost that I really was out-skilled; the others I shut down mentally.”

During the Duke dual on Jan 9, Shull’s metal game was right on target and he delivered a standout performance, according to Jordan. Mike Bell from Duke took a dominating 8-3 lead early in the second period. Shull managed to dig deep and come back to win 13-11, securing the victory for the Pack.

“To come back like that — there’s not a lot of freshman that can do that,” Jordan said.

“He really needed that win. Dale was going through a tough spot there, and that typically happens as a freshman and he just pushed through it.”

Shull’s motivated work ethic and raw talent are gifts Jordan said are way beyond his years. They are traits Jordan saw in 2009 national champion Darrion Caldwell, as well as Shull’s teammate, freshman Eloheim Palma.

“He’s one of the few wrestlers that will sit there and continue to work on a technique no matter how many times he fails at it,” Jordan said. “I count on him in line up — there’s no question.”

Shull has accepted his role as a standout on the team, and said he wants to keep improving.

“I want to end the season on a positive note and keep learning and keep growing,” Shull said. “Really this is a big learning experience, I want to come back next year 10 times better than when I came in this year.”

Practice partner Mike Moreno has also seen this improvement in Shull’s performance and said he greatly respects him.

“Dale’s a good guy. He’s done what he’s suppose to do,” Moreno, a redshirt sophomore at 125, said. “His motivation is up there — he doesn’t like to lose, and he’s learned a lot so far. Dale’s going to have a good future here.”

With lots of ACC duals ahead, this is only the beginning for Shull, according to Jordan.

“He’s made a choice, he wants to compete at this level,” Jordan said. “I expect him to compete for the conference championship by the end of the year and go out to the national tournament and win matches — he’s that talented.”