NCAA Wrestling Tournament 2023: Shayne Van Ness advances to quarterfinals with upset win
No. 12 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) took out No. 5 Paniro Johnson (Arizona State) 14-8 to advance to Friday morning’s quarterfinals.
The Nittany Lion nearly got his second pin of the day in the first period. But Johnson fought off his back and ended up battling back against the young Penn State star.
In the end, it was Van Ness taking it in the Round of 16 as he scored the upset victory.
A takedown and four nearfall points gave Van Ness the 6-0 lead early. After a reversal for Johnson in the second period, Van Ness did not let his lead slip away.
He escaped but Johnson scored another takedown to close the gap 7-4. That’s where the Nittany Lion turned it back up with a takedown and drew two stall calls out of Johnson.
At that point, Van Ness cruised in the third period and advanced to the next round in the championship bracket.
Van Ness was expected to compete hard for the All-American podium in his first NCAA Tournament. Now, he’s just one win away from clinching All-American status.
Coming up next for the redshirt freshman is No. 20 Graham Rooks (Indiana), who upset No. 4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech).
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More on the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships
The 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships were held March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa (Okla). The tournament consists of 330 wrestlers in total across 10 weight classes. Each weight class features wrestlers seeded No. 1 through No. 33.
Over the course of the three-day tournament, wrestlers can achieve national champion status by going 5-0 in their bracket, through Saturday night’s finals. The top eight placewinners in each bracket are considered All-Americans.
Losing one match does not eliminate a wrestler from competition. The consolation bracket is designed to determine the remaining spots on the podium (third through eighth place).
Since there are 33 wrestlers in each weight, the competitors seeded No. 32 and 33 compete in a “pigtail bout” prior to the first round to determine who matches up against the No. 1 seed in Round 1.
Losing the pigtail drops the wrestler to the consolation bracket where there is still opportunity to finish as high as third place in the weight class.
The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Tournament is set to take place in Kansas City (Mo.)