Penn State Wrestling Head Coach Cael Sanderson (Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)
Penn State Wrestling standout Shayne Van Ness has appeared to start this season right where he left off from last year.
The third place finisher in the 2023 NCAA Championships proved exactly why he’s going to be a force to reckon with at 149 pounds this year.
In the Nittany Lions‘ first action of the 2023-2024 season, they participated in the 2023 Journeymen Collegiate Classic where 20 Penn State grapplers hit the mat. But none were more impressive than Shayne Van Ness.
Van Ness completely blitzed through the 149A group by racking up three falls in three matches and taking the crown for the top pool at 149 pounds.
Shayne turned Army’s Eddie Hummel to the mat at the 2:06 mark, then pinned Bloomsburg’s Cade Balestrini right before the first period ended (2:58), and capped off the tournament by forcing Kelvin Griffin’s (Lehigh) back to the mat on one minute and 30 seconds into the first period.
🔥B1G WOW!
🦁Shayne Van Ness is the B1G Wrestler of the Week!
🤝Shares this week's honor with Wisconsin's Dean Hamiti…
💻Read it at GoPSUsports!#PSUwr https://t.co/Y2KUn3Ovvg pic.twitter.com/73pWNhegVz— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) November 14, 2023
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Based on Shayne Van Ness’ performance, it was a no brainer for him to be named B1G Wrestler of the Week along with Wisconsin’s Dean Hamiti.
Van Ness’ start to the 2023-2024 is starting to make my bold prediction about him look even better. But, then again it’s still early and there is plenty of wrestling still to come.
Which means this award is sure to go out to many more Nittany Lions down the road.
And that’s a prediction I’m very confident about!
MORE: Meet the 2023 Nittany Lion Wrestling Roster
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
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