Penn State wrestler Shakur Rasheed feeds off crowd in return to Rec Hall

After a nearly two-year wait, Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed was back on the mat at Rec Hall — and the crowd welcomed him back with open arms.

When he walked onto the mat, numerous fans rose to their feet while cheering and clapping. Rasheed, who said he usually tries to tune out the crowd, couldn’t help but notice the decibel change.

“I try not to let it get to me or get too excited, but that was pretty cool,” he said, following his fall and his team’s 43-6 victory.

The last time Rasheed wrestled a dual meet in Rec Hall was on Jan. 31, 2016, when he eked out a 6-5 win over Michigan’s Garrett Sutton. Rasheed spent most of the last two seasons battling for a starting role with Geno Morelli — until he was bumped to 197 pounds. Two years ago, the then-freshman took the match into the final seconds, winning on riding time.

This time, the match was much shorter. Rasheed came out swinging against Purdue’s Kobe Woods, throwing cradles from every position. He tallied two takedowns and a couple of near-fall points before pinning the Boilermaker in 1:42.

“It was a lot of fun,” Rasheed said about his return to Rec Hall. “Wrestling’s a fun sport.”

Rasheed was recognized for his performance, which earned him his 10th pin of the season, with the Ridge Riley Award for the dual’s standout wrestler.

After moving up to 197 pounds, Rasheed said he’s felt much more comfortable — and that’s shown. He spent the first part of this season amassing a 12-2 record in open tournaments. His impressive run at the Southern Scuffle — pinning three ranked wrestlers in less than a minute each en route to the title — put him again in the mix for the starting spot with teammate Anthony Cassar.

It’s easy to see the improvement in the junior — especially with his trademark cross-face cradle — and it’s not surprising with coach Cael Sanderson as his training partner. And to hear Rasheed tell it, he’s been beating up on the NCAA’s most successful wrestler of all time.

“He’s pretty strong so I know if I can hit it (the cross-face) on him, I can hit it on anybody,” Rasheed added.

The two traded playful banter back and forth after the match, with Rasheed chiding his coach for “keeping his head down” too much, allowing him to catch him in his cross-face cradle.

“I’ll let Shak have that ... today,” Sanderson said.

“He’s got a pretty darnn good cradle, as you can tell,” Sanderson continued. “But I think why it works is because he has a lot of other opportunities to turn as well. He’s really strong with tilts and is really good at scrambling, so he just comes at a lot of different angles.”

Even with Rasheed’s performance Friday, it’s unknown if he will remain the Nittany Lions’ starter for the remainder of the season.

Rasheed and Cassar split time last weekend in duals versus Michigan and Michigan State, and both were introduced and listed as possibilities — along with senior Matt McCutcheon — Friday night.

But, for at least one night, Rasheed felt right at home — and that’s exactly how the crowd treated him.

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 11:49 PM with the headline "Penn State wrestler Shakur Rasheed feeds off crowd in return to Rec Hall."