On April 17, 2009, Penn State named national wrestling legend Cael Sanderson as its 12th head wrestling coach and immediately the nation looked East. Since that time, the wrestling landscape across the country has changed as Penn State has claimed eight NCAA championships and numerous Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, all while crowning numerous individual champions and maintaining the highest of academic standards.
A career begun in the Midwest...
At just 29 years old, Sanderson came to Penn State after three very productive years as the head coach at his alma mater, Iowa State. Sanderson’s teams did not finish any lower than fifth at the NCAA Championships and he never had a wrestler not qualify for nationals, getting 30-of-30 wrestlers through to the championship tournament. After graduating from ISU in 2002, Sanderson spent 2003 and 2004 as a special assistant in the athletic department at Iowa State before joining the ISU coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2004-05. He was promoted to the assistant head coach position the next year and then became the Cyclones’ head coach for the 2006-07 season.
In 2007, during Sanderson’s rookie campaign, he led ISU to a 13-3 dual meet record and the first of three-straight Big 12 Championships. An outstanding NCAA runner-up finish in Detroit capped off a wildly successful year as the Cyclones crowned one National Champion and Sanderson was honored as Big 12 Coach of the Year, National Rookie Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year. The next year, Sanderson led ISU to a 16-4 dual meet mark, another Big 12 title and a fifth place finish at nationals. Iowa State’s seven All-Americans in 2008 were the most at the school since 1993. In 2009, Sanderson’s team went 15-3 in duals, won its third-straight Big 12 title and took third place at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis (just 12 points out of first place). The Cyclones also crowned another National Champion. In three years at Iowa State, Sanderson’s teams went 44-10, won three conference crowns, qualified all 30 wrestlers for nationals, earned 15 All-American awards and two individual national titles.
A move East and a rapid ascent...
His first season at Penn State was solid. Sanderson led Penn State to a 13-6-1 dual meet record, much improved over the prior year’s 8-12-2 mark. After a year outside the top 10, Sanderson led the Lions back to their place among the nation’s elite with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA?Championships and a No. 10 final dual meet ranking from the NWCA Coaches. Sanderson picked up three more All-Americans (including a national finalist) and a Big Ten Champion in younger brother, Cyler Sanderson.
In 2010-11, Sanderson reached the pinnacle of the collegiate coaching mountain by guiding Penn State through a stunning season filled with records, championships and memories that thrilled the Penn State faithful. Sanderson led the Nittany Lions to their first-ever Southern Scuffle Co-Championship and first Virginia Duals Championship since 1991. While guiding Penn State to a 6-1-1 conference mark, Sanderson equaled the highest Big Ten dual meet wins in Penn State history (1998). He led Penn State to the school’s first ever Big Ten Championship and was named 2011 Big Ten Coach of the Year. He became the first coach in NCAA history to be named both the Big Ten and Big 12 Coach of the Year. Saving the best for last, he led the Nittany Lions to the 2011 NCAA?National Championship in Philadelphia, Penn State’s first since 1953 and Sanderson’s first as a collegiate head coach.
During the 2011-12 season, the nation watched as Sanderson led Penn State to a 13-1 dual mark, including a school record 7-1 Big Ten dual record to earn a share of the 2012 Big Ten dual meet championship. Sanderson then made it two in a row by leading Penn State to the 2012 Big Ten Championship at Purdue. He was named 2012 Big Ten Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the second-straight season. Two weeks later, Sanderson led Penn State to a second-straight NCAA crown, helping Penn State to become the fifth team in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles. He was named NWCA National Coach of the Year for the second time in his career at the conclusion of the championships in Des Moines.
In 2012-13, Penn State posted an identical 13-1 mark, 7-1 Big Ten dual record and won its third-straight Big Ten Championship in Illinois in March. Sanderson earned his third-straight Big Ten Coach of the Year honor (co) in the process. Two weeks after that, Sanderson guided Penn State to a thrilling third-straight NCAA crown, helping Penn State to become just the third team in NCAA history to win three-straight team titles. At the tournament’s end, he was named NWCA National Coach of the Year.
