COLLEGE WRESTLING: Former Post Falls star Lovett reaches national title match tonight
NCAA WRESTLING Nebraska senior Ridge Lovett, the former Post Falls High star, celebrates after beating Penn State's Shayne Van Ness in a semifinal match at 149 pounds in the NCAA Championships on Friday in Philadelphia, advancing to the national championship match.
PHILADELPHIA — Former Post Falls High star Ridge Lovett has found a way to win in a lot of different ways during his career.
Later tonight, he’ll try for one final one on the biggest stage he’s been on.
Lovett, the second seed at 149 pounds, beat Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness by a 14-8 decision in the semifinals of the NCAA wrestling championships to advance to the championship match tonight at Wells Fargo Arena.
Lovett will face top-seeded Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech, the defending champion.
“Shoutout to my club coaches, my dad Lonnie Lovett, Abel De La Rosa and my high school coaches Pete Reardon, Jeremy Zender, Luke Roberts and Dave Herndon, who worked with me from the time I was a little baby until now,” Lovett said in a postmatch interview posted by Evan Smith of The Daily Collegian, the student newspaper of Penn State University. “They mean a lot to me. (Nebraska) coaches Mark Manning, Bryan Snyder, Tervel Dlagnev and James Green have really shaped me into the person I am today after I left home. They welcomed me with open arms. I’ve had a lot of people impact me in a lot of ways.”
Lovett advanced to the national title match in 2022, finishing runner-up to Cornell’s Yianni Diakmoihalis 11-5. In 2024, Lovett was sixth at nationals.
Lovett led Van Ness 7-0 early in the match, Lovett’s 100th win at Nebraska.
“When wrestling is going on, and stuff is happening, most of the time I win those positions,” Lovett said. “If there’s a scramble, a lot of the times, I come out on top. (Van Ness) is a gamer and he’s going to come out and come at me. He’s going to shoot and do lots of stuff. When that happens and there’s a lot of scoring, I usually come out on top. When it’s low scoring, where you can game plan, I don’t do as well.”
Lovett beat Kannon Webster of Illinois by a 12-0 decision in the quarterfinals earlier Friday, earning All-American honors.
Henson defeated Lovett 1-0 in last year's NCAA semifinals.
Penn State leads with 135.5 points, followed by Nebraska with 101.5.
The championship round is today at 4 p.m. (ESPN).