Blue White Illustrated

Lions receive commitment from nation's No. 2 recruit | W R E S T L I N G T he NCAA may have extended its mandatory dead period for recruiting until January, but the ability of Cael Sanderson to attract top-level wrestlers to Happy Valley remains alive and well. The Penn State coach's latest find is the nation's top-ranked 138-pound scholas- tic wrestler, senior Shayne Van Ness from Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J. He's also the No. 2 wrestler in the country, ac- cording to FloWrestling's pound-for- pound rankings. Van Ness, a 2020 National Prep cham- pion, joins Alex Facundo, a three-time state champion from Davison, Mich., in Sanderson's still small but talented 2021 recruiting class. Two other college wrestling websites have ranked Van Ness as the nation's top recruit, and Sanderson has fared well in the past with attracting overall No. 1s, such as David Taylor (2009), Morgan McIntosh (2011) and Mark Hall (2016). Van Ness was scheduled to compete in FloWrestling's Who's #1 event in October but withdrew because of a broken leg that reportedly will require surgery. Depend- ing on redshirting decisions by the Penn State coaching staff, he is projected to compete at 141 or 149. Two-time All- American Nick Lee will enter his senior season at 141 this year. Van Ness, like many of today's athletes, committed to the Nittany Lions on Twit- ter. "Thank you to all of those who have supported me throughout my life. I would not be who and where I am today without everything that you all have done for me. I'm extremely proud to announce my commitment and I'm looking forward to the years ahead," he said. His actual com- mitment came within a YouTube video linked on Twitter. Van Ness's father, Rodney, was a stand- out wrestler at Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights were on Van Ness's final list of college choices along with Cornell and Ohio State. Facundo is ranked No. 1 at 170 pounds and is Flo's No. 4-ranked wrestler over- all in 2021. He will enter his senior sea- son with a 98-3 career record, if there is a season, of course, because of COVID- 19. Facundo also committed on Twitter, doing so in February before the pandemic began to upend daily life. "It's been a long journey ever since I was a little kid. All the hard work, sacrifices, pain, blood, sweat and tears were meant to happen for a rea- son. I am blessed to announce that I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at Penn State University! It's an honor to be a part of something as special as Penn State's legacy and wish to carry on this legacy," he said. Facundo projects at 165 or 174 and would compete with Joe Lee, Mason Manville and Carter Starocci, among others, for one of those spots. Facundo has won a Cadet national freestyle cham- pionship and twice placed third in Cadet World competitions in 2018 and '19. At Penn State, the two high school stars will join a Class of 2020 cast of recruiting talent, including Beau Bartlett (141/149) of Wyoming Seminary in Wilkes-Barre, Robbie Howard (133/141) of New Jersey, Austin Boone (149) of Michigan and Imran Heard (141/149), a transfer from Lock Haven University who is from Pitts- burgh but wrestled scholastically at St. Paul's School in Maryland. ■ Seven wrestlers with Penn State ties combined to go 5-2 at a freestyle event Sept. 19 hosted by the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. The event, which was not open to fans but was streamed live on- line, featured 13 freestyle bouts and some of Penn State's recent greats. Six of the Penn State-affiliated wrestlers competed for the NLWC. Also represented at the event were the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center, the New York Ath- letic Club and Wolfpack Regional Training Center. Nick Nevills took on Jordan Wood (LVWC) at 125 kg, with Wood posting a come-from-behind 6-4 victory. At 71 kg, former Nittany Lion na- tional champion Zain Retherford bumped up a weight and took on Alec Pantaleo (CKWC). Retherford notched a late takedown to post a 3-2 win. Jason Nolf, another former three- time champion for Penn State, rolled to a strong 5-2 win over David McFad- den (PRTC) at 79 kg. Two former Nittany Lions met at 77 kg, with two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph posting a 5-0 victory over Dan Vallimont, who was affili- ated with the PRTC. In another 125 kg matchup, current Lion freshman Greg Kerkvliet posted a 10-0 technical su- periority win over Youssif Hemida (CKWC). In the event's final bout, former Lion three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal took on former Oklahoma State champion Alex Dieringer (CKWC) at 86 kg. Nickal scored last in a 1-1 deadlock to post the 1-1 (crit.) victory. ■ NICKAL Wrestlers compete in NLWC freestyle event

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