In 2013-14, Penn State went 15-1 overall and won a share of the Big Ten dual meet title with a 7-1 record. The Nittany Lions won their fourth-straight Big Ten Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, helping Sanderson win his fourth-straight Big Ten Coach of the Year honor. Two weekends later, the Nittany Lions won their fourth-straight NCAA title, becoming the third team in NCAA history to win four-straight NCAA titles.
In 2014-15, Sanderson led Penn State to an 11-4 dual meet record, a fifth-straight Southern Scuffle title, garnering five All-Americans and another individual National Champion at the NCAA Championships.
In 2015-16, he added a sixth-straight Southern Scuffle championships, a third Big Ten dual meet title (co-) and the 2016 NWCA National Dual Series championship. He led Penn State to its fifth Big Ten Championship in six years in Iowa City and followed that up with his fifth NCAA National Championship in six years in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
In 2016-17, Sanderson led Penn State to its second-straight NCAA title and sixth in seven years. Penn State posted a perfect 14-0 dual meet record, won the 2017 Big Ten regular season (dual meet) title and the NWCA Dual Championship Series crown for the second-straight season. Sanderson’s team posted a gaudy 35-6 record at NCAAs and won five-straight individual championships to close out the national finals.
In 2017-18, Sanderson led Penn State to its seventh NCAA title in eight years and third- straight. Penn State posted a perfect 14-0 dual meet record and won the Big Ten regular season (dual meet) title yet again. Sanderson’s team posted a superb 39-9 record at NCAAs. Penn State ended the season riding a 45-dual win streak and set an NCAA record for attendance at an indoor dual meet with 15,998 in the BJC for a win over Iowa.
In 2018-19, Sanderson closed out a decade as Penn State’s mentor by leading Penn State to its eighth NCAA title in nine years and fourth-straight for the second time in his first ten years as head coach. Penn State posted a perfect 14-0 dual meet record for the fourth-straight year, won the Big Ten regular season (dual meet) and Big Ten Tournament Championship. Sanderson’s team posted a 35-11 record at NCAAs and had the team title clinched before the finals began Saturday night. Penn State ended the season riding a 59-dual win streak. Sanderson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and InterMat National Coach of the Year.
In 2019-20, the Lion mentor led the team to a 12-2 overall record and a near-perfect 8-1 Big Ten dual meet mark. Penn State dropped two duals by a total of three points. Penn State crowned two more Big Ten Champions in true freshman Aaron Brooks and senior Mark Hall. Brooks was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The Nittany Lions advanced seven wrestlers to the 2020 NCAA Championships before the NCAA canceled the event. The NWCA named the top eight seeds at each weight first team All-Americans after the tournament was canceled, giving Sanderson five more All-Americans.
In 2020-21, Sanderson guided Penn State through a season that was shortened and altered by the NCAA’s reaction to a virus. The Nittany Lions went a perfect 6-0 in dual meets (all in the Big Ten) and earned a share of their seventh Big Ten dual meet title. Roman Bravo-Young and Aaron Brooks won Big Ten titles in the BJC and Carter Starocci was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Penn State took nine wrestlers to nationals and the Nittany Lions went a perfect 4-0 in the NCAA finalist in St. Louis, with Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Starocci and Brooks all claiming their first individual titles. Freshmen Michael Beard and Greg Kerkvliet each placed seventh to give Sanderson six All-Americans for the year.
In 2021-22, the Nittany Lions roared into Detroit and claimed their ninth NCAA team title since Sanderson’s arrival. Penn State, winning the 9th NCAA crown in the last 11 tournaments, brought home six All-Americans (a tournament high) and went a Penn State Perfect 5-0 in the NCAA finals (following up 2021’s 4-0 run). Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean all won individual titles while Greg Kerkvliet placed fourth. Sanderson was named 2022 NCAA Coach of the Championship by the NWCA at the conclusion of the event. The 36.5-point margin of victory over the second place team was the largest since the Lions outdistanced the field by 40 points in 2019.
