Parents: DAWN AND RODNEY VAN NESS
Major: PSYCHOLOGY
CAREER NOTES:
Athletic: All-American (2023)...Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (12/7/22)...Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (11/14/23).
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 campaign...Received medical redshirt, maintaining sophomore eligibility heading into 2024-25 year, results count towards overall record.
Journeymen (11/12): Rolled to three wins, all by fall and all in the first period, at season opening event. Wrestled 6:34 of a possible 21:00 minutes. Named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (11/14). NWCA All-Star Classic (11/21): Rolled to a 5-1 win over #3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State in Rec Hall (exhibition/not an official result).
2022-23 / REDSHIRT FRESHMAN SEASON:
Season: Posted a 24-7 overall record...Had seven majors, two techs and five pins...Placed fourth at first Big Ten Championship to earn trip to NCAAs...Posted a 5-1 mark at first national tournament to become freshman All-American with third place finish at 149.
Lock Haven (11/11): Made Nittany Lion debut by pinning Connor Eck in Rec Hall (6:32). Black Knight (11/20): Notched late takedown to beat #14 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan 5-3 in finals, capping off 3-0 run to 149-pound title. Rider (12/2): Convincing 11-6 win over #24 Quinn Kinner for dual road win. Lehigh (12/4): Key first period pin of #26 Manzona Bryant IV (2:28) in dual road win. Oregon State (12/11): Posted 6-1 win over Noah Tolantino. Collegiate Duals (12/19-20): Pinned #20 Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan, then posted 2-0 win over North Carolina’s Jayden Scott. Dropped hard-fought 3-2 dec. to #5 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State. Wisconsin (1/6): Lost hard-fought 6-2 decision to #2 Austin Gomez in B1G debut in Madison. Michigan (1/20): Majored Fidel Mayora 14-4 in BJC Dual. Michigan State (1/22): Pinned Braden Staffenberg (5:44) in Rec Hall. Iowa (1/27): Dropped tough 4-1 decision to #7 Max Murin. Ohio State (2/3): Lost tough 6-3 decision to #3 Sammy Sasso in Columbus. Indiana (2/5): Majored #30 Graham Rooks 17-5. Rutgers (2/10): Majored Tony White 21-9. Maryland (2/12): Dominated #18 Ethan Miller, posting 19-4 tech fall (3:25) in B1G regular season clinching dual win in Rec Hall. Clarion (2/19): Teched Kyle Schickel 17-1 (4:59) in dual finale.
Big Ten Championships (3/4-5): Placed fourth in his first Big Ten Championship tournament. Went 4-2 with three majors, only two losses to #6 Max Murin of Iowa. Majored #28 Graham Rooks of Indiana, Jake Harrier of Illinois and Jaden Reynolds of Purdue. Also beat #30 Chance Lamer of Michigan.
NCAA Championships (3/16-18): Entered first NCAA Championship tournament as the 12th-seed and rolled to a third place finish and All-America status as a freshman. Opened tournament by roaring back from an early 8-0 deficit to overtake and then pin #21 Ethan Miller of Maryland (6:26) in the first round. Dominated #5 Paniro Johnson of Iowa State 14-8 in round two. Notched another come-from-behind win, this time 10-7 over #20 Graham Rooks in the quarterfinals. Led eventual national champion #1 Yianni Diakomihalis into the third period before dropping tough decision in semifinals. Responded with a 5-3 win over #4 Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech and #3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State to take third place (beat three of the top five seeds overall).
2021-22 / REDSHIRT SEASON:
Season: Went 2-0 in one open tournament at the start of his redshirt season.
HIGH SCHOOL / PERSONAL:
A two-time National Prep Champion at Blair Academy...Won the 2019 Who’s #1 All-Star tournament...Blair Academy team captain...Honored with the Northeastern Regional Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award...Has one younger sister, Sydnie...Considering a biology major at Penn State.
VAN NESS MATCH-BY-MATCH
2023-24
Date Wt. Result Opponent Place Rec
11/12 149 WBF Eddie Hummel, Army (2:06) Jrny 1-0
11/12 149 WBF Cade Balestrini, Bloomsburg (2:58) Jrny 2-0
11/12 149 WBF Kelvin Griffin, Lehigh (1:30) Jrny 3-0
2022-23
Date Wt. Result Opponent Place Rec
11/11 149 WBF Connor Eck, Lock Haven (6:32) dual 1-0
11/20 149 W, 15-7 Kaleb Burgess, Buffalo (major) BK 2-0
11/20 149 W, 8-2 Graham Rooks, Indiana BK 3-0
11/20 149 W, 5-3 #14 Johnny Lovett, Central Michigan BK (1st) 4-0
12/2 149 W, 11-6 #24 Quinn Kinner, Rider dual 5-0
12/4 149 WBF #26 Manzona Bryant IV, Lehigh (2:28) dual 6-0
12/11 149 W, 6-1 Noah Tolantino, Oregon State dual 7-0
12/19 149 WBF #20 Johnny Lovett, Central Michigan (4:47) dual 8-0
12/19 149 W, 2-0 Jayden Scott, North Carolina dual 9-0
12/20 149 L, 2-3 #5 Paniro Johnson, Iowa State dual 9-1
1/6 149 L, 2-6 #2 Austin Gomez, Wisconsin dual 9-2
1/20 149 W, 14-4 Fidel Mayora, Michigan (major) dual 10-2
1/22 149 WBF Braden Stauffenberg, Michigan St. (5:44) dual 11-2
1/27 149 L, 1-4 #7 Max Murin, Iowa dual 11-3
2/3 149 L, 3-6 #3 Sammy Sasso, Ohio State dual 11-4
2/5 149 W, 17-5 #30 Graham Rooks, Indiana (major) dual 12-4
2/10 149 W, 21-9 Tony White, Rutgers (major) dual 13-4
2/12 149 W, 19-4 #18 Ethan Miller, Maryland (TF; 3:25) dual 14-4
2/19 149 W, 17-1 Kyle Schickel, Clarion (TF; 4:59) dual 15-4
3/4 149 W, 16-4 Jake Harrier, Illinois (major) B1G 16-4
3/4 149 L, 2-4 #6 Max Murin, Iowa B1G 16-5
3/4 149 W, 19-7 Jaden Reynolds, Purdue (major) B1G 17-5
3/4 149 W, inj.def. #30 Chance Lamer, Michigan B1G 18-5
3/5 149 W, 12-4 #28 Graham Rooks, Indiana (major) B1G 19-5
3/5 149 L, 2-3 #6 Max Murin, Iowa B1G (4th) 19-6
3/16 149 WBF #21 Ethan Miller, Maryland (6:26) NCAA 20-6
3/16 149 W, 14-8 #5 Paniro Johnson, Iowa State NCAA 21-6
3/17 149 W, 10-7 Graham Rooks, Indiana NCAA 22-6
3/17 149 L, 3-8 #1 Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell NCAA 22-7
3/18 149 W, 5-3 #4 Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech NCAA 23-7
3/18 149 W, 7-2 #3 Kyle Parco, Arizona State NCAA (3rd) 24-7
CAREER STATISTICS
Year Overall Duals (B1G) TRN (B1G/NCAA) F TF M PTS
2021-22 Redshirt season
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
Career 27-7 12-4 (5-3) 15-3 (4-2/5-1) 8-0 2-0 7-0 55
*Medical redshirt season, results count towards career record