A member of NU's 100-win club, Bryan Snyder will begin his first season as assistant coach

Lincoln - The Nebraska wrestling team has announced the return and addition of one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history, as Bryan Snyder has been named an assistant coach for the Huskers.The only four-time All-American and four-time conference champion in school history, Snyder comes back to the Husker wrestling program in its 100th anniversary season (2010-11). The Easton, Pa., native spent last year as the head assistant coach at Arizona State and helped guide five Sun Devils to the 2010 NCAA Championships in Omaha. Snyder began his coaching experience as an assistant at Harvard in 2002-03, while returning to the Husker wrestling program as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05), as NU went 38-5-1 in duals and finished fifth at the 2004 NCAA Championships.

As a wrestler, Snyder ranks No. 1 on Nebraska’s all-time winning percentage chart (.925), compiling a 136-11 record from 1999-2002. He claimed All-America accolades and a Big 12 championship all four years, while finishing as the NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds in 2001 and 2002. He amassed over 30 wins per season three times, including his 43-3 record as a sophomore that stands as the second-best single-season mark in school history. A four-time NWCA All-Academic selection, Snyder was named the 2002 Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year and graduated with a double major in Sociology and Communication Studies.

Snyder is one of 18 members in Nebraska’s 100-win club. Current NU wrestling strength and conditioning coach Jason Powell is also a part of that impressive group with a 109-24 record. Snyder and Powell were varsity teammates for two seasons (2000-01; 2001-02) and led the Huskers to eighth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships both years.

Prior to Nebraska, Snyder was a three-time state place-winner and a 1997 state champion at Easton (Pa.) High School. He finished with a 112-12 record and was one of the nation’s most highly-regarded recruits.

Snyder and Powell join head coach Mark Manning and assistant coach Tony Ersland to form the nucleus of the NU coaching staff for the 2010-11 season. Manning, the 2009 Dan Gable Coach of the Year, enters his 11th season, while assistant coach Tony Ersland will begin his fifth year.

Bryan Snyder
Assistant Coach
Record at Nebraska: 136-11
All-American: 1999 (4th), 2000 (5th), 2001 (2nd), 2002 (2nd)
Big 12 Champion: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

Bryan Snyder Athlete Biography

“I have met with Andrew and informed him of our decision that he is no longer part of the Iowa State wrestling program,” Jackson said in a statement. “We have had previous discussions and Andrew understood what kind of conduct is expected of an Iowa State student-athlete. I deeply regret that this decision was necessary.”

Long was a redshirt freshman with a 27-7 record at 125 pounds last season and advanced to the NCAA Championship title match in March.

Obviously given that we’re still months out from the season starting these are going to be very touch and go in terms of weight changes and redshirts but they’re still fun to do.

Team Scores (Courtesy of SHP)
1. Cornell, 88.5
2. Oklahoma State, 87
3. Minnesota, 66
4t. Boise State, 65
4t. Wisconsin, 65
6. Penn State, 57.5
7. Central Michigan, 42
8. Iowa, 41.5
9. Iowa State, 39.5
10. Pittsburgh, 33

125
1. Matt McDonough (Iowa)
2. Brandon Precin (Northwestern)
3. Zach Sanders (Minnesota)
4. Anthony Robles (Arizona State)
5. Logan Stieber (Ohio State)
6. Frank Perrelli (Cornell)
7. James Nicholson (Old Dominion)
8. Brad Pataky (Penn State)
R12. Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State), Anthony Zanetta (Pittsburgh), Ryak Finch (Iowa State)

133
1. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
2. Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State)
3. Andrew Long (Iowa State)
4. Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly)
5. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech)
6. Mike Grey (Cornell)
7. Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra)
8. Scott Sentes (Central Michigan)
R12. Nikko Triggas (Ohio State), Michael Martinez (Wyoming), David Thorn (Minnesota), Nic Bedelyon (Kent State)

141
1. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State)
2. Kellen Russell (Michigan)
3. Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois)
4. Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh)
5. Mike Thorn (Minnesota)
6. Zack Bailey (Oklahoma)
7. Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech)
8. Chris Villalonga (Cornell)
R12. Germane Lindsey (Ohio), Michael Mangrum (Oregon State), Filip Novachkov (Cal Poly), Colin Palmer (Ohio State)

