Tag Archives: Cael Sanderson

Dan Gable’s Take on Cael Sanderson’s Switch to Penn State

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Cael Sanderson Left Cyclones for Penn State

Cael Sanderson Left Cyclones for Penn State

So this is a good point that Gable brings up. Why would Cael have left Iowa if he wants a national championship? Yeah, Penn State has the second best high school wrestling program in the nation – second to Utah (he said this jokingly – Pennsylvania has the best in the nation) and they have great ice cream. But why would he leave a school that has more dual meets and more national titles for a team that is statistically second? I mean come on! Penn State placed 15th compared with Iowa’s two! TWO! And your rival is ONE! Why would someone leave a huge fight with a rival for the number one spot? The other thing that they bring up is the money, but Cael has repeatedly denied that it was the money that attracted him to the job.

So here’s the big question – will Dan Gable take a coaching job at his old alumni? “Anything’s a possibility!” I just hope that Dan wakes up three days in a row saying that he needs to coach there. But if it’s not there who will it be? It seems that he pokes fun a bit when they ask him if he’s the best coach in the nation, but look at his stats. Not only his his dual record impressive, he has placed every qualifiying wrestler into the NCAA tournaments. That’s three years, 30 wrestlers for 30 wrestlers. 100%. So if Dan Gable doesn’t want to fill those shoes, who will want to?

[audio=http://www.wrestling411.tv/wp-content/uploads/DanGable_4_18_09.mp3]

Thanks to Wrestling 411 for the audio file!

NCAA DIV I Brackets Now Out

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Want the brackets? Easy. Here are the brackets for the 2009 NCAA DIV I Wrestling Championships. Have fun. If you want to save it to your computer, right click on the link and select Save Link As. Done and did.

Wrestling Tips and Basics: Single Leg Takedown, Cael Sanderson style

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OK, so this one is NOT for the advanced wrestler. However, the take down, whatever the type of form, is still the number one way for a wrestler to attack. The old cliche phrase comes into play here: the best defense is a good offense. If you don’t have a good offense, it goes without saying that you aren’t going to score. If you don’t score, you aren’t going to win the match. So here are some basic steps to a single leg take down, thanks to Cael Sanderson.

Setup

Setup

First is the setup. Notice that the opponents head is looking down and you have control. Remember, were the hips and head go is where you are going to go. So push him around and throw him off so he doesn’t have a good defense.

Change Levels and Shoot

Change Levels and Shoot

Next, before you shoot, change levels. Get your hips and head under his. Notice how much of a level change Cael has done. Get down! Once you have gotten down, not before and not in the same moment, shoot in. Train yourself to shoot past the person. Be sure to keep your elbows in, almost touching. This is good defense; it makes it harder for the opponent to “cow hook” you. Reach in and grab his legs and don’t let go.Also, notice where Cael’s head is. As opposed to a double leg take down, you want your head on the inside, not the outside.

Circle Around

Circle Around

Circle around, and change levels again, this time lifting the leg up as you come.

All in the Hips

All in the Hips

Remember that it’s all in the hips! Get behind your opponent, circling around and keeping a TIGHT hold on the leg, getting ready to use it as leverage.

Keep that leg

Keep that leg

Left the leg to your hip level. Secure it and reach for your opponent’s hips and get ready to shoot THROUGH them. The next series of shots show shooting through the hips and bringing your opponentto the mat for two points.

Shoot through with secured leg

Shoot through with secured leg

Reach around the hips

Reach around the hips

Come Back to mat

Come Back to mat

Hope this helps!! Thanks to www.amateurwrestlingphotos.com for the pictures!

USA Today: Brands, Cael Reignite Iowa/ISU Rivalry

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Coach Cael

Coach Cael

Brands, Sanderson re-ignite Iowa wrestling rivalry

By Luke Meredith, AP Sports Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa — They’re shooting for a record crowd Saturday night in Iowa City.

Local authorities gave the University of Iowa permission to increase the capacity at Carver-Hawkeye Arena from 15,500 to 16,000. Officials have warned folks to buy their tickets in advance and arrive early, and the school plans to run shuttles from parking lots around campus to alleviate traffic.

Must be a Jonas Brothers concert, a Hannah Montana show or a big-time basketball matchup, right?

No, no and no.

It’s the annual dual meet between the Iowa State and Iowa wrestling teams. In a state that prides itself on being a cradle of wrestling, that’s a very big deal – and this year’s matchup between top-rated Iowa and second-ranked Iowa State could be the biggest yet.

Iowa is hoping to break the dual-meet record of 15,646 set by Minnesota when it hosted the Hawkeyes in 2002. The school had sold 13,500 tickets as of Thursday morning.

“I think it shows that wrestling is strong in Iowa,” said Iowa coach Tom Brands. “When you look at two programs that are 200 miles apart, or whatever, I don’t know if there’s any other place in the country like that.”

That one of the biggest rivalries in all of college sports is as popular as ever is a testament to the schools’ dynamic young coaches – Brands and his Iowa State counterpart, former Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson.

The 40-year-old Brands, himself a gold medalist at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, was hired by the Hawkeyes in 2006 after they fired coach Jim Zalesky, who had the unenviable task of replacing legend Dan Gable. Though Zalesky won three straight national titles at Iowa from 1998-2000, a six-year drought followed.

Brands, a former three-time national champion at Iowa, was charged with putting the nation’s pre-eminent program back atop the college wrestling hierarchy. It took him just two seasons to get there, as last spring Iowa rolled to its 21st national title by a whopping margin of 38.5 points.

Brands – who recently signed a contract extension through 2013 that will pay him $150,000 a year plus incentives – will be hard-pressed to approach the 15 national crowns Iowa won under Gable from 1977-97, but he appears to have laid the foundation for an extended run at the top.

Iowa has won 22 straight dual meets and is favored to repeat as national champions. The 13 wrestlers in position to compete in the 10 individual matches on Saturday night are a combined 74-6 this season.

“These guys are about the lifestyle. They are geared toward doing the best they can every time they step out on the mat,” Brands said. “The one thing about this team that I like is that when they get ready to go, they’re pretty good.”

Sanderson, hired by the Cyclones a week before Brands got the Iowa job, is widely viewed as the greatest college wrestler who ever lived. He’s already established a strong reputation as a coach, even though he won’t turn 30 until next June.

Sanderson went 159-0 at Iowa State and was the only athlete ever named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA meet four times. He spent just two seasons as an assistant with the Cyclones before becoming head coach.

Though the man who once graced the cover of a Wheaties box likely could coach anywhere he wanted, Sanderson views the Iowa State job as a “dream situation.”

The Cyclones feel the same way. Besides the esteem that comes with having Sanderson as the face of the program, a team that slipped to 13th at the national meet in 2006 has won two straight Big 12 titles and was second at the 2007 national meet.

The Cyclones are ranked No. 2 in the latest Intermat/NWCA poll.

“It’s awesome. That’s why I’m coaching here,” Sanderson said. “Wrestling is important at Iowa State. We do have the support of the fans and the alumni and the university.”

Sanderson has put Iowa State in position to challenge for its first national title since 1987, but the Cyclones know that the road to the title will go through Iowa City.

They’ll get to see how they stack up to the vaunted Hawkeyes and a raucous crowd that, even by Iowa standards, figures to be huge.

“It’s fun, it’s something that I look forward to as a coach. I know our wrestlers look forward to it,” Sanderson said. “If you get a chance to step out there on a stage where there’s 10,000-plus, 15,000 people watching, it’s pretty cool.”