UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Devon Van Cura enjoyed plenty of success during his four years at Washington. He excelled both in the classroom and as a wrestler. He won three conference titles, placed sixth in the state as a junior and second as a senior. He finished his career with a 142-31 record and was the Pam Pack’s captain twice. He also shined on the cross country and baseball teams.

Academically, Van Cura was a 2014 NCHSAA Academic All-American, North Carolina State Scholar and AP Scholar Athlete with Honor. He was also the senior class vice president. All his accomplishments in academia and athletics earned him a place on Penn State’s wrestling team and membership to the Schreyer Honors College.

“Penn State is one of the top programs in the country. Right now we’re ranked No. 1 in the country. When I had the opportunity to wrestle here, it was a no brainer,” Van Cura said. “As far as academics, it was a great choice for me, too. They have a really good engineering program, which is what I initially came in as. I came in as a biomedical engineer and have switched to chemistry. That’s been suiting me really well.

“All together, with the grades and the athletics, Penn State was just a really good choice for me. I really love it here, so it was just a great choice.”

Van Cura redshirted his freshman season. He did compete in open tournaments, where he amassed a 4-9 record.

The Washington native made his debut for the Nittany Lions in their Big Ten dual opener against Wisconsin on Dec. 13. Despite being pegged to wrestle at 174 or 184 pounds, he was asked to fill in for an injured teammate at 285.

He lost the bout via decision, 10-0, to Wisconsin’s Brock Horwath. He used a high single to take Van Cura down less than 30 seconds in. He then turned Van Cura onto his back and picked up four near falls to earn a 6-0 lead. Van Cura nearly scored on a high single, but it was countered with a takedown and Horwath took a 9-0 lead in the third period.

Despite the loss, the experience was one Van Cura will not soon forget. He got to compete in front of a packed house in the Bryce Jordan Center.

“It was a little different. I moved up to heavyweight because our starting heavyweight is a little banged up,” Van Cura said. “I was happy. I was thankful for the opportunity to go out there. Wrestling in front of 13,000 people was awesome.”

Van Cura displayed some of the leadership that made him so valuable to Pam Pack athletics and the Washington community. Penn State’s starter at heavyweight was banged up and the coaches turned to him to fill the opening. He rose to the occasion, despite being outweighed by 80 pounds.

“I think the coaches see that I work hard in practice,” he said. “I work hard in the classroom, too. I’ve been getting all A’s. I’ve been working really hard and I think they wanted to give me an opportunity out there.”

It was poetic that Van Cura’s coach from Washington, Daniel Riggs, got to watch his first start. Riggs moved to Pennsylvania last year. He took his entire high school and middle schools teams to watch the event, not knowing until the night before that Van Cura would be starting.

“It felt like I was back with him in high school,” Riggs said. “I was nervous. Every time he would try something, I would move along with him like the coaches on the sideline. It was awesome. I was excited for him.

“I was there to support him and it was fun. After the match, I had him talk to my team. … I had him talk to them about the importance of education. Devon puts his education before anything else.”

Van Cura is back home for Christmas break. He has dedicated some of his vacation time to working with Washington’s wrestling team.

His hard work has paid off in big ways thus far. Earning his first start is only the first step in what should be a successful career for Van Cura.