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Cael Sanderson is the current head coach of Penn State Wrestling and a former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler. Under his guidance, the Lions recently clinched their third consecutive national title on Saturday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships 2024.
Sanderson has been the backbone of the Nittany Lions side ever since he took up the coaching role in 2009. He has managed to win a whopping 11 titles with them in just 15 years.
Penn State also registered its highest-ever score in the 2024 Championships under Sanderson on Saturday with a mammoth 172.5 points, courtesy of their two stars - Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks.
Coach Sanderson was all praise for his star performers during the post-match conference. He said to Flo Wrestling:
"In situations like Carter and Aaron, the pressure mounts, but they’re both competitors and that’s what they live for, that’s what they were born for.”
During their campaign, Penn State became the first team to win the tournament by a three-digit margin. They also had eight wrestlers on the podium and missed out on the world record by a small margin (10 wrestlers on the podium).
With all this said, let's know more about the 44-year-old coach of Penn State Wrestling who guided them to their third consecutive title in historic fashion.
Cael Sanderson's hometown and family
Sanderson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 20, 1979, to Steve Sanderson and Debbie Sanderson. He studied at Iowa State University and graduated with a degree in art and design.
Sanderson is one of the most prominent collegiate wrestlers in the history of the NCAA. In 2002, the Utah native married Kelly with whom he has two sons - Tate and Teag.
Cael Sanderson's career as a wrestler
During his college wrestling days at Iowa State University, Sanderson was undefeated for four years with a win-loss margin of 159-0. He also won four consecutive NCAA Division I Championships during this time from 1999 to 2002. In 2007, he was included in the Iowa State University Hall of Fame.
Besides the NCAA Championships, the 44-year-old also has four consecutive Big-12 Championships (1999-2002) and was the US National Champion in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He also competed in the Cadet World Championships in 1994 and won a bronze medal.
His most important achievement came during the 2004 Athens Olympics (84kg) when he beat the likes of Magomed Kurugliyev and Majid Khodaei to win the only Olympic medal (Gold) of his career. The USA Wrestling organization paid tribute to Cael Sanderson in 2011 by inducting him into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
