Penn State Wrestling: 5 reasons Nittany Lions are National Championship favorites

No. 5 – Cael Sanderson

What Cael Sanderson has built at Penn State cannot be overstated enough.

From the upgraded practice facilities to the world class talent training in the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, to the top recruiting classes year after year to the leadership and knowledge Sanderson and his coaching staff are able to instill in the wrestlers.

All of this culminates in one, simple fact; Penn State Wrestling has Cael Sanderson and no one else does.

Back in the mid-2000’s many talking heads in the sports media believed Penn State Football was a sleeping giant, which if awoken by modern coaching and philosophy would dominate college football once again.

Well, the so-called “experts” were right that Penn State had a sleeping giant. But they got the program wrong.

The Nittany Lions under Troy Sunderland (from 1999 to 2009) were a respectable wrestling program both in the Big Ten and in the nation. In Sunderland’s 11 year tenure, Penn State had a handful of top four conference finishes, four top 10 finishes in the NCAA’s, seven individual conference champions, 25 All-Americans, and three individual NCAA champions.

But for a program which resides smack-dab in the middle of one of the most fertile wrestling recruiting grounds in the country, it was only a matter of time until they found the right coach to wake up the slumbering beast.

And here’s what Cael Sanderson has done in the 12 seasons at Penn State Wrestling

Dual Record: 169-16-2 (0.904 win %)
Big Ten Individual Titles: 32
Big Ten Team Titles: 6
NCAA All-Americans: 64
NCAA Individual Titles: 27
NCAA Team Titles: 8

I think Penn State got it right …

I’ll just let these numbers speak for themselves as to why Penn State Wrestling is the favorite to win this year.