Burrell Following His Dream at UVA

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Whenever the football coaches at New Rochelle High School would see Steven Burrell Jr., they would invariably raise the same question: Why not come out for the team?

“They were asking me every single year,” Burrell recalled with a smile. “Every time they saw me, they asked me to play, and I just kept saying no.”

Born and raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., about 10 miles northeast of the Bronx, Burrell played football for a couple of years in middle school and then joined his high school’s junior-varsity team as a 10^th-grader. A big, strong, explosive athlete, he showed an aptitude for the sport, but Burrell found himself at a crossroads.

“I was like, ‘All right, I’m either gonna get really good at wrestling or really good at football,’ ” Burrell said. “I knew that trying to get good at football would take away from my wrestling, and I knew after my sophomore year I wanted to wrestle in college.”

And so he gave up football to concentrate on wrestling, which remains his sport of choice. Burrell is in his second year at the University of Virginia, where he’s competing with freshman Max Shulaw for the starting spot at 197 pounds.

UVA opens the season Friday at 4 p.m. with a dual meet against North Dakota State at the Aquatic & Fitness Center on Grounds. Cavalier wrestlers also will compete Saturday at the Southeast Open in Roanoke.

“I just really enjoy the grit of wrestling,” said Burrell, who lives with teammates Michael Murphy, Luke Roberts, and Dylan Newsome. “I enjoy the kinds of people it produces. I just really love wrestling. I feel like it’s so much harder [than other sports].

“Honestly, that’s one of the biggest things. Whenever people ask me, ‘Is wrestling fun?’ I’m like, ‘It’s not fun, but I enjoy it.’ That’s the best way I can put it. I just enjoy how hard it is and the mental toughness aspect of it.”

Unlike many of his UVA teammates, Burrell didn’t have a celebrated high school career. Even so, Virginia head coach Steve Garland, “you could see the talent was there and his desire was there.”

Burrell’s performance at national tournaments piqued the interest of the Cavaliers, who began recruiting him. “I started getting connected with him,” Garland said, “and I was like, ‘Hey, I think a [postgraduate] year is probably best for your development.’ ”

And so, after graduating from New Rochelle High in 2022, Burrell enrolled at Greens Farms Academy in Connecticut. He flourished there under the tutelage of Jack Conroy, whom Garland calls “a phenomenal developmental coach.”

In February 2023, Burrell won the 215-pound title at the 87th annual Prep School national championships in Upper Marlboro, Md.

“I was probably one of the only guys who was really talking to Steven early on, because I was a New Yorker [too],” Garland said. “And I knew about him in high school because I’d been up to that state tournament and just stayed on him, stayed on him, stayed on him. And then, thankfully, by the time he started really blowing up and beating everybody, we were already pretty deep in the relationship.”

Burrell, whose father attended Bethel High School in Hampton, said he ultimately committed to UVA “over other schools because, No. 1, they recruited me heavy, early. I felt like [the coaches] really cared about me and they were invested in my success. I ended up having a really good season that prep school year, but I didn’t even think about turning my head to any other [college], because UVA was there since before I considered myself good. I didn’t think I was good and then I got good, but UVA stuck me with the whole time and felt very loyal and really invested, and I really just trusted the program.”

His postgraduate year at Greens Farms Academy helped Burrell on and off the mat. “The transition here, school-wise, was definitely a lot easier, because the classes there were very similar to what it’s like in college,” he said. “And with wrestling, the transition was so much better too. It felt like we trained like a D-1 program.”

As a UVA freshman in 2023-24, Burrell wrestled unattached at 197 pounds, which means he still has four seasons of eligibility. He posted a 6-4 record while facing intense competition during practices. That can be a jarring experience for freshmen, Garland said, and it’s reminiscent of what he learned early in his coaching career.

“People told me when I was a young head coach, ‘Oh, man, you don’t have any idea what you’re walking into. The first year as the head coach is tough,’ and you’re like, ‘Yeah, OK, whatever,’ ” Garland said, laughing. “And sure enough, it’s tougher than you ever thought it was gonna be, and then you’re humbled.”

Burrell went through a similar process, Garland said. “I think he got humbled at first, and then he started building back up building back up, and I have seen a huge growth in him just in the last three months even. I think he was one of the most impressive guys for me to watch this entire preseason.”

In April, Burrell placed third in the 97-kilogram (214 pounds) weight class at the U-20 US Open. As a Cavalier, he’s carrying less weight that he did as a 215-pounder for New Rochelle High senior and for Greens Farms Academy.

“It’s definitely an adjustment, but I feel I enjoy cutting weight,” Burrell said, “just because No. 1, I feel like 197 fits my style better, and also I just enjoy being lean and athletic.”

The Wahoos held their preseason wrestle-offs last Friday at Memorial Gymnasium, and Shulaw edged Burrell by a single point at 197 pounds.

“It was a really good match between two really good guys,” Garland said. “I’m really proud of them both. They hugged afterwards. Wrestle-offs are so awkward in a lot of ways. But I hugged them both up, loved them both up after the match, and talked to them about both their pros and cons, and they were great with each other. I was very impressed with both of them, the way they handled it.”

Burrell and Shulaw, who’s from Columbus, Ohio, are weightlifting partners who, along with heavyweight Ryan Catka, “by far put up the most weight on the team,” Garland said. “They’re just pushing each other, cheering each other on.”

Injuries ravaged the Hoos in 2023-24, underscoring the importance of depth in a college program. “If last year taught us anything,” Garland said, “it’s that you better have two studs at every weight.”

Burrell chose the University for more than its wrestling program. His uncle Reginald Fullwood, who played football at the U.S. Military Academy, earned his MBA at the Darden School of Business, and Burrell is applying to UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce.

“He’s a phenomenal student,” Garland said. “He’s been crushing it in school since he’s been here.”

Burrell’s soft-spoken demeanor can be deceiving, Garland said. “Just because he’s quiet doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He really cares. When he loses, he’s the first one to ask, ‘What can I do better?’ And he’s hard on himself in a good way. He wants to be great. That’s what I see.

“I think I misinterpreted at times last year that he was almost too lackadaisical. It’s not lackadaisical, he’s just a different person than me, and he’s quiet. I’m extroverted; he’s introverted. He doesn’t say much; you can’t get me to shut up. But just because he doesn’t have the same personality doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the same passion and the same fire and the same drive. And it was great to see throughout the course of working with him the last year and a half, he does want to be great. That’s all you can ask for.”

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