Takedown Report

Cael Sanderson Is Right. College Wrestling Deserves More Scholarships

As I write this it’s a gorgeous 79 degrees and sunny, there’s a light breeze, and very low humidity. I’m sitting by an outdoor pool that is fully functional — the water is not solid and there are humans splashing around in it — and the nearby plants and trees are all green and blooming. Obviously I’m not in Happy Valley. I’m just north of Orlando, Fla., in the community of Heathrow, where I attended the wonderful outdoor wedding of an old friend (congratulations Richelle and Paul!). Now that the festivities are over I’m reading online and catching up on all the excitement I missed this weekend in Pennsylvania before I leave for my flight back north. That’s right, I missed March Matness. I was not in Pittsburgh watching the Penn State wrestling team win its eighth NCAA team championship in nine years while also crowning three individual NCAA champions.

Think about that – eight national team championships in nine years. I won’t try to find words to describe that level of accomplishment because for most of us it’s incomprehensible. For a team to not only be the best at a certain skill, but then to maintain that skill level year after year when everyone else is focused on just knocking you off… Words do not do that justice. And we all know the man responsible for this achievement is Coach Cael Sanderson, who was named Penn State’s head wrestling coach on April 17, 2009, and in the ensuing 10 years has led what could arguably be called a renaissance in collegiate wrestling in this country. As I was going through all of the news reports and online videos of what happened I came across the coach’s press conference that took place before the national tournament started. Coaches Tom Ryan (Ohio State), Tom Brands (Iowa), John Smith (Oklahoma State), Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh) and Sanderson were seated at the dais and answered a number of questions posed by the reporters. Early in the press conference Sanderson was asked about his opinion regarding the growing number of collegiate wrestlers who are transferring schools. His response (edited for length) was as follows: Rest of the story and details at http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/cael-sanderson-is-right-college-wrestling-deserves-more-scholarships,1479673/?mc_cid=19991bd8ba&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

March 27, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized