Shade joined the Tornado staff prior to the 2023-24 season.

Year-by-Year Coaching Records

ATHLETE HONORS

• 2 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships qualifiers
• 1 All-Conference Carolinas selection
• 8 Super Region II placers

King Highlights

• First career win came Nov. 8, 2023, a 23-22 win over #18 Belmont Abbey

Year-By-Year Season Recaps
2023-24: In his first season, Shade led the Tornado to a 9-7 overall record, and a fourth-place finish at the inaugural Conference Carolinas dual championships. After earning his first career win Nov. 8 in a dual against Belmont Abbey, the Tornado would drop just three conference matches. The Tornado had two NCAA Division II national qualifiers in Ethan Lopez and Franky Medina

Prior to King

Shade served as the head coach at Bluefield State University for three years prior to coming to Bristol. He was the first head coach in the history of the men’s wrestling program as the school launched the program in 2020, first competing in 2021-22.

Under Shade’s tutelage, the Big Blue had two Super Region III placers in just their second season. In the classroom, one individual earned National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Academic All-America honors last season. Along with starting the program at Bluefield State, Shade helped design a wrestling room and weight room for the student-athletes.

Prior to his time in Bluefield, Shade spent three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, UNC Pembroke. He helped guide the Braves to the 2020 Super Region II championship and two South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (SACC) titles. The Braves had six individuals garner All-America honors in that time along with 18 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships qualifiers. UNC Pembroke also had 21 NWCA Academic All-America honorees in those three years.

While serving as an assistant coach at UNC Pembroke, Shade also was the head coach for the North Carolina Pride Wrestling Club. He developed practice schedules and oversaw the development of wrestlers ages 4-18. The development came in the weight room, in conditioning and in nutrition.

Personal

Shade graduated from UNC Pembroke in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology while wrestling for the Braves. He was a four-time NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships qualifier and three time All-American. Shade was a national finalist in 2016 and 2017 and was selected Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Wrestler of the Year in 2016.