Penn State captures sixth national wrestling championship in seven years, and no one notices

… now has eight national titles 

The news was electric. A Penn State team had just won its sixth national championship in the past seven years. Never has a Nittany Lion team dominated the sport like this one.

And yet, on PennLive.com, where football recruiting stories can routinely draw a 100 comments or more, or where a Penn State football story can draw as many as 1,000 comments, there were only 17 on Sunday, a day after taking that national title.

The Nittany Lions captured five individual national titles on their way to their sixth title in recent years. Those five individual titles tied the NCAA record that was set in 2005 by Oklahoma State.

This year, no team was even close to them.

After the championship had ended, Penn State Coach Cael Sanderson said this, "It was incredible. I don't have words to describe it. It was unbelievable and so amazing that they did it.''

Perhaps the most unbelievable part of this story was how Penn State ended up with Sanderson as their coach in 2009.

Cael Sanderson

In his four years of wrestling at Iowa State University, Cael Sanderson did something incredible. He never lost a wrestling match. Not one. He is the only NCAA wrestler with at least 100 victories to ever do so, according to Sports Illustrated. He won four consecutive NCAA titles at 184 pounds.

Sanderson then captured an olympic gold medal in 2004.

Sanderson returned to Iowa State to coach wrestling, and he became the head coach in 2006. For three years, the Cyclones won the Big 12 title, and in 2009, they were national runners-up to Iowa for the national title.

Yet, Sanderson left.

Leaving Iowa State

For what I can tell, Sanderson never elaborated on why he left Iowa State. Many there were upset. The Iowa State Daily said this about the move, "Cael Sanderson sold out."

Making matters worse, he took his brother and three other Iowa State wrestlers with him. After they sat out for a year for NCAA transfer requirements, the Nittany Lions won the national championship in 2011, starting that six of seven run.

I am not certain why Sanderson left Iowa State. I have read a number of stories about it, but he has apparently not made that very clear.

Penn State wrestling fans

What is clear is that Penn State wrestling fans are ecstatic about Sanderson's performance as coach. Penn State had won two national titles before Sanderson arrived, in 1921 and 1953, and now have eight.

Penn State is wrestling country. When I attended matches there more than 40 years ago, Rec Hall would be packed. The fans were vocal, enthusiastic, critical, and most of all, supportive.

At that time, probably half of the crowd would be from the local area of Central Pa., where wrestling is still an intense sport.

Perhaps that is what Sanderson saw when he left Iowa State, the potential to tap into something that really had not yet been exploited.

Winning six of the past seven titles is unbelievable, and it is a testament to a coach who saw something in Penn State that he apparently did not have at Iowa State.

Winners

Penn State's individual winners included Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174) and Bo Nickal (184), according to the Centre Daily Times.

Nick Suriano (125 pounds) was forced to pull out due to an injury, making the accomplishment that much more impressive.

Where was the parade?

I looked on the Penn State Daily Collegian website to see if there would be a parade honoring the wrestling team, or if anyone met their plane or bus when it arrived on campus.

I could not find anything. Fortunately, there was no riot downtown last night after the championship either, like there were last fall after two football games.

Schools do have dominant programs, but to ignore very successful programs is sad.

The PSU wrestlers deserve better.