149
1. Darrion Caldwell (NC State)
2. Kyle Dake (Cornell)
3. Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State)
4. Frank Molinaro (Penn State)
5. Kevin LeValley (Bucknell)
6. Jason Chamberlain (Boise State)
7. Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro)
8. Desi Green (Buffalo)
R12. Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin), Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State), Donnie Vinson (Binghamton), Mario Mason (Rutgers)

157
1. Steve Fittery (American)
2. Adam Hall (Boise State)
3. David Taylor (Penn State)
4. Colt Sponseller (Ohio State)
5. Jason Welch (Northwestern)
6. Jake Deitchler (Minnesota)
7. Bryce Saddoris (Navy)
8. Justin Lister (Binghamton)
R12. Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado), Kurt Kinser (Indiana), Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), Dan Gonsor (Missouri)

165
1. Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
2. Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska)
3. Jon Reader (Iowa State)
4. Scott Winston (Rutgers)
5. Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford)
6. Alex Meade (Oklahoma State)
7. Derek St. John (Iowa)
8. Zach Toal (Missouri)
R12. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma), Jarrion Beets (Northern Iowa), Paul Young (Indiana), Josh Asper (Maryland)

174
1. Mack Lewnes (Cornell)
2. Chris Henrich (Virginia)
3. Jordan Blanton (Illinois)
4. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan)
5. Mike Benefiel (Oklahoma State)
6. Ethan Lofthouse (Iowa)
7. Scott Glasser (Minnesota)
8. Colby Covington (Oregon State)
R12. Mike Letts (Maryland), Luke Manuel (Purdue), Ed Ruth (Penn State), Austin Meys (Lehigh)

184
1. Kirk Smith (Boise State)
2. Quentin Wright (Penn State)
3. Dustin Kilgore (Kent State)
4. Chris Perry (Oklahoma State)
5. Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming)
6. Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro)
7. Mike Miller (Central Michigan)
8. AJ Kissel (Purdue)
R12. Steve Bosak (Cornell), Grant Gambrall (Iowa), Brent Haynes (Missouri), Jon Fausey (Virginia)

197
1. Cam Simaz (Cornell)
2. Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin)
3. Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State)
4. Sonny Yohn (Minnesota)
5. Anthony Biondo (Michigan)
6. Cayle Byers (George Mason)
7. Jerome Ward (Iowa State)
8. Michael Salopek (Virginia)
R12. Riley Orozco (Cal State Bakersfield), Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh), Logan Brown (Purdue), Micah Burak (Penn)

285
1. Zach Rey (Lehigh)
2. Dom Bradley (Missouri)
3. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan)
4. Ryan Tomei (Pittsburgh)
5. Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State)
6. DJ Russo (Rutgers)
7. David Marone (Virginia Tech)
8. Ben Berhow (Minnesota)
R12. Eric Bugenhagen (Wisconsin), Cam Wade (Penn State), Brandon Williamson (West Virginia), Brendan Barlow (Kent State)

It’s never going to leave, that painful image of defeat. Not in Dan Gable’s mind, not in this lifetime. He won’t allow it. He clings to it like a drowning man trying to stay afloat, because he understands what once had defeated him also made him a champion.

It doesn’t matter that it’s been 30 years. Time heals nothing, not the memory, not the legend and not the gap between the two men, Iowa State’s Dan Gable, the greatest wrestler of all time, and a confident University of Washington sophomore named Larry Owings.

“I don’t think he’s out of my head even today,” Gable said recently.

Their epic match 30 years ago altered the lives of both in ways not anticipated and provided the sport with a story to pass down through generations on the scope of a Biblical parable.

“People are still talking about it,” said Ron Good, editor of the Amateur Wrestling News. “It’s the biggest upset ever in the sport, and it’s a fascinating story.”

