Penn State Wrestling: Inside the Singlet – Wrestler Profiles for 149

Shayne Van Ness

Year: Redshirt Freshman
Weight: 149
Major: Liberal Arts
Hometown: Somerville, N.J.

Penn State Career

Van Ness redshirted his true freshman year in 2021-2022, however he was able to get some mat time as he competed in two matches in the Clarion Open.

In his redshirt freshman campaign, Shayne is now the starter for the Nittany Lions and he has 11 matches under his belt along with winning the title at the 2022 Black Knight Open.

Prior to Penn State

Shayne spent his high school days at Blair Academy, which is a boarding and day school in Blairstown, N.J. While there, he took home two National Prep Championships, was the team captain, won the 2019 “Who’s #1 All-Star” tournament, and was a Northeastern Regional Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award recipient.

His wrestling coach at Blair Academy, Capt. Brian Antonelli, remembers the first time he saw Van Ness on the mat.

"“The first time I saw Shayne compete (outside of the practice room) was down in Virginia Beach as an eighth grader. His speed, strength and skill was far beyond the average eighth grader, but it was his attitude that separated him from his peers. After each match Shayne and his teammates interviewed each other, in front of a camera, and they all asked one another these off the wall questions. They were having a blast coming up with the questions and joking around the entire tournament. Once I saw how relaxed he could be in a national level event I thought he was very different in a good way.” -Capt. Antonelli"

While he was extremely tight with the wrestling team, Shayne was also friends with many different groups at Blair Academy. Being around so many people with diverse interests is what allowed Van Ness to enjoy wrestling more. It allowed him to be locked in while on the mat, but then he could turn off the switch and focus on being with his friends rather than always thinking about wrestling.

Here’s a story from Capt. Antonelli that speaks to the character Shayne Van Ness possesses.

“One story about Shayne that I’ll always remember is his final HS event in a Blair singlet. We entered the Ultimate Club Duals in the spring of his senior year. The team started at 68 lbs and went up to 285 lbs. Our team had kids that ranged from 10 years old to 20. In his final event Shayne lost two matches in the club duals. I’m sure losing bothered him, but after Shayne lost he was back in his sweats on the sideline coaching the Blair club up. He was the top recruit in the country headed to PSU and he just lost twice in a club event. All those young kids on our team (5th and 6th graders) watched how to handle a loss first hand through actions not words. The picture is still clear of Shayne coaching John Paul Mcgowan (68 lbs) minutes after a disappointing loss.”

Wrestling runs deep in the Van Ness family. Shayne’s father, Rodney Van Ness, was an All-American at Rutgers and is third in school history for all time wins. Rodney is also a coach at the Rhino Wrestling Club in Hillsborough, N.J.

“I want to wrestle the Big Ten schedule, I want to be challenged every single weekend, and I have goals beyond my collegiate career. I want to be a World and Olympic champion.”

But Shayne said his dad never pushed him into wrestling, rather it was always his choice to slap on the singlet. Van Ness also says his dad was his biggest influence in wrestling, “I would say without a doubt it’s been my dad. He was my coach all of the way up until I got to high school. And he still kind of is my coach, not in a sense that he’s in my corner but we run through game plans over the phone before big matches. And stuff like that.”

Van Ness is a self described “psychotic individual on the mat” because his favorite thing to do is to feel his opponent’s spirit and will break and to see them give up on the mat.

Away from wrestling, Van Ness dabbles a little in the kitchen and his special dish is self-labeled “dog food”. Mmm, sounds delightful!

But in all seriousness, his “dog food” recipe is pretty darn healthy and actually doesn’t sound bad at all. It’s a combination of ground beef, arugula, spinach, sweet potatoes, eggs, and a secret seasoning.

One of the things I’ve noticed so far in our wrestling profiles, is that a lot of these guys enjoy cooking. Which makes a ton of sense given the fact they participate in a high level sport where your weight and how you maintain it is a massive priority.

Oh, and Van Ness appears to use the term “Pork Roll” when talking about a certain type of food. I wonder if he and fellow teammate Robbie Howard have a beef about this?

Shayne also likes to rap, but not because he’s good at it. He just really likes it. And it’s also not surprising as a wrestler, he enjoys running and gymnastics.

Van Ness is such a goal oriented individual, and this is a story he told True Wrestling about how he had to circumvent the difficult environment to maintain his training in the early days of the pandemic.

“We went home for break and the school said we weren’t able to come back. So I was already training and working and they said that you weren’t allowed to go out or anything. So I told my mom that I need my cousin to move in with me so we can train. He’s going to quarantine with us, he’s going to live with us throughout this whole thing for as long as it lasts. My cousin Lorenzo, who also goes to Blair, lives with me for about two months and we would wake up every day, go to school, do what we had to do, and then we would go out and train. Every single day.”