Why Cael Sanderson Left Iowa State...

In this video, we explore the controversial decision of wrestling legend Cael Sanderson to leave Iowa State and take over as head coach of the Penn State wrestling program. Sanderson had achieved great success at Iowa State, leading the Cyclones to three Big 12 team titles and coaching numerous individual champions. So why did he choose to leave for Penn State? We dive into the factors that influenced Sanderson's decision.
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[@kchall5]

It was a perfect storm. Penn State, the marquee school in the nation's recruiting hotbed and Sanderson, the most accomplished collegiate wrestler in history, joined forces to create this incredible juggernaut. Sanderson knew that at Iowa State he would always be in hot competition with Iowa and Ok State for the region's talent, and correctly saw that Penn State had everything necessary for a dynasty. He is able to lock up much of the region's deep recruiting talent, and was able to use his name and reputation to attract top wrestlers nationwide. Now Penn State is at or near the top of every blue-chip recruit's list, and seems destined to stay that way for some time. Iowa State has a tough road ahead.

[@TM-bn8pv]

Is there a more dominant dynasty in MEN'S D1 sports than Cael has established at PSU? I know UCLA basketball (before the new ncaa rules upon rules) dynasty in the 60s to mid 70s produced 10 (or maybe 11) National Championships under John Wooden in a short time span...Iowa under Dan Gable also had a great run. But this PSU team seems like a machine dynasty that isn't slowing down under the new NCAA rules.

[@DTS_I]

@@TM-bn8pvCael Sanderson has coached the Nittany Lions to 10 team national titles and 34 individual champions. Even in years when PSU doesn’t win the team title they’ve been the team/school with the most champions at the top of the podium.

[@Ohio98]

Completely engaging! research journalism at its finest - especially in revealing the innermost thoughts and convictions of quiet Cael.

[@Dickremoulade]

Kind of surprised to see so many comments focused solely on praising Sanderson's success and his character. Granted, his record of achievement after achievement is extraordinary & unmatched-that's not debatable. But, I can only imagine what Iowa State alums & die-hard fans must've thought. I've no connection to either Iowa or Pennsylvania, but this is a heart-wrenching sports story (from the Iowa St perspective) if I've ever heard one. Consider the following: 1) Sanderson completes an unprecedented 4-for-4 under Bobby Douglas, and their bond brings further glory to to US and Iowa when Douglas coaches him to Olympic gold. 2) Soon after, Douglas gives him a job at the program and promotes him after one yr from asst to assoc coach. 3) Then, after only those few years coaching experience, Sanderson turns to admin **and strong-arms them into forcing his longtime mentor into early retirement**. [That was such a brutal move, guys!] 4) After pushing his mentor out to pasture, CS gives the program three years before departing unexpectedly...and taking every top recruit away with him. Good grief! College athletics really are a profound source of community pride in a lot of places, so in that sense this saga must've left a lot if heartache. But at least wrestling in particular isn't a big deal to folks in Iowa- Oh, wait...

[@steveb6764]

So what you’re saying is he left so Bobby Douglas could have his job back. All Hail Cael!!!

[@steveb6764]

0:58

[@floydrigby1587]

The most exciting sport today and the most exciting coach. While so many other coaches rant and rave on the sideline, Coach Sanderson clearly shows his work is done when the young men climb into the ring. He sits quietly and calmly as they demonstrate what they have learned from him and how a strong faith unites them for a common cause. Every athlete and coach today only needs to watch and learn from the Sanderson example. Such respect for the man, the great husband, Father and Coach.

[@johnlozauskas778]

Great points. As an Iowa Alumn, I wonder what they put in the water in Ames to make such great wrestlers. One key point in the video that was not really stressed. The cost of living in Happy Valley is higher than the cost of living in Ames, so he really did not benefit at the salary level that much.

[@aarontracy5160]

GREAT GUY from a terrific family. his uncle Tom Sanderson was a terrific athlete, educator and funeral director. Winner.

