Cael Sanderson and Penn State have struck again in the class of 2021, and it's another home run. Labor Day night, the second-ranked recruit in the class of 2021, Shayne Van Ness, announced his decision to become a Nittany Lion. 

Although Penn State might only own two commitments in the class, the Nittany Lions now own verbals from the second- and third-ranked (Alex Facundo) wrestlers on the Big Board. Although the top-ranked recruit in the class, Richie Figueroa, is currently committed to Arizona State, he has two official visits still to take, and one of those trips will likely be to State College. If that goes well, we could be looking at a Penn State sweep of the top three ranked recruits, but I digress. Today, I'll be breaking down how Van Ness fits into the Penn State depth chart and how his decision to take his talents to State College will impact the five schools he did not choose.

Looking back at the recruiting update the Van Ness family provided us at the end of August, Shayne likely projects as a 149-pounder, and that's where he fits into the Penn State lineup best. Jarod Verkleeren will be a senior Van Ness' first year on campus, and behind him is Adam Busiello, Terrell Barraclough, Scott Obendorfer, and Class of 2020 signee Austin Boone. A Michigan native, Boone finished his prep career ranked #2 at 145 and #34 on the Big Board. However, it doesn't seem like there are any real hurdles to Van Ness starting for the Nittany Lions. 

Van Ness had some incredible battles with Beau Bartlett during their high school days but could form a deadly one-two punch at 141 and 149, similar to what Bo Nickal and Mark Hall did after being rivals in high school. 

Watch Bartlett and Van Ness put up 33 points in an amazing National Prep finals. 

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What Does It Mean For The Teams That Missed On Van Ness?

Perhaps the team and fan base most disappointed in missing out on Van Ness is Rutgers. Van Ness is a New Jersey native and his father, Rodney, wrestled at Rutgers is tied for third all-time on the Scarlet Knights' career wins list. However, Coach Goodale and company still have good options at 149 moving forward. Gerard Angelo is back after a solid redshirt freshman season and Ryan Vulakh is coming off redshirt to challenge for the spot as well. Vulakh is a Pennsylvania state champion and finished #26 on the 2019 Big Board.

Not landing Van Ness hurts Michigan as Kanen Storr is entering his senior season behind and there's no clear proven replacement behind him. The Wolverines made the school list of California hammer Luka Wick who projects as a 149/157-pounder. Michigan is also heavily involved with the #2 recruit in the class of 2022, Jesse Mendez, who projects as a 141/149-pounder. 

Watch Van Ness and Mendez put on a show last year at Who's #1.

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Nothing has officially been announced, but the consensus around Flo HQ is that two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis will be moving up 149. He would have been a senior when Van Ness would have arrived in Ithaca. If Diakomihalis does not move up to 149, Josh Saunders should be the man for the Big Red at 149. Saunders was the eighth-ranked prospect in the class of 2020. Cornell also owns a commitment from Ryan Sokol who is currently #17 on the class of 2021 Big Board, but could easily grow out of 149. The Minnesota state champion wrestled 145 last prep season.  

Like Rutgers, Chris Ayres and the Princeton coaching staff were hoping to keep Van Ness in the state of New Jersey. Landing Van Ness would have been a program-changing recruit and would have locked up the 149-pound spot for as long as Van Ness wanted to stay there. Now the Tiger coaching staff must find their future there elsewhere. Jonathan Miers is currently the only 149-pounder listed on Princeton's roster. Van Ness was the only wrestler we received a school list from that listed Princeton as one of their finalists in the 149-pound weight range. 

Ohio State is definitely in the best position of all the schools that missed out on Van Ness. Sammy Sasso would have had two years of eligibility remaining when Van Ness would have arrived in Columbus and Anthony Echemendia still has four years of eligibility in front of him as well. 

With Van Ness off the board, 77 of the 100 wrestlers on the 2021 Big Board are committed. Last week I wrote about the then 26 wrestlers that were still available from the 2021 Big Board. Since then a couple of those hammers have made their college decision. Who will be next?