Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Tate Wallace has an career resume that rivals any other in the illustrious history of the Regina football program.

Wallace has the statistics, on both sides of the ball, to compare to the best Regals of all-time.

Better than 2,200 receiving yards and 42 career touchdowns.

Nearly 150 tackles, almost 50 behind the line of scrimmage, and 22.5 sacks.

The senior standout has the accolades too.

All-district and all-state selections are just the start.

Wallace was selected to play in the prestigious Navy All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas last January.

This month Wallace was named one of 15 finalists for the Butkus Award that honors the nation’s top high school linebacker.

A four-star recruit, Wallace collected dozens of collegiate offers before committing to Minnesota last May.

It all adds up to an incredible list of career achievements.

The only remaining missing piece to an otherwise unrivaled career is an elusive undefeated state title.

Wallace hopes that add that final piece later this month beginning on Friday when top-ranked Regina (11-0) faces fourth-ranked Treynor (10-1) in a Class 1A state semifinal at 10 a.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

“I’ve thought about (a state title) of course but I just want this group of guys to end the season on the right note,” Wallace said. “We’ve put in so much work since we were little, just as a group, so to end it off with the cherry on top would be a state championship but obviously we have to focus on Treynor and go one week at a time.”

Many of the storied individual careers for Regina players have included hoisting a championship trophy.

The Regals have won eight state title titles, seven coming after 2010.

Wallace and the Regals were close to a ninth crown last season, falling to West Lyon 34-27 in overtime in the 1A title game.

An opportunity to walk away from Regina with a win in a state title game is a dream scenario for one of the best to wear a Regina uniform.

“We are more than motivated and go to the Dome and play our best,” Wallace said. “We are excited for that opportunity, we are ready to go back there this year with a mindset of we don’t want to win just one game there. We want to win two.”

A rare four-year starter, Wallace has put together an incredible career.

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound two-way standout has been a force on both sides of the ball since stepping onto the field as a freshman.

Wallace has 157 career catches for 2,281 yards and 37 touchdowns as a tight end.

As a defensive end and linebacker Wallace has been perhaps even more dominant.

Of his 145.5 career tackles, 46.5 have gone for loss, including 22.5 sacks.

“He’s just super versatile,” Regina coach Dustin Elsbury said. “He’s got speed, he’s got great hands, he’s physical, he has the size you could literally put him everywhere and we have just about. When you have a guy like that it makes you look really good as a coach.”

Wallace has evolved and improved over the course of his exceptional career.

Wallace earned all-state honors last season when he caught 40 passes for 611 yards and 10 touchdowns to go with 49.5 tackles including 18 for loss and 8.5 sacks.

Even after that success, Elsbury says Wallace has taken everything surrounding the game to an entirely different level as a senior.

“He is super dialed in, just locked in with everything,” Elsbury said. “You can tell he truly wants to be great and he knows that he’s not as good as what he wants to be. He knows that he’s going on to play power four football, he knows it’s going to take another level. His nutrition, his sleep, his training, he never misses in the weight room, from his junior year to now he’s toned up and has worked on his explosives and his speed which has really shown on the field. He’s just a workhorse.”

Wallace has been at his best this season helping Regina to an unbeaten 11-0 start in which the Regals have won games by an average score of 46-8.

On offense Wallace has played as an attached tight end and blocked in the run game, split out wide as a matchup nightmare for defenders as a receiver and taken snaps at quarterback.

He has 31 receptions for 488 yards and six touchdowns and has rushed for four scores.

“He’s all about the team, he’s super unselfish,” Elsbury said. “He just says, ‘where ever you need to put me I’ll do it and I’ll give all out effort.

On defense Wallace has played linebacker, defensive end and even defensive tackle this season while racking up 46 tackles and career highs in both tackles for loss (23) and sacks (12).

“The team is the most important part of the process and coach (Ed) Hinkel and Dan Davis have put me in great positions to have success and I have to give those guys all the credit,” Wallace said. “They’ve made me the person I am today, they’ve put me in the right positions to go make plays so it was really up to them, wherever they move me to on the field I trust them fully on what they want me to do.”
Wallace will try to add two more wins and a state title to his football career totals over the next two weeks.

According to Elsbury it’s everything else Wallace has done away from the football field that makes him one of the best.

“He represents Regina, not only football, but the Regina community so well in so many ways” Elsbury said. “He’s a great student, he’s a great role model for our elementary kids, he’s personable, he does service stuff in the community, he’s one of our Fellowship of Christian Athlete leaders, he’s our captain in the weight room, he’s just a phenomenal leader all the way around. When your best football players are also that type of people that’s when you have really great teams.”

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