[@Xelor69]

So this is the example of a “great man” in Iowa. Lol ok

[@sethraidernation9029]

Or he just wanted to come to the greatest wrestling state in the country. He saw potential and also money..Can't be mad at a man for betting on his family

[@sethraidernation9029]

​@johnlozauskas778 hahahahaha go chase that dragon bro. You think he's paying for a mortgage? Psu coaches don't pay for housing you noodle

[@corybooher7830]

This was awesome- would love more videos like this digging into details of historical wrestling events. Appreciate your work!

[@StaleMates]

More coming!

[@jacobwilson7030]

The fact that PSU was a middling program before Cael got there always blew my mind. They had solid years but would disappear for stretches of time. I knew as soon as Cael got the job it was over for everyone

[@Footestomper]

Great video. I thought I had stumbled upon an old video, then after I watched I now see it was just posted 4 days ago. Awesome video . . . as I sit here wearing my "Cael to the Lions" t-shirt. I have followed PSU wrestling for many, many years. I saw John Fritz win his National Championship at the Jadwin Gym back in 1975 (I think). I got to meet Cael at the celebration party in Cleveland and got a chance to shake his hand, and said; "Thank you for coming to Penn State. I hope you stay a long time. I love what you are doing with the team." He simply said; "Why, thank you." I replied, "Well, I sincerely mean every word." My second favorite t-shirt is from the 1st Championship which has the tagline: "National Champions. It has begun . . . " And, now I have 9 more just like it. My wife claims she is going to make a quilt out of them. Now that Cael has led the team to it's 10th National Championship . . . catching Dan Gable suddenly seems so real. Thanks again, I just became a subscriber.🙂

[@robertpalatsky5017]

Gotta credit Cael for seeing the recruiting hotbed that Penn State provided despite the program not having a rich wrestling history and coming off a year where they weren't even in the top 25, as well as the fact that his only family and assistant coaches thought it would be crazy to leave ISU, especially considering they were about to be 3-time defending Big 12 Champs and primed for a National Championship push.

[@lukemcintosh4874]

Awesome video gents. Thanks for putting out great wrestling content

[@waltergreenjr]

Very well done, thanks and congratulations.

[@GuyFromSC]

Bravo bravo bravo 👏🏼. Extremely well done and big shout to you as the biggest Cyclones fans on YT, it had be tough creating this beautiful but painful piece of art. Love this shit boys. Keep killing it and growing our sport. Step it up Flo, you just got teched in the first. 🙏🏼

[@jimdougherty5729]

Excellent job on the video and content!

[@StaleMates]

Thank you!

[@binneybrush]

awesome video. props for giving credit to the comment

[@lexingtonconcord8751]

Great job on this!

[@joebarniak]

Nice documentary. I'm interested in finding that information on where he prayed to make that decision to join Penn State. Where can I find that?

[@pinstalker]

Here's what really happened. After sitting with the Northwestern wrestling parents during the 2006 season (I had helped coach a NW wrestler), I asked the three Ohio families who had boys on the NW team why didn't they send them to Ohio State (my alma mater). They said the OSU recruiters were arrogant and acted as though our sons would be lucky to wrestle there. All three were studs for NW- one a National Champ. As I watched OSU finish next to last in the B1G Championships in Bloomington,IN, my blood was boiling. Ohio has many of the top HS wrestling programs in the country. So I decided to take action. I wrote a very factual and non-accusatory letter to Gene Smith asking him to see what the problem was with our wrestling team. I sent him grids showing how Ohio kids who went elsewhere placed higher than the OSU wrestlers. Was the problem scholarships, facilities, lack of revenue, recruiting budget or what. I never pointed a finger at the coaching staff. A few weeks later coach Russ Helickson retired (?) which kicked off the coaching carousel described in this video. Athletic Director Smith sent me a nice letter thanking me for bringing the wrestling situation to his attention and told me he had set up a search committee to find a replacement for Russ. His Asst. Director kept me informed about the search until coach Tom Ryan was selected. As I watched the team celebrate in the banquet hall after their 2015 National Championship in St.Louis, only my wife and I knew how proud I was to have been the catalyst for bringing the Buckeyes a new direction. And now you know.

