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Penn State Wrestling: 5 burning questions for 2021-2022 season

By Chris Snyder

Mar 20, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Carter Starocci celebrates after defeating Iowa Hawkeyes wrestler Michael Kemerer in the championship match of the 174 weight class during the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Carter Starocci celebrates after defeating Iowa Hawkeyes wrestler Michael Kemerer in the championship match of the 174 weight class during the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Taking a look at 5 important questions for the Penn State Wrestling Team leading into the 2021-2022 season

With the 2021-2022 Penn State Wrestling season only a mere 225 days away, how about we look at a list of important questions facing the team?

I promise this won’t involve taking 80 mph baseballs off the chest in a batting cage to toughen everyone up. On a side note, how many writers are able to work Happy Gilmore references into wrestling articles?

No need to thank me. You’re welcome.

Now let’s move onto taking a look at 5 burning questions facing Penn State Wrestling for next season

Burning Question No. 1

Beau Bartlett or Shayne Van Ness at 149?

Beau Bartlett burst onto the wrestling scene as he made his official Nittany Lion debut in a February dual meet against Ohio State. And Beau didn’t disappoint as he took NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso the distance in a tough 3-5 loss via decision.

The problem is the late debut allowed Bartlett to only see the mat two more times before the B1G Championships.

Experience is typically paramount when it comes to wrestling tournaments. And this was proven true once again as Beau lost two incredibly close matches following his opening round victory in the B1G’s.

Unfortunately Bartlett did not automatically qualify nor did he receive an at-large big for the NCAA’s. So has he locked down the spot at 149 for next year?

Not so fast.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Shayne Van Ness.

Depending on what recruiting site you look at, Ness is either the No. 1 or No. 2 overall recruit in this past year’s class and FloWrestling projects him to wrestle at 149.

Van Ness won his first National Prep title his junior year and he finished runner-up his sophomore year.

Does anyone know who he lost the title to his sophomore year? Yep. PSU’s Beau Bartlett.

The Jersey native was also ranked as the top 138 pounder in the country according to Mat Scouts and Open Mat. But unfortunately Van Ness had to miss his senior season due to surgery on a broken tibia.

So who’s it going to be for next year?

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