Tight bond, work ethic guide Stallions' Shulaw brothers to top of wrestling mountain
Thursday, January 11, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
DeSales senior Max Shulaw (left) and junior Lincon Shulaw pause following their opening victories in the Mark Zimmer Memorial Classic Jan. 6 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
It’s been like “copy and paste.”
That’s how DeSales senior Max Shulaw describes the parallels surrounding his athletic career and that of his junior brother, Lincoln Shulaw, which started before both were old enough to attend kindergarten and have continued for more than a decade.
That has included everything from experiencing major highs and teachable moments in wrestling, to finding success in football, to even setting themselves up to stay on a similar path collegiately.
This winter, the Shulaw brothers again are starring in wrestling for a Stallions’ team that appears to be central Ohio’s best in Division II for the third consecutive season.
“We pretty much do everything together,” Max said. “I started wrestling at 4, he started wrestling at 3 and we’ve been rolling together ever since.”
The latter part of that description couldn’t be more appropriate considering the triumphs both have experienced on the mats.
As they prepare for the Licking Heights Invitational on Jan. 13, Max has gone 18-1 this season and is 159-10 for his career while Lincoln is 27-3 this winter and 107-21 over his three prep seasons.
On Jan. 6 in the nine-team Mark Zimmer Memorial at DeSales, Max captured the title at 215 and Lincoln was first at 190 as the Stallions placed runner-up (246) behind Cincinnati LaSalle (337).
Senior Aidan Rush, who was fifth at state last winter at 144, and freshman Joel Welch (157) also won titles at the Zimmer Memorial.
“The kids we have right now are a great group of kids, and not only are they doing it on the mat, but we’re also academic all-Ohio as a team,” coach Collin Palmer said. “(The Shulaws) have been competing for a really long time. They’ve got a great family with great kids, very coachable kids, and a work ethic that’s just incredible. They were definitely a great family to build around.”
Program lynchpins
In January of 2019, Palmer took over as the Stallions’ coach on an interim basis.
DeSales had just six postseason entrants that winter but has grown significantly since that time – to the point that it has six returning state qualifiers on this year’s roster.
The Stallions’ program began to take off when Max Shulaw joined it for the 2020-21 season.
Palmer was a four-time state champion for Lakewood St. Edward and started the CP Wrestling Academy in 2012.
DeSales’ Lincon Shulaw prepares for his match with James Rogers of Hamilton Township at 190 pounds in the Mark Zimmer Memorial Classic Jan. 6 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
The Shulaws had been competing for the CP Wrestling Academy for five years while living in Lima before they got to high school.
Max and Lincoln’s grandmother, Virginia Suttner-Rice, was part of DeSales’ inaugural graduating class in 1964.
“For five years, four days a week, they were going to (school in Lima), and then we’d drive to Columbus, Monday through Thursday and would do club, shower, eat and do it the next day,” said Steve Shulaw, who is the father of Max and Lincoln and also serves as DeSales’ strength and recovery coach. “I was a martial artist and didn’t do a ton of wrestling, but I’ve never seen a kid who hates to lose as much (as Max does). When Collin became the coach, we were actually going to stay (in Lima), but I believed Max is special and had the ability to be something great. Lincoln has followed suit, so we decided to come to Columbus.”
In 2020, the Shulaws still were living in Lima but Max began attending DeSales and helped the Stallions reach the Division III state championship game in football, where they lost 31-28 in two overtimes.
Max led DeSales with 12.5 tackles in the state final while starting at linebacker despite being a freshman.
The family moved to Columbus in November of 2020 and Shulaw starred on the wrestling team that winter, going 27-4 and finishing fourth at 195 pounds at the state tournament at Marengo Highland.
“When Max was 5 years old, he actually was going sledding and he broke his femur in the tree,” Steve Shulaw said. “He broke his femur and they had to do emergency surgery. They told him the next day to walk around and he started doing that, but then we found out he had a broken tibia. That’s when we kind of knew he was just different. He couldn’t be stopped.”
Max continued to star for the football team the last three seasons, including earning first-team all-state honors in Division II this fall and totaling 102 tackles as the Stallions went 5-6. He unofficially finished second in program history with 349 career tackles.
And for much of his prep career, Max believed his future would likely be in football.
“After that freshman season, not only did I get the opportunity to play in the state championship game, but that atmosphere really drew me in and I wanted to play football all out,” Max said. “I was really set on playing football until I took my first wrestling visit and then my mind opened up to the idea.”
“As close as it gets”
Max’s wrestling career continued to progress after his freshman season.
In the state tournament’s return to Ohio State in 2022, he finished 49-6 and earned a runner-up finish at 215.
He followed by winning the state championship and going 51-0 at the same weight at state a season ago.
DeSales’ Max Shulaw (top) has control of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Josiah Neumeyer at 215 pounds during the Mark Zimmer Memorial Classic on Jan. 6 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Then about a month after the 2023 state tournament concluded, Max announced he had verbally committed to Virginia.
“I had a bit of a slump my sophomore year when I peaked early in the season and had a hard time rebounding after Ironman,” Max said. “It was tough training every day and not seeing the results and to have my season end with a runner-up in the state finals was kind of heart-breaking, but it also lit a fire and I ended up with a 51-0 season my junior season. I believe everything happens for a reason.”
Max says that he and Lincoln are “as close as it gets and do everything together.”
Lincoln Shulaw went 42-11 as a freshman, including finishing seventh at state at 165.
He followed by going 38-7 at 175 as a sophomore, when he, like Max, settled for a state runner-up finish.
“I definitely was angry because I really wanted that state title and it showed that I put a lot of work in, but I needed to do more,” Lincoln said. “When I’m in (wrestling) room, I try to push myself as hard as I can, try to get some extra practice in, do more cardio, more lifting and trying to eat better.”
Lincoln started this past fall at inside linebacker alongside his brother.
Similarly to Max, Lincoln at one point expected his college future to center around football before deciding to focus on a wrestling path going forward.
One grade behind Max but nearly 20 months younger, Lincoln also recently committed to wrestle for Virginia.
Last winter, Lincoln lost 6-3 in the state final to Hartley graduate Dylan Newsome, who is a freshman for the Cavaliers and is someone Max considers a close friend.
“There’s a lot of people watching (at the state tournament) and you want them to keep their composure, not act out and figure it out later,” Palmer said. “(Max) definitely came into his junior season with a chip on his shoulder and a lot of proving to do. With Lincoln having that experience from (last season), he should be able to get the job done.”
The Stallions have a little more than a month of competition remaining before the postseason begins Feb. 24 at the sectional level.
The Shulaw brothers’ time as teammates on the Stallions may be winding down, but they both are expected to compete at junior nationals next summer before becoming teammates again collegiately.
“What they have is something special, and that’s why it was a fit for both of them at Virginia,” Steve Shulaw said. “Max committed there, and Lincoln was right on board. Virginia is going to be a top-five team over the next few years.
“It’s like they share one brain. It’s going to be really interesting when Max goes off to college and Lincoln is still here. Lincoln is going to have an opportunity to expand and grow, and they’re right where they both should be.”
DeSales’ Lincon Shulaw (top) has control of James Rogers of Hamilton Township at 190 pounds in the Mark Zimmer Memorial Classic Jan. 6 at DeSales. Photo: John Hulkenberg