[@Ohio98]

Thank you! Ultimately you helped these athletes who work their asses off to get the support they needed, not only at ohio state, but all the universities.

[@derekranson8860]

This is the truth about how Ohio State lost so many recruits at the time. When Tom came in his first priority was keeping the best wrestlers in the state at Ohio state.

[@pinstalker]

@@derekranson8860 I welcomed Tom to the Buckeye Nation and suggested that he seek out the coaches of the elite programs in the state and build a strong relationship with them. My other suggestion was to treat a recruit's family like they do at Iowa (where he wrestled) with special perks. Finally, the big one was that they only have to drive to Columbus to see their kid wrestle, not Minneapolis, Chicago or Iowa City. He did all that and more. Great job coach!!

[@Ohio98]

@@halomaster9640 Bobby is one of the greats I know he coached me. But the employment of wrestling coaches is based on merit and competition. It is not a social welfare program which guarantees employment like being a postal worker or some other government job.

[@kingchuckfinley]

@@halomaster9640 that man lost his livelihood and an entire wrestling program was better for it.

[@Abstrakt_YT]

Great edit!

[@fabiopreka]

This is awesome content man

[@TM-bn8pv]

Is there a more dominant dynasty in MEN'S D1 sports than Cael has established at PSU? I know UCLA basketball (before the new ncaa rules upon rules) dynasty in the 60s to mid 70s produced 10 (or maybe 11) National Championships under John Wooden in a short time span...Iowa under Dan Gable also had a great run. But this PSU team seems like a machine dynasty that isn't slowing down under the new NCAA rules.

[@ChanceGilCopper]

I wrestled for Iowa Central in 2012 and we would wrestle Iowa for a preseason match up in an event called the Iowa City Duals. In 2012 we won I believe two matches against Iowa via Kolton Kersten and future Iowa wrestler himself Edwin Cooper. That same year I believe Iowa State only won one match against Iowa and that was Andrew Sorenson maybe? I could be wrong about some of this info because I’m only going off memory. Either way it would’ve been a very close dual between Iowa Central Community College and Iowa State University in 2012. 😂

[@josechavezdelreal5831]

This is my favorite thing. I stay awake thinking about this.

[@JayMoney11118]

I remember when cael was hired at penn state, my dad who is a die hard wrestling fan claimed "were gonna dominate so much its going to be unreal." Not the craziest prediction ever but cant say it didnt come true

[@zachgorman]

top-notch as always

[@StaleMates]

Appreciate the compliment!

[@genghiskhan7041]

If Cael hadn't left ISU they'd have won many titles by now and PSU wouldn't have won ANY of the ones they've won since Cael's been there.

[@tyleryurasits9352]

That's not entirely true. He probably would still have won some titles. But part of the reason Penn State and Cael are so dominant together is because Pennsylvania high school wrestling is so good. Before Cael got there, the top PA kids would go to many different schools. Now, it's an easy choice for alot of them to go to Penn State

[@genghiskhan7041]

@@tyleryurasits9352 That really doesn't have much to do with my comment above. Reread it. Yeah, I know Pennsylvania produces a lot of elite wrestling talent. My fave one was Zain, love how that kid broke guys on the mat, hehe.

[@Charactermatters650]

Not true - I think those who know the world well, saw it as a genius move and there had been an undercurrent at that time of keeping eastern recruits home and what that could do for a program - Sanderson saw the potential, just like he said - then he took it to another level as a fantastic coach who shows talent for also building a sustaining culture in the top hotbed of HS wresting in the country (yup PA)- look close at where the kids come from that go to Penn State.

[@andycayton3433]

That's a bold strategy Cotton. Let's see if it works!" No shit Captain Obvious!🙄