Owings and Gable, forever linked, met in the NCAA final for the 142-pound weight class. Gable never lost before he faced Owings in that match, nor after it. But in the final 30 seconds of a close, intense, exhausting match, Owings slipped underneath Gable’s arms for a leg lift or sweep, putting the erstwhile invincible Gable on his back for the winning points. “It was a move,” Owings said, “I had never done before or since.”

Gable was told Owings’ comment and said he didn’t realize the infamous leg sweep was not a practiced move.

“If he had never tried that before, then that tells me it’s desperate. Desperation is something that brings out unusual things,” Gable said. “I had never heard that before. That makes it worse now from my point of view. I kind of wish he had gotten me with his best move.”

It happened March 28, 1970, at McGaw Hall, an 8,800-seat fieldhouse on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill.

Gable was (and is) the god of the sport, a no-nonsense, punishing force who may have been the world’s best-conditioned athlete. He would get up in the middle of the night to do pushups, knowing his opponent still slept.

His physical makeup was legendary, his results extraordinary. He went 64-0 at Waterloo (Iowa) West High School and 117-0 in three years at Iowa State (freshmen could not compete then) with NCAA titles at 130 and 137 pounds. He was going for his third title at 142 pounds, and virtually everyone thought he was a lock.

Michael Jordan is the Dan Gable of basketball.

“He was a good, solid all-around wrestler who did not make a lot of mistakes,” said Owings, now director of facilities for the Molalla (Ore.) School District. “He was in excellent condition. In that way, he and I were similar. Conditioning was a big part of my preparation.”

Owings ran three miles every morning around the Husky Stadium track, averaging six minutes a mile and sprinting the final quarter-mile in less than a minute. Then he would wrestle two hours a day. He was as relentless and as conditioned as Gable was.

Owings had one more thing Gable didn’t have – implacability. He was driven. The pair had met two years earlier, at the 1968 Olympic Trials when Owings was a senior at Canby (Ore.) High and Gable was a sophomore at Iowa State. Gable won 13-4 and went on; Owings never forgot.

“I knew who he was,” Owings said, somewhat disingenuously. If there was one code Owings lived by then, it was a desire to have a second chance against anyone who had beaten him. Gable was one of the few.

Owings had his first chance at the 1969 NCAA Championships but, as he would later regret, decided to wrestle at 130 pounds, avoiding Gable’s 137-pound class. That wouldn’t happen in 1970. Owings told UW Coach Jim Smith that he was aiming directly at the legend. He would drop down two weight classes, from 158 to 142, just to have a shot at Gable at the NCAAs. Smith would rather have Owings wrestle at 150 pounds.

Smith successfully argued with the seeding committee for his wrestler, who would finish 33-1 that year, to get the second seed behind Gable. It meant that when they met, it would be for the national title – Gable’s final college match.

Mike Gerald, who now lives in Austin, Texas, wrote a book on Owings when the two became acquainted in Oregon. He describes Owings as a “Charles Lindbergh persona, quietly confident,” who believed he could equal Gable’s strength and conditioning.

When Owings arrived, the mind games, so subtly important in this sport, began. He was interviewed by a Chicago newspaper about his chances against the invincible one, and Owings didn’t demur. “I’m not going to this tournament to be a national champion. I’m coming here to beat Gable,” he was quoted.

Gable said a teammate showed him the article. He was intrigued by Owings’ swagger. No one had ever said something that, at least no one who could back it up. He took notice of the young Husky, perhaps more than appropriately.

“When I got to the tournament, I still felt fine – that I could win and do everything I thought I could do,” Gable said. “But I was distracted by Larry Owings. It was a name I had not come across too much ahead of time, but I began paying more attention to him. I don’t know if he planned it or not, but he got inside my head.”

Gable began scouting Owings’ matches. He noticed that the UW wrestler was making “all kinds of mistakes but still ended up pinning his opponent.” The pins were accomplished by Owings’ best move, an inside reverse cradle that left his opponent unable to escape.

Lyle Ballew, a teammate of Owings’, reported back to Owings that during the Iowa State practices, Gable would work with teammates on every possible countermove to the cradle. “It was an indication,” Gerald said, “that Gable was taking him real seriously. He respected his pinning ability.”

