It’s a school, athletic program, team, Coach and region where dreams are being realized and the future is bright deep in West by God Virginia.
In research for this columns previous edition an exciting bit of expansion news came to light with 3 schools set to join Conference Carolinas next wrestling season. Bluefield State is one of them. 2nd year Coach Blaze Shade has helped set in motion a strengthening addition to the powerful DII conference. A New Jersey high school All State performer and one of three talented wrestling brothers Coach Shade stepped to and straight through the “next level” while starring as a 3X All American and 2X National finalist for the UNC-Pembroke Braves. He then produced a highly successful Assistant Coaching career for long-time Braves mentor Othello “OT” Johnson. In 2022, Coach Shade became part of a group of successful coaches entering top positions for several Bluefield State programs. Here he speaks eloquently and passionately on the growth and direction of his Big Blues squad.
You came in as one of a number of high-profile new head coaching hires at Bluefield State in the same year. Is there a collective feeling amongst you to help set a new standard for Big Blues athletics?
Coach Shade: “Yes, I would definitely say all the coaches that came here with me have a vision for creating a new standard at Bluefield State. The school is a diamond when it comes to location, community, and the majors offered here for student-athletes. The collaboration amongst all the coaches is definitely our greatest trait as a staff as we are all former assistant coaches that came from established and successful programs. Being able to pick one another’s brains has been vital in building our programs as a lot of our sports teams were built from the ground up.”
What will that mean specifically for wrestling?
“…Creating a positive culture for our program, community and the sport of wrestling overall. In just a few years we have been able to establish a lot of enthusiasm in our area of the state with what we’ve brought here and how we are trying to build wrestling. We put an exciting product out there in our matches as none of our wrestlers have the same style, so audiences get to see points fly! We have a positive impact on our campus and community too. The majority of my team is in a Club or committee outside of our sport, and all those groups outreach to the town or county. For example, we had guys a part of our Student Government, the Robotics Club, Student Ambassadors, [other] student activities, you name it. I always tell my guys my first goal is to build their character as men before anything. If we can do that, building them into the wrestler they aspire to be will come easy.”
As an athlete you grew up in tough soil. All State performer in New Jersey along with two brothers. You had amazing success at UNC-Pembroke. How have those experiences shaped you?
“I would say that something that benefited me as a student-athlete was definitely my environment. I have always been very fortunate to compete for successful teams throughout my athletic career. In my own household and until my last two years of college I was never the best wrestler on any of my teams! Looking back, I feel this was a blessing because I never had to deal with the pressure of having to be the winner every time, the responsibility of being “the guy,” or the feeling that my overall results made the impression of my teams performance. I was able to keep my head down and work on being the type of wrestler I wanted to be and aspiring to the goals I truly wanted out of the sport.”
The Big Blues(1) made a big move last year into University status and this coming season Bluefield State debuts as a wrestling member of Conference Carolinas. Was this part of the process that brought you to the school?
“For sure. When I was hired, our administration and I had a plan for the trajectory of the program to go along with the Universities direction. I would say the establishment of our standalone facility, the start of our Mens and Womens(2) programs, and finding Conference Carolinas was just the result of great collaboration, foresight and letting the right people know what Bluefield State was getting done as a University and [in their] Athletics Department.”
Bluefield State has a published graduation rate of 30%. How will you leverage your own impressive academic/athletic success story into a model for current and future Bluefield State student-athletes?
“The biggest thing I tell my wrestlers and use to get them to graduation is communication. I communicate with my guys constantly about academic plans and progress. My wrestlers are required to meet with me at least once a week for academic checks and consultation. Another thing I do that sounds crazy to some is I do not allow my wrestlers to compete or train unless they are at a certain academic standard. I can’t assure them a National title, but we can assure them a college degree if they give me four to five years as their Coach.”
What’s made you happiest so far as a Head Coach? What’s kept you up at night?
“What has made me the happiest so far is that we had our first Graduate from our program this Spring. I think that for any college coach, graduation season should be the best season of all. It’s the one championship that every student-athlete can win. The one thing that keeps me up at night is probably the same thing as any other Coach; what can I do to keep making this program bigger and better? As a newer program and a HBCU, I am constantly trying to find ways to promote the program to National recognition and have people see we are building this program the right way.”
When you want visitors to have a good meal in Bluefield or nearby what places would you send them to?
“We have some great local options in town for people to enjoy. If you want a great local breakfast/brunch spot, the Blue Spoon Cafe is the place to go! If you are looking for lunch and dinner, I would go to the Railyard!”
Last words, your words, Coach. Why come to Bluefield State?
“Wrestlers should come to Bluefield State if they want to be embraced by a University and program that wants to build them academically, athletically and socially. With everything we offer from those three standpoints, we make sure that our student-athletes aren’t just ready for competition and class but for the World. We accomplished a lot of firsts this past season but we are looking to get even more done in year three. As a newer program, wrestlers have the opportunity to be the standard and set the standard for years to come.”
THANK YOU, Coach Shade, and continued success. Extremely obvious editorial observation: There are good things coming to Bluefield wrestling, folks. Keep your eyes on them.
QUICK HITS-
The World Team Trials for Mens and Womens Freestyle and Mens Greco-Roman will be contested this weekend. All winners will advance to the last step in determining Team USA 2023, the Final X competition. That’s a best two out of three series of matches across the different weight classes involving all three teams. The 30 winners will look to continue Team USAs heady run of international success this year at their respective World Championships. The FloWrestling multi-media site will broadcast most if not all the matches. Sidenote: column fav Nahshon Garrett, repping the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, will aim to earn the Mens 61kg WTT title. That would place him in Final X vs current USA top 61kg pit bull Vito Arujau. Both men won 133lb NCAA titles for Cornell and Arujau can return next season for the Big Red though an Olympic redshirt year looms as a distinct possibility.
Among a VAST number of coaching changes of late special notice should be given to a column favorite, NDSU, and their promoting Obe Blanc to the top spot following Roger Kishs departure to take the Oklahoma job. There’s always a lot of Dakotas love in this column. Why? Don’t take this column or Teddy Roosevelt’s words for it, go see for yourself.
LOTS of ugly noise coming from our friends in India with accusations of serious and possibly evil actions within the sub-continents wrestling program. QUICK solve: since it’s an international team, drop the issue on the desk on Indias Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Problem(s) identified and rectified within a week. PROMISE. Wish he worked for OUR Government.
See you sometime soon!
Ted Carreras
(1) Bluefield States mascot is an enormous Great Dane with a decidedly different appearance, facial expression and attitude than your run of the mill gentle giant Scooby-Doo types. Think Columbia University and their “Manticore-disguised-as-a-Lion” look. Same coloration with equally poor post-encounter results.
(2) The Salisbury Posts Dave Shaws excellent article on Bluefield States Womens program and their recruiting success can be found in the May 16th Mat Talk Online Newsletter.
Hand Raised 