Penn State Wrestling: Inside the Singlet – Wrestler Profiles for 141

David Evans

Year: Sophomore
Weight: 141
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Tunkhannock, Pa.

Penn State Career

Like Bartlett, Evans also joined the Nittany Lions in the fall of 2020, however he did not see any action on the mat his freshman season.

David did suit up in his redshirt freshman year and competed in 15 total matches at 133. These matches consisted of competition in the Clarion Open, Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open, Southern Scuffle, and Mat Town Open.

This season Evans is up to 141 and he’s wrestled in 10 matches between both the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open and the Black Knight Invite. David took home fifth in the Bearcat and finished runner up to teammate, Beau Bartlett, in the Black Knight.

Prior to Penn State

In high school, David wrestled for Tunkhannock High School where he finished with a career record of 137-20 and was a two-time state qualifier. Evans also claimed three District 2 titles, two region titles, and finished fourth in the state his senior season.

David earned five varsity letters and was the captain of the Tigers for three seasons.

But the sport of wrestling was not an environment that Evans grew up in. His mother, Liz, indicated they were far from a wrestling family, “I wish I could tell you that he came from a wrestling family but unfortunately he did it all on his own. We are football people. We know nothing about wrestling at all.”

According to Liz, when David was around 10 years old, he came home with a paper in his hand and said he wanted to try wrestling. After a conversation with the family to try to dissuade his future in wrestling, David put his foot down and said he was determined to try it.

From that day on it was immediate love for Evans. Anything and everything was about wrestling and David couldn’t learn enough about it.

Liz continued, “We sent him to any clinic we could find because we had no idea how to help him. All these moves, to us it was French.”

Evans eventually found a home at the Rock Solid Wrestling club where the coaches, wrestlers, and parents helped David and his family out. The staff at the wrestling club pushed for David to compete in any competition possible, which meant traveling every single weekend and little to no sleep for everyone.

“We are extremely proud of him for the person he has become and so happy that he is living his dream.”
-Liz Evans

The intoxication of winning on the mat is what motivated Evans to continue to improve, but it was the losses which really gave him the drive to work hard. A loss to a fellow competitor would mean David had to train and work harder until he beat the same foe later on. From the time wrestling became his passion, Evans did not celebrate a single birthday since then as it falls in early February. Smack dab in the middle of wrestling season.

Liz said David’s main goal following high school was to wrestle for Cael Sanderson and Penn State. But when it came time to start making decisions about college, a full ride to Buffalo appeared to be Evans’ best option. That is until he got a call from Cody Sanderson.

"“Like I said, he did it all by himself. He is very determined and always makes goals for himself wrestling wise and doesn’t stop until he accomplishes them. He comes from a small country town called Tunkhannock that nobody knows where is at or can pronounce and they have a hell of a community support system. They would try to help sign David up for any camp they could find because he always wanted to get better.” -Liz Evans"

Off the wrestling mat David is very determined, big hearted, and has an unbelievable work ethic. He also spends time helping others out to get better. Nothing proves this more than the fact Evans helped tutor his high school team to make sure everyone could wrestle if they were struggling with grades. Sometimes at the expense of staying after school to help tutor or to help teammates out on the mat with technique or skills.