The Penn Stater Magazine

Cael Sanderson Profiled in the New York Times

November 30, 2009 at 12:51 pm Tina Hay Leave a comment

Some great visibility for the Penn State wrestling program: Sunday’s New York Times has a substantial article on the program and its hoped-for revitalization under new head coach Cael Sanderson.

Penn State hired Sanderson, who is the best collegiate wrestler ever (as evidenced by his perfect 159-0 record and four NCAA titles), to be its new coach last spring. Given that the Lions haven’t won a national championship in wrestling in more than half a century, Sanderson’s move to Happy Valley “at first glance … looked like the equivalent of Sanderson leaving Broadway for regional theater,” the Times article says.

But Pennsylvania is wrestling country, and Penn State has great wrestling facilities and fans. As Sanderson told the Times: “It’s like if I was a football coach with a chance to go to Texas where all the great players are, where they have the best facilities and where the fans support you to this incredible level.”

Under Sanderson (whom we profiled in our Sept-Oct issue), the Lions are off to a good start this year and are ranked No. 15 in the latest coaches’ poll. But Sanderson has much bigger ambitions for the program than just a top-20 ranking. “Coach has made his goal for us real clear,” wrestler Quentin Wright is quoted in the Times article as saying. “We want to win a team championship, and we want to win a lot of them.”

Tina Hay, editor

Entry filed under: Penn State wrestling. Tags: Cael Sanderson, Iowa State wrestling, Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, New York Times, Quentin Wright.