Shakur Rasheed gets the final dual start for Penn State. Does that mean the decision is made at 197?

Penn State might finally have its guy at 197 pounds.

After about two months of going back and forth between junior Shakur Rasheed and sophomore Anthony Cassar, it was Rasheed who ran onto the mat Sunday at Rec Hall for Penn State’s final dual meet of the season, against Buffalo.

After hinting earlier in the week that the wrestler who got the start Sunday would be the one to represent the Nittany Lions in March, coach Cael Sanderson confirmed after Penn State’s 55-0 shutout that was still the plan.

“Obviously we’re very comfortable with and believe in both of them, like I’ve said all along,” he said. “So we’re just leaning toward Shak right now, and sending him out today, that’s what I said would be the indicator of who we would send to the Big Ten (tournament), and as of now, that’s the plan.”

Rasheed pinned Joe Ariola for the second time this year, this one coming in 1 minute and 57 seconds after locking up his trademark cross-face cradle.

Sanderson didn’t say exactly what the deciding factor in choosing Rasheed was, and declined comment on whether the two wrestled off.

“They’ve both had great years and Shak brings a lot of potential with bonus points, and they’ve both shown that they can wrestle with the best guys in the country, but you can only send one,” he said.

The heated battle for 197 started at the beginning of the season, when Cassar reportedly beat out three-time NCAA qualifier Matt McCutcheon for the spot. Cassar seemed like he had the starting role locked up — until the Southern Scuffle at the beginning of January.

Rasheed cruised through the tournament, pinning three ranked wrestlers in under a minute each to win the title at 197 pounds, as well as earning the tournament’s most Outstanding Wrestler award. Meanwhile, Cassar finished third.

The two have split mat time since.

Rasheed (17-2) has established a reputation for earning bonus points with 12 pins, one technical fall and three major decisions this season. His record includes wins over five ranked opponents including a major decision victory over then-No. 7 Cash Wilcke, of Iowa.

Cassar (16-2), who only has five bonus-point victories, has the defeat of the nation’s No. 1 wrestler in Ohio State’s Kollin Moore as the highlight of his resume this year. The victory on Feb. 3 earned him the Big Ten Wrestler of the week honors.

Having to battle each other for the starting spot has been frustrating for the two wrestlers, who say they’ve been close friends throughout their time at Penn State.

“It’s very annoying,” Rasheed told the CDT in January. “You want to be able to talk to each other and be like, ‘Hey, do this. Do that.’ But, at the same time, it’s like, ‘I want that spot.’ We push each other, regardless, but it’s definitely hard.”

Rasheed is ranked No. 5 in the country by InterMat, with one of his two losses this season coming from No. 3 Ben Darmstadt of Cornell.

As it stands, Rasheed is the presumable favorite to get the No. 2 seed at the Big Ten tournament March 3-4 in East Lansing, Mich. Moore would be the likely top seed.

This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Shakur Rasheed gets the final dual start for Penn State. Does that mean the decision is made at 197?."