Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ing already ascended to a No. 2 national ranking. Although the competition level wasn't high for Van Ness at the team's opening event, the Journeymen Col- legiate Classic in Bethlehem, Pa., he pinned his three foes in the first period in an aggregate 6:34. He followed that with a stellar per- formance in the Nov. 21 NWCA All-Star Classic at Rec Hall, defeating third- ranked Arizona State All-American Kyle Parco, 5-1. Van Ness had defeated Parco 7-2 in his NCAA bronze medal match last March. He credited chain wrestling, or stringing multiple moves together, as the key to his performance. "Every time, it's the same for me — I like to keep it consistent," Van Ness said. "And the focus is just me getting better and wrestling to the best of my ability." Van Ness jumped out to a 9-0 start last season, topping four top-25 foes along the way, before losing 3-2 to No. 5 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State and 6-2 to No. 2 Austin Gomez of Wisconsin. He also lost to No. 7 Max Murin of Iowa, 4-1, and 6-3 to No. 3 Sammy Sasso of Ohio State. The stakes kept getting higher as the season pro- gressed, and so d i d Va n N e s s ' level of wrestling. H e t h e n c l a i m e d f ive c o n s e c u t i v e b o n u s - p o i n t victories head- i n g i n t o t h e postseason, but after that came some close wins and s o m e a g o n i z i n g l y close losses. That in- cluded an 8-3 defeat to eventual four-time champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell in the NCAA semifinals after leading 3-2 midway through the third period. "I'm going to try to stay away from those [close matches]," Van Ness said. "'Shayne Van Ness Stomps' is the title I'm looking for every match. I want to be the dominant wres- tler, the outstanding wrestler. If you have a close match where you go down, you're not the most dominant, and that's what I want to be." Van Ness noted that he's encountered deficits and close matches throughout his career. "It's a habit of mine, where I go down by a bunch of points and have to come back. So, I always try to wrestle the same no matter what the score is," he said. "Whether I'm up by 10 or down by 10, the next point is all that matters." Penn State coach Cael Sanderson be- lieves he'll see a lot of points and a lot of good wrestling from Van Ness this season. "Shane is definitely unique," Sand- erson said. "He can put points up, and fast, and he doesn't really tire; he just kind of gets going. I think when he starts, when he gets rolling, he scores quickly, he puts a lot of pressure on people. "He just needed experience and some time, but he's really good. Every match he wrestled, he was getting better, and he was closing the gap on guys, and then he just really wrestled fantastic at the na- t i o n a l to u r n a m e n t . And it's not even about the winning part. It's just that he competes hard, he applies pres- sure the whole match, and he has that feel that you can't teach. He just gets it." A psychology ma- jor, Van Ness also is an avid rock climber, which improves his g r i p s t re n g t h a n d s h o u l d e r s t re n g t h . He'll need it against a challenging schedule, with bouts against five top-15 wrestlers, includ- ing No. 1 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska at Rec Hall on Feb. 18. The postseason will provide even more challenges. Sanderson knows Van Ness will be ready. "He's freaky good, and his feel is very unique," Sanderson said. "And then you add his athleticism and his gas tank to that, and you've got a guy where there's not really a limit there." Van Ness' performance against Ari- zona State's Parco in the all-star match impressed super senior teammate Aaron Brooks, and the three-time NCAA champion let Van Ness know immedi- ately afterward. "When he came off the mat, I was saying, 'There weren't two seconds where your hands weren't on his head,'" Brooks explained. "That's only the be- ginning for him. I've got to tell you, he's going to be really good." ■ Coming off a redshirt freshman season in which he went 24-7, Van Ness has been steadily improving and is ranked second nationally at 149 pounds. He will face current No. 1 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska at Rec Hall on Feb. 18. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE "'Shayne Van Ness Stomps' is the title I'm looking for every match. I want to be the dominant wrestler, the outstanding wrestler. If you have a close match where you go down, you're not the most dominant, and that's what I want to be." V A N N E S S