Both wrestlers advanced through the tournament by pinning each of their opponents. However, Gable had to deal with more distractions than Owings. He was presented with the Man of the Year award during the championships, the media sought him out before and after every match, and he was struggling under the burden of a 181-match winning streak.

Then, just an hour before the match, ABC-TV convinced him to do a short promo advancing the telecast, which would be shown a week later, by having him tell the viewer to watch him finish his career 182-0. The promo never ran.

“There was probably not 10 people in that crowd of 9,000 or so who would have bet on Owings,” Oklahoma State Coach Myron Roderick said. “I thought it would be a contest. Larry was tough. He wasn’t scared and had nothing to lose. Dan had a lot of pressure on him. It’s hard to win a third NCAA title. Larry took the match to him.”

The house lights were dimmed, with only the overhead lights framing the mat in the center of McGaw Hall. The crowd edged forward. Owings wore a black singlet with white trim, while Gable was in cardinal and gold. Each wore white headgear and white kneepads. This was the featured match of the tournament. Of the century.

It was close throughout the three-period match, and the constant crowd noise was deafening. Within the first 30 seconds, Gable got up 2-0 with a takedown, but Owings came back on a takedown and escape to lead, 3-2. By the end of the second period, Owings had stretched the lead to 7-2 and the crowd was hysterical. Referee Pascal Perri described the noise as “comparable to Niagara Falls during the spring thaw.”

Gable, who admitted he was uncharacteristically worn down as the match dragged on, remembered telling himself, “Don’t get caught in the cradle. Don’t get caught in the cradle.” He could’t believe he was the one affected by his opponent’s reputation.

But Gable made a gritty comeback, as his fans expected him to, late in the match. With less than a minute remaining, the scoreboard showed Owings leading 9-8, but Gable actually had a 10-9 lead. He had two points in riding time that would be rewarded at the end by Perri.

Only 30 seconds remained in the match; and Gable, despite the fact that he could coast to a one-point win, continued to stand up and circle with Owings.

“I had two minutes more riding time, so I was pretty much in control of the match,” Gable said. “(But) I got greedy.”

He tried an arm-bar move, coming over Owings’ shoulder in an attempt to lock him up and take him down. This was Owings’ opportunity, the fateful moment when his never-used leg sweep caught Gable by surprise.

Gable said when Owings grabbed his leg “it was kind of like a slow-motion fall. I didn’t know how the referee would score it.”

Perri had given Owings two points for the takedown and two for a near-fall, as Gable’s shoulders were briefly exposed to the mat. The scorer had not seen the near-fall signal because a TV cameraman had jumped in the way, so Perri stopped the match to explain.

Iowa State Coach Harold Nichols protested. Gable, then and now, says the near-fall was “a judgment call.”

Perri brought the two wrestlers back with 17 seconds left for a final grab-and-hold.

“At that point, once I saw the score and only three seconds left, I knew he couldn’t get two points,” Owings said.

Owings had won, 13-11.

“Stunned was the word,” Owings said of his first moments as the giant-killer. “He (Gable) was dazed and confused. He was stunned he had lost. We were on our knees at the end of the match. We got up, and he offered me his hand and we shook.

“It was bedlam. They shut down the whole tournament for 15 minutes. The roar of the crowd was unbelievable. It was probably the match of the century. We went at it tooth and nail.”

Smith, a man not quite 5 feet tall, ran over and bear-hugged and hoisted his champion. Owings was the first UW wrestler to win an NCAA title, but what mattered was that he had upset a man the Russians reverently called “The Machine,” a man who had won 181 straight matches, 108 by pins.

The fans, said Roderick, “were in shock, as well as excited seeing history. A sophomore had beaten the giant.

“The American people like the underdog, but at the same time there was sadness. Gable was heartbroken. During the award ceremonies, his real feelings came out. Dan stood there crying. It was one of the most emotional scenes I can ever remember.”

Gable was given a four-minute standing ovation during his introduction as the ceremonies stopped.

Iowa State had won the national team championship, but Gable’s loss dominated the headlines. It also dominated him. He had a chance to face Owings again three weeks later, then again seven months later, but Owings lost in the preliminary round. Gable remembers wrestling an opponent while at the same time watching Owings lose on an adjacent mat.