In 2022-23, the Nittany Lions stormed into Tulsa, Okla., to claim their 10th NCAA title under Sanderson (and the 10th in the last 12 tournaments). The Nittany Lions crowned two more NCAA Champions (Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks), had five NCAA finalists and eight All-Americans. Sanderson’s team won the NCAA team title with 137.5 points and posted the fifth largest winning margin (55.0) in NCAA history. Penn State won the 2023 Big Ten Regular Season Championship and the 2023 Big Ten Championship by dominating the field a the Big Ten tournament in Ann Arbor. True freshman Levi Haines was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the third time in the last four years that a Nittany Lion has won the honor (Brooks, Starocci)
In 14 years as Penn State’s mentor, Sanderson led the Nittany Lions to eight Southern Scuffle titles, nine B1G dual meet titles, seven Big Ten Championships, 10 NCAA Championships, collected 83 All-Americans, 34 National Champions, including an NCAA record-tying five in both 2017 and 2022, four Gorriaran winners, five NCAA Tournament Outstanding Wrestlers, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, one NCAA Elite 89 winner, one NCAA Top 10 Award winner and five Hodge Trophy winners. Sanderson, who has coached 98 total All-Americans and 36 total National Champions (including his three years at Iowa State), grabbed his 100th win as Penn State’s head coach in its 36-6 victory over Stanford in Rec Hall on 11/13/16 and his 100th Big Ten dual win as Penn State’s mentor with a 23-14 win over Iowa in the BJC on 1/27/23.
A coaching career after the most storied collegiate wrestling career ever...
To this day, Sanderson is considered the most dominant collegiate competitor in NCAA history. In four years, Sanderson never lost. From 1999-2002, Sanderson posted a 159-0 career record (going 39-0, 40-0, 40-0 and 40-0); won four individual National Championships; won four Most Outstanding Wrestler awards at the NCAA Championships (the only wrestler in NCAA history to do so); became the first freshman in NCAA history to win the Outstanding Wrestler honor and won three Dan Hodge Trophies as the nation’s best collegiate wrestler (also a collegiate first). He wrestled his first three years at 184 and then moved to 197 as a senior.
The four-time All-American’s four-year streak of perfection was called the No. 2 most outstanding achievement in collegiate sports history by Sports Illustrated. The NCAA called his final win (in the 2002 NCAA 197-pound championship) one of the NCAA’s “25 Defining Moments” for its Centennial celebration. His wrestling career culminated in 2004 when the Heber City, Utah, native won the 84 kg Olympic Gold Medal in Athens, Greece.
Sanderson’s Career Coaching Record
Season Record % B1G Dual B1G Trn. NCAA Qual. AA NC
2006-07 13-3-0 .813 --- 1st+ 2nd 10 4 1
2007-08 16-4-0 .800 --- 1st+ 5th 10 7 0
2008-09 15-3-0 .833 --- 1st+ 3rd 10 4 1
2009-10 13-6-1 .675 5-3-0 5th 9th 6 3 0
2010-11 17-1-1 .921 6-1-1 1st 1st 8 5 1
2011-12 13-1-0 .929 7-1-0 1st 1st 9 6 3
2012-13 13-1-0 .929 7-1-0 1st 1st 10 5 2
2013-14 15-1-0 .938 7-1-0 1st 1st 10 7 2
2014-15 11-4-0 .733 6-3-0 5th 6th 7 5 1
2015-16 16-0-0 1.00 9-0-0 1st 1st 9 6 2
2016-17 14-0-0 1.00 9-0-0 2nd 1st 9 6 5
2017-18 14-0-0 1.00 9-0-0 2nd 1st 9 8 4
2018-19 14-0-0 1.00 9-0-0 1st 1st 9 7 3
2019-20 12-2 .857 8-1-0 4th # 7 5 #
2020-21 6-0-0 1.00 6-0-0 2nd 2nd 9 6 4
2021-22 17-0-0 1.00 8-0-0 2nd 1st 9 6 5
2022-23 16-0-0 1.00 8-0-0 1st 1st 9 8 2
Career 235-26-2 .897 104-11-1 --- --- 150 98 36
Italics are at Iowa State /// +Big 12 Tournament
# - the 2020 NCAA championship was canceled.
