Cael Sanderson leaves Iowa State for Penn State

[dbackjon]

Penn State has hired Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson to take over the Nittany Lions wrestling program, luring away a marquee name from one of the sport's geographic hotbeds.

Sanderson leaves his alma mater, Iowa State, after three seasons. The Cyclones won three straight Big 12 titles under Sanderson and finished in the top five in each of the last three NCAA championships.

Penn State said Sanderson will be introduced officially as head coach at a news conference Monday.

Sanderson also is known for his accomplishments on the mat as an Olympic gold medalist and a four-time NCAA champion. He went undefeated in four years at Iowa State (159-0). He was the first NCAA wrestler to go undefeated with more than 100 wins.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4077986

This is HUGE...

[BlueHen86]

Penn State has hired Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson to take over the Nittany Lions wrestling program, luring away a marquee name from one of the sport's geographic hotbeds.

Sanderson leaves his alma mater, Iowa State, after three seasons. The Cyclones won three straight Big 12 titles under Sanderson and finished in the top five in each of the last three NCAA championships.

Penn State said Sanderson will be introduced officially as head coach at a news conference Monday.

Sanderson also is known for his accomplishments on the mat as an Olympic gold medalist and a four-time NCAA champion. He went undefeated in four years at Iowa State (159-0). He was the first NCAA wrestler to go undefeated with more than 100 wins.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4077986

This is HUGE...

I agree, this is huge (if you like wrestling). Pennsylvania in one of the top wrestling states, it may be the top wrestling state. I believe that it produces more NCAA wrestlers than any other state, but I don't have the actual numbers readily available to prove it. To date, Penn St. has not been able to gain an edge in recruiting over other PA schools, let along some out of state schools. If Sanderson is able to land PA's top talent and some top talent from out of state Penn St. will become a force in NCAA wrestling.

[NorthernCOU]

I agree this is huge, it'll be interesting to see how this shakes things up. Big ten just got a lot stronger. (as if they needed it)

[BlueHen86]

Cael has already landed a couple of top recruits.

Andrew and Dylan Alton from Central Mountain H.S. in PA have both verbally commited to Penn St.

Andrew finished the season 46-0 and won the PIAA state championship at 140 lbs. He was ranked #1 nationally at at 140 lbs by InterMat in their January rankings.

Dylan finished the season 47-0 and won the PIAA state championship at 145 lbs. He was ranked #3 nationally at 145 lbs by interMat in their January rankings.