Shayne Van Ness’ rally highlights Penn State wrestling’s win over Maryland
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- Penn State shut out Maryland 51-0, its seventh shutout of the season.
- Shayne Van Ness rallied from an early deficit to record a 31-15 technical fall.
- Penn State earned bonus points in all ten wins and outscored Maryland 47-2 in takedowns.
After shutting out Indiana on Friday night, Penn State’s wrestling team decided to do it again on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions nearly saw one of their No. 1 wrestlers go down, but instead they shut out Maryland, 51-0, inside Schanwald Pavilion at Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland.
It was Penn State’s seventh shutout of the season. The Nittany Lions have had six shutouts in their last seven duals, and Saturday’s win was their third straight.
“We all have a similar mindset. We just want to continue to be our best in all areas, whether that’s wrestling, life or school,” Shayne Van Ness told the Penn State Sports Network. “We just want to keep getting better. We’re helping each other in whatever ways that we can, and you see it out there when we go out and compete.”
Penn State tallied bonus points in all 10 bout wins with three pins, five technical falls and two major decisions.
With the Nittany Lions leading 13-0 after three bouts, No. 1 Van Ness took on No. 7 Carter Young at 149 pounds.
Young, who transferred from Oklahoma State, locked up a standing cradle early in the first period on Van Ness after the Nittany Lions wrestler attempted a takedown. The Terrapins wrestler rocked Van Ness toward his back to collect near fall points.
Van Ness stayed poised, got out of the cradle and trailed, 7-1, after one period of wrestling.
“I think having a short-term memory and not getting caught up on what happened, and looking at focusing on scoring the next points is really just what I’m thinking about,” Van Ness said.
The No. 1 wrestler went on to score 30 points over the next two periods thanks to nine takedowns to earn a 31-15 technical fall of Young in 6:41.
Van Ness tallied five takedowns within one minute in the second period. His pace allowed him to tally four more in the third and collect some stall points from Young along the way.
“I definitely think I was in that kind of flow state where it didn’t matter if I was up by 10 or down by 10. I was just going to be in there having fun and enjoying the moment,” Van Ness said.
PJ Duke followed Van Ness by earning his seventh pin of the year when he stuck Mehki Neal in 1:54. The Nittany Lions led 24-0 at the break.
Mitchell Mesenbrink earned an old-fashioned 15-0 technical fall of AJ Rodrigues in 3:24 to open the second half of the dual. Mesenbrink had three sets of nearfall points in the first period as he nearly had a pin of Rodrigues.
Levi Haines had no problems recording a 24-8 technical fall of Seth Digby in 6:36. Haines had seven takedowns in his win.
Rocco Welsh picked up the first pin of his Penn State career when he flattened Sepanta Ahanj-Elias in 3:52. Josh Barr kept things rolling with a 19-4 technical fall in 6:51.
Cole Mirasola ended the barrage with a pin of Joey Schneck in 3:56. It was a bout that saw Mirasola giving up over 50 pounds of weight.
Before Van Ness hit the mat, Luke Lilledahl opened the dual with a 19-4 technical fall in 7:00 at 125 pounds.
Marcus Blaze picked up another ranked win, this one came over No. 15 Braxton Brown, 15-3. Braeden Davis came up one point shy of a technical fall with an 18-4 victory over Dario Lemus.
“It’s really hard to put into words, but I’m very grateful to be a part of whatever is happening here because it is so special,” Van Ness said. “It’s one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
No. 1 Penn State 51, Maryland 0
Saturday at College Park, Md.
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, tech. fall Abram Cline, 19-4 (7:00)
133: No. 4 Marcus Blaze, PSU, major dec. No. 15 Braxton Brown, 15-3
141: No. 11 Braeden Davis, PSU, major dec. Dario Lemus, 18-4
149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall No. 7 Carter Young, 31-15 (6:41)
157: No. 3 PJ Duke, PSU, pinned Mehki Neal, 1:54
165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall AJ Rodrigues, 15-0 (3:24)
174: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Seth Digby, 24-8 (6:36)
184: No. 1 Rocco Welsh, PSU, pinned Sepanta Ahanj-Elias, 3:52
197: No. 1 Josh Barr, PSU, tech. fall No. 13 Branson John, 19-4 (6:51)
285: No. 12 Cole Mirasola, PSU, pinned Joey Schneck, 3:56
Takedowns: PSU 47, M 2
Records: Penn State (11-0, 5-0 Big Ten), Maryland (4-6, 0-5 Big Ten)
Next match: No. 6 Nebraska at Penn State, 7 p.m. Friday