The match at Northwestern had its impact on both wrestlers. Owings, who said, “I did not really realize the scope of what I accomplished,” never again won the championship, losing in the NCAA finals his final two years. He wrestled Gable one more time, in the 1972 Olympic Trials, losing 7-1. As lopsided as that score was, it was the only point allowed by Gable during the trials or the Olympics.

Owings briefly wrestled internationally and retired in 1973 to his home in Oregon. He coached for a while, then settled into obscurity of teaching and administrating.

Gable’s career soared. After his Olympic title, he coached the Iowa Hawkeyes to 21 consecutive Big Ten titles and 15 national championships in his 21 years as head coach, going 355-21-5. He now does university fund raising and works with the U.S. Olympic team.

“After that match, it took me a long time to really admit a lot of things,” Gable said. “I really didn’t want to see it or talk about it much. But I have to admit to this day that match made my career, not only the next two years. It had a tremendous impact on my entire coaching career.”

Gable said he learned not to take an opponent lightly, to eliminate distractions and accentuate an aura of invincibility and intimidation toward an opponent, just as Owings had done to him.

Gable is in the U.S. Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. Owings, despite a national title and an 87-4 record at Washington (52-1 in dual meets), is not.

“Probably some day,” said Roderick, who is president of the museum. “You can’t put someone in because of one match. If he had won two national championships it would be easier, but he never went to the Olympics and didn’t do much international wrestling.”

But Owings has a prominent spot in the Hall, with a large picture of the match and some mementos. It is annually the most viewed element in the Hall. Moderator: When I visited the Hall in 2006, Owings’ singlet worn in the match was on display, right next to Gable’s Iowa State uniform, right in the lobby.

Owings has not talked to Gable since 1980, and that was a brief conversation to ask him to consider looking at a wrestler in his district. During the conversation, neither mentioned the match. They haven’t talked to each other since.

These stats are kept meticulously even in high school. Some wrestlers go crazy for this information, and not just the recruiters. Programs scour the nation for people with large amounts of matches wrestled, massive amounts of pins, technical galore and so much more. Fans automatically are drawn to the wrestlers that have large numbers. Once they’re drawn in, they’ll start researching the numbers. Ask any wrestling fan that avidly follows a wrestler about the persons stats and they’ll be able to tell you how many wins they had, how many losses, how many of those wins were from pins, techs, how long the longest match lasted and how long the shortest match was.

Some people may think that only a mathematician can handle so much numbers and what they mean, but wrestlers, coaches and fans seek them out. They crave them. The championships is no exception. I was able to make it out to Omaha this past year and everyone was talking about Metcalf, Palmer, Ohio, Iowa, Cornell… and their numbers. They talked about Jayson Ness, the 133 pounder from Minnesota who went undefeated the entire season, along with the eight others that came into the three day tournament with an undefeated record. On the way out, they were talking about the five seniors that completed four years as four-time All Americans and the five that became the only ones with an undefeated season.

If you still don’t believe me that wrestlers, fans and coaches are numbers driven, Mike Johnson, of Manassas, Virginia, has compiled an 18 page report of numbers from the NCAA championships in Omaha. I might not be that convincing, but that report will convince almost anyone.

Iowa Wrestling Coach Tom Brands

Look at Tom Brands. A fiery wrestler and NCAA champ for Iowa, as well as an assistant coach there for 12 years, left for Virginia Tech in the 2004-05 season. The Hokies went 1-16 that year.

The next season they were 16-4 and won the ACC. But Brands had a chance to return as head coach at Iowa, the mecca of college wrestling, and did so after the conclusion of the 2005-06 season.

He also took three recruits back with him — Brent Metcalf, Dan LeClere and Jay Borschel. Ever heard of them? You should if you follow college wrestling.

Brands’ first year as head coach was a down year by Iowa standards, 14-5 and an NCAA finish of eighth as the aforementioned trio were forced to redshirt. That changed as the Hawkeyes went 21-1 in 2007-08 and 24-0 in 2008-09, winning the NCAA team title both seasons and currently on a winning streak of 38 straight dual meets.

