CAREER
Athletic: 3X All-American (2nd – 2026, 3rd – 2025, 3rd - 2023)… Big Ten Champion (2026)… First Team All-Big Ten (2026)… 3X Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (12/7/22, 11/14/23, 12/23/25)… 2X NWCA All-Star Classic (2023, 2024)
2025-26 • SENIOR SEASON
Season: Published a third All-America campaign in his senior season, rolling to a 25-1 overall record coupled with a national runner-up finish… Booked an untouched 15-0 record in dual meet competition with a likewise-unbeaten 8-0 run against Big Ten Conference opposition… Claimed his first Big Ten Conference individual title at 149 pounds… Booked a 69-0 differential in dual point scoring over the course of the year… Mustered 20 wins in bonus-point fashion, logging six pins, 10 technical falls and four major decisions for a 76.9 percent bonus rate.
Oklahoma (11/14): Rolled to a 20-1 tech fall (5:29) over Layton Schneider in the season opener from the BJC. Black Knight Invite (11/23): Went 3-0 with two pins and a tech to win the BKI title. Drexel (12/5): Posted a 20-4 tech fall over Patrick Kelly (6:52). Lehigh (12/7): Majored Owen Reinsel, 19-6, in Rec Hall. Wyoming (12/13): Notched a first period fall over No. 30 Gabe Willochell. Collegiate Wrestling Duals (12/20): Rolled to a 19-2 tech over No. 24 Max Petersen of NDSU and downed No. 14 Aden Valencia of Stanford 10-4. Rutgers (1/10): Pinned Devon Magro in Rec Hall (4:53). Iowa (1/16): Majored No. 17 Ryder Block, 13-4, in Iowa City. Northwestern (1/18): Posted an 18-3 tech fall over August Hibler (7:00) with 4:25 in riding time. Indiana (1/23): Teched Joey Buttler of Indiana 20-3 (6:45). Maryland (1/24): Blew through No. 7 Carter Young with a nine takedown burst, rolling to a dazzling 31-15 technical fall at 6:41. Nebraska (1/30): Posted a strong 12-5 win over No. 18 Chance Lamer in the BJC Dual. Michigan (2/6): Majored No. 13 Lachlan McNeil, 9-1, on the road. Ohio State (2/13): Used six takedowns to roll to a 20-5 tech fall over Brogan Fielding (6:17) in a sold-out BJC Dual. Princeton (2/20): Majored No. 14 Eligh Rivera, 15-6, in Rec Hall. Big Ten Championship (3/7-8): Won his first Big Ten individual title by pinning No. 6 Ethan Stiles of Ohio State in the finals at 3:28… Downed No. 17 Ryder Block of Iowa and No. 16 Lachlan McNeil of Michigan to earn a spot in the title bout, going 3-0 over the weekend in the BJC. NCAA Championship (3/19-21): Became a three-time All-American and a first-time national finalist with a 4-1 run in Cleveland… Won his first four bouts to advance to national finals, including a pin of No. 16 Jacob Frost of Iowa State and a win over No. 8 Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State in the quarters... Teched Chance Lamer of Nebraska, 22-1, in the national semifinals before losing a hard-fought 8-5 (sv) bout to No. 10 Aden Valencia of Stanford in national final.
2024-25 • JUNIOR SEASON
Season: Rolled to his second All-America honor... Went 25-3 overall with seven pins, five techs and nine majors... Went 13-1 in dual meets... Went 5-1 at the NCAA Championships to finish third for second time in his collegiate career.
NWCA All-Star Classic (11/16): Rolled to 16-4 major over No. 3 Ty Watters of West Virginia. Black Knight Invite (11/24): Won the Black Knight title with a 4-0 mark including two techs and a major. Lehigh (12/8): Rolled to 17-3 major over Matt Repos. Wyoming (12/15): Pinned No. 22 Gabe Willochell at 4:27. Collegiate Wrestling Duals (12/22): Went 3-0 in Nashville, all by fall, including a pin of No. 16 Jordan Williams of Little Rock at 4:39. Michigan State (1/10): Pinned Clayton Jones in the first period (2:25). Rutgers (1/24): Booked a dominant 17-2 tech fall (5:26) over Alex Nini. Iowa (1/31): Dominated No. 2 Kyle Parco, highlighted by an eight-point second period, in a 17-6 major decision with 1:33 in riding time. Michigan (2/7): Grabbed a 7-1 win over Dylan Gilcher. Maryland (2/9): Had an impressive 17-2 tech fall over No. 32 Kal Miller (2:53). Ohio State (2/14): Registered a third period takedown that led to a 4-2 win over No. 7 Dylan D’Emilio in Penn State’s 27-13 win over the Buckeyes. Illinois (2/16): Majored No. 14 Kannon Webster, 15-4. American (2/21): Teched Gage Owen, 16-1 (5:51). Big Ten Championships (3/8-9): Went 3-1 to take third place in Evanston... Majored No. 29 Kal Miller of Maryland, 12-2, lost 4-2 to No. 16 Kannon Webster of Illinois, majored #18 Andrew Clark of Rutgers 12-1 and then majored No. 3 Kyle Parco of Iowa, 13-0, in the third-place bout. NCAA Championships (3/20-22): Placed third at the NCAA Championships for the second time, becoming a two-time All-American with a 5-1 run in Philadelphia... Beat No. 30, No. 9 and No. 6 Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina to advance to the semifinals before losing to No. 2 Ridge Lovett of Nebraska... Rebounded with a pin over No. 12 Ethan Stiles of Oklahoma State and a major over No. 13 Dylan D’Emilio of Ohio State in the third place bout.
2023-24 • INJURY REDSHIRT SEASON
Season: Began the season with a 3-0 mark and a win in the NWCA All-Star Classic before an injury ended his campaign... Received a medical redshirt, maintaining a year of eligibility heading into the 2024-25 season.
Journeymen Collegiate (11/12): Rolled to three wins, all by fall and all in the first period, at the season-opening event… Wrestled 6:34 of a possible 21:00 minutes. NWCA All-Star Classic (11/21): Rolled to a 5-1 win over No. 3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State in Rec Hall in the exhibition bout.
2022-23 • SOPHOMORE SEASON
Season: Posted a 24-7 overall record... Had seven majors, two techs and five pins... Placed fourth at his first Big Ten Championships to earn a trip to the NCAAs... Posted a 5-1 mark at his first national tournament to become an All-American with a third place result at 149 pounds.
Lock Haven (11/11): Made his Nittany Lion debut by pinning Connor Eck in Rec Hall (6:32). Black Knight Invite (11/20): Notched a late takedown to beat No. 14 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan, 5-3, in the finals, capping off a 3-0 run to the 149-pound title. Rider (12/2): Logged a convincing 11-6 win over No. 24 Quinn Kinner for a dual road win. Lehigh (12/4): Had a key first period pin of No. 26 Manzona Bryant IV (2:28) in the dual road win. Oregon State (12/11): Posted a 6-1 win over Noah Tolantino. Collegiate Wrestling Duals (12/19-20): Pinned No. 20 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan, then posted a 2-0 win over North Carolina’s Jayden Scott before dropping a hard-fought 3-2 decision to No. 5 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State. Wisconsin (1/6): Lost a hard-fought 6-2 decision to No. 2 Austin Gomez in his B1G debut in Madison. Michigan (1/20): Majored Fidel Mayora 14-4 in the BJC Dual. Michigan State (1/22): Pinned Braden Staffenberg (5:44) in Rec Hall. Iowa (1/27): Dropped a tough 4-1 decision to No. 7 Max Murin. Ohio State (2/3): Lost a tough 6-3 decision to No. 3 Sammy Sasso in Columbus. Indiana (2/5): Majored No. 30 Graham Rooks, 17-5. Rutgers (2/10): Majored Tony White, 21-9. Maryland (2/12): Dominated No. 18 Ethan Miller, posting a 19-4 tech fall (3:25) in the B1G regular season-clinching dual win from Rec Hall. Clarion (2/19): Teched Kyle Schickel, 17-1 (4:59), in the dual finale. Big Ten Championships (3/4-5): Placed fourth in his first Big Ten Championship tournament… Went 4-2 with three majors, his only two losses coming against No. 6 Max Murin of Iowa… Majored No. 28 Graham Rooks of Indiana, Jake Harrier of Illinois and Jaden Reynolds of Purdue... Also beat No. 30 Chance Lamer of Michigan. NCAA Championships (3/16-18): Entered his first NCAA Championship tournament as the 12th-seed and rolled to a third-place finish and All-America status... Opened the tournament by roaring back from an early 8-0 deficit to overtake and then pin No. 21 Ethan Miller of Maryland (6:26) in the first round. Dominated No. 5 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State, 14-8, in round two... Notched another come-from-behind win, this time a 10-7 result over No. 20 Graham Rooks in the quarterfinals… Led the eventual national champion No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis into the third period before dropping a tough decision in the semifinals... Responded with a 5-3 win over No. 4 Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech and No. 3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State to take third place, beating three of the top five seeds overall.
2021-22 • FRESHMAN SEASON
Season: Went 2-0 in one open tournament appearance at the start of his freshman season.
HIGH SCHOOL
Was a two-time National Prep Champion at Blair Academy... Won the 2019 Who’s #1 All-Star tournament... Was named a team captain at the Blair Academy... Honored with the Northeastern Regional Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.
PERSONAL
Hailing from Somerville, New Jersey, Shayne Van Ness is the son of Dawn and Rodney Van Ness… He has one younger sister named Sydnie… Van Ness is studying psychology in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts.
CAREER STATISTICS
|
Year |
Overall |
Duals (B1G) |
TRN (B1G/NCAA) |
F |
TF |
M |
PTS |
|
2021-22 |
2-0 |
0-0 (0-0) |
2-0 (0-0/0-0) |
1-0 |
0-0 |
1-0 |
0 |
|
2022-23 |
24-7 |
12-4 (5-3) |
12-3 (4-2/5-1) |
5-0 |
2-0 |
7-0 |
55 |
|
2023-24 |
3-0 |
0-0 (0-0) |
3-0 (0-0/0-0) |
3-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
|
2024-25 |
25-3 |
13-1 (7-1) |
12-2 (3-1/5-1) |
7-0 |
5-0 |
9-1 |
63 |
|
2025-26 |
25-1 |
15-0 (8-0) |
10-1 (3-0/4-1) |
6-0 |
10-0 |
4-0 |
69 |
|
Career |
79-11 |
40-5 (20-4) |
39-6 (10-3/14-3) |
22-0 |
17-0 |
21-1 |
187 |