It had been very close to a year since Penn State Wrestling Star Shayne Van Ness last took the mat. It was 361 days to be exact for Saturday’s NWCA All-Star Classic. It was visible that the moment where he stepped on the mat to a loud ovation from the home crowd meant a lot for the fourth-year student, who is still just a redshirt sophomore in eligibility.
“It had been a long time,” Van Ness told reporters Tuesday. “I just wanted to be grateful for the experience, and take a moment to take in the atmosphere again before it started. I couldn’t help but to just have this big grin on my face knowing I was about to go do what I love.”
And Van Ness was as impressive as ever in that match, which ended in a 16-4 major decision over West Virginia’s Ty Watters.
Van Ness’ first match back from a knee injury, which ended his season last year, was the type of feel-good moment everyone likes to see in sports.
“I always come back stronger than before,” Van Ness said. “This one was more of a physical thing and it took longer than my other recoveries, but I knew I would come back better than ever.”
“He’s just very good. He’s really tenacious,” PSU coach Cael Sanderson said. “He’s always experimenting with the sport and trying to get better. Jumping into a high-level match right away after not competing in a long time, you’re hopeful he’ll be himself and do his thing. But you never know until it happens. We were really happy he went out there and competed with confidence against a very good opponent in a big match.”
Van Ness said the most surprising aspect of Saturday was how much fun he had in the match. But there never really are many surprises for Sanderson.
“If things are surprising us on competition day, we probably aren’t doing our jobs,” he said. “But you just don’t know. We’re coaches, and we sit back and watch just like everyone else and hoping they compete like they want to.”
Van Ness said his new goal for this season is to become what he described a “gratitude monster.”
“I know what it’s like to get those opportunities taken away from you, and I don’t want to look back wishing I soaked in the moment a little more,” Van Ness said.
As for the season, there are competitions going on within Penn State wrestling. For instance, Van Ness and 141-pounder Beau Bartlett are in a race to be the team’s pins leader. Van Ness and heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet have talked about who would carry the most awards out of the team banquet after the season.
“We’re all competing in the intersquad,” Van Ness said. “That’s what makes it fun. It’s another way of pushing each other.”