Look to the east and you’ll see similar goings-on. Cornell has established itself as one of the top teams in the East with head coach Rob Koll, a 1984 PIAA champ from State College and 1988 NCAA champ from North Carolina.

He recruits Pennsylvania and New York and while he doesn’t always have the type of lineup to compete with the Iowas and Minnesotas, he has enough stars to ensure high finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Another program is emerging at Maryland. Led by Kerry McCoy, a two-time NCAA champ at Penn State, the Terps last week beat Cornell 18-17 by scoring nine points in the last two bouts for the win.

As a result, Maryland is ranked sixth and Cornell seventh this week by InterMat.
Insert Image of Cael

There’s another change taking place at Penn State. By no means are we comparing the Nittany Lions to any upstart program. State has been a solid program from the get-go, with periodically great teams in each decade.

All but the current decade in which the team hasn’t always lived up to the potential the recruits in the room automatically provided.

Iowa St Wrestling Cael Sanderson

When Olympic champion Cael Sanderson took over in April, he said his plan was to make Penn State into a perennial championship contender. What his followers have to realize is that a plan has to have a beginning, and the beginning of Sanderson’s plan is to redshirt a number of talented wrestlers this season.

Thus far — and it is early — that lineup has yielded four very good wrestlers, three wrestlers with nice potential but aren’t consistently going to win big matches, and three wrestlers who likely won’t be in next season’s lineup.

That said, it’s probably good enough to win 14 or 15 matches, perhaps crown one Big Ten champ and earn a good handful of All-America certificates.

Next season the bar will be raised, expectations will be higher, intensity surrounding the program should regain a feverish pitch, one that probably hasn’t been seen since the 1992-93 and 1997-98 seasons.

The program hasn’t been devoid of talent since then by any means, with six winning seasons, three national champs and some good showings in the Big Ten championships.

Sanderson’s plan can be reduced to simple terminology. Currently, when you think college wrestling, you think Iowa. His goal: when you think college wrestling, you’ll think Penn State.

The plan is in place; the first steps are under way. Plans take time. If this plan succeeds, fans in this wrestling-crazy state will have a good time.

COLLEGE NOTES: Rankings remain the barometer of any sport. It’s no surprise Iowa is ranked No. 1. The Hawkeyes are followed in the InterMat rankings by Iowa State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Oklahoma State. Lehigh is 12th, Penn State 13th, Edinboro 19th and Pitt 25th. In Division II, Pitt-Johnstown is 10th, Mercyhurst 11th, Gannon 17th and Kutztown 20th. In Division III, Wisconsin-LaCrosse is first while Delaware Valley is seventh, Wilkes 18th and Lycoming 22nd.

Since April and the introduction of Cael Sanderson as Penn State’s head coach, Nittany Lion wrestling has been the hottest topics of conversation among the United States wrestling community.

The Sanderson story line has brought a heightened level of excitement to this season for fans, no matter their affiliation to Penn State.

The anticipation can clearly be felt, but the question is how can that anticipation be tangibly measured in State College and across the state of Pennsylvania.

The 29-year-old Sanderson doesn’t worry about the expectations that come with the enthusiasm of his arrival.

“I know there is a lot of excitement,” he said. “I have been fortunate to have been raised to have a mind set that I can focus on the process and what it takes to be successful and not worry about anything other than what I can control.

“Nobody is going to put more pressure on me to win, at least I am not going to feel it, than me.”

Sanderson has also spread that game plan to those closest to his dreams for Penn State. And in turn, they are happy to explain every element of these expectations.

Wrestling matters during football season

The first sign that this is a new era of Penn State Wrestling is that fans, students and professors are talking about wrestling in October.

Frank Molinaro, a New Jersey native and 141-pound All-American for the Nittany Lions a season ago, is enlightening his professors about the program.

“I go to half my classes and my teachers are asking me about Cael, how the new coach is, how the programs going. It seems like everyone is really looking forward to wrestling season this year,” Molinaro said.

Penn State Associate Head Wrestling Coach Cody Sanderson, who followed younger brother Cael to Happy Valley, has experienced a new phenomenon.

“It doesn’t matter where I go or who I talk to. People have heard about Cael coming in and they’re excited to see what he can do. That’s everybody from the lawn maintenance guys to the nurses at the hospital.

“Everywhere I’ve been people want to talk about wrestling, being at Penn State during football season that’s quite an accomplishment.”

Packing into Rec Hall

The Nittany Lions will have only five home duals this season and only one home dual prior to January. That should leave a vastly growing fan base chomping at the bit to see the product that the new coaching staff is putting on the mat.

Half a season of anticipation combined with season ticket numbers that have almost doubled will make Rec Hall a raucous and thrilling venue to compete in.

“We’re seeing the students energized,” said Penn State wrestling sports information director Pat Donghia. “We’re seeing a public that’s constantly saying how excited they are that Cael’s here.

“Everyone loved (former coach) Troy (Sunderland), but there’s an excitement now with Cael coming in, people are starting to attach themselves not just to this year, but what they see happening in years down the road.

“I think there is a tangible vibe you can put your thumb on. People are ready for this program to do something very special. You can look at how our season ticket sales are going and people want to get in on the ground floor of that.”

Last season, Penn State roughly had a 1,000 season ticket holders. Since April there have been 700 new season ticket applicants and that list continues to grow. Rec Hall will also feature 40 premium floor seats for every home dual. The premium mat-side seating was announced on September 3 and each seat sold for $100 to $125 for the season. Nearly all those seats were sold by October.

Recruiting

The impact of the Sanderson hiring in State College is clear based on ticket sales and the buzz floating around the campus. The bigger impact can be measured through the recruiting success Penn State has had in the last seven months.

Sanderson’s recruiting impact actually started many months before his move to Pennsylvania. The nation’s top recruit, David Taylor from Ohio, and three-time Arizona state champion Luke Macchiaroli were Iowa State recruits who followed Sanderson to Penn State. Also, 2008 All-American Cyler Sanderson made the decision to transfer from ISU so that he could compete one more season for his brothers.

However, it did not take long for Sanderson to find success recruiting in Pennsylvania. Four days after he was hired, Andrew and Dylan Alton, highly-ranked recruits in the country, gave verbal commitments to the Nittany Lions. That was followed up by verbals from two more Pennsylvania stand-outs, Sam Sherlock and Dirk Cowburn.

“On a state level, people have always talked about what Penn State could be if we could harness the program and get everybody excited about coming into the state or staying in the state,” said Matt Dernlan, Penn State’s Director of Wrestling Operations.

“It’s never going to be easy because we’ve got the best kids in the country so everybody is going to be fighting for them. Hopefully, as soon as these kids start wrestling in the baby programs they start dreaming about wearing the blue and white, wrestling for Cael and Penn State.”

Quentin Wright, a 2009 All-American at 174 pounds for Penn State gave his take on why the Nittany Lion Wrestling program is garnering such big commitments.

“Penn State’s becoming the premier program in the country, that’s what we’re developing into right now,” said Wright, a sophomore who will redshirt this season. “All these kids in the states around here understand wrestling and they know you need to go where your best competition is. When the best competition in the world is in your room that makes a big difference in recruiting.

“Cael coming to Penn State has given Pennsylvania a whole other spark. A reason to put your guts and soul into the sport and try to wrestle for Penn State.”

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzUYUhjoAuY /]

When I saw this, I think it’s one of the sickest KO’s I’ve seen. I think mostly because of the back history. Henderson is from the US. Bisbing is from the UK. They were the coaches on the ninth season of the TV reality show The Ultimate Fighter. The people from the show came up with the idea back in season one to have the coaches fight each other at the end of the season, so here’s the fight. Bisbing, though, has a big mouth; he said that he thought that American fighters weren’t tough (I’m paraphrazing the quote).

Henderson was asked after the fight about the second punch and if he knew that Bisbing was out. He replied that he knew that he was out, but he wanted to try to shut his mouth up for him, going back to the only comment Henderson said about Bisbing during season nine “I have the chance to shut his mouth with my fist.”

I think next time you better not open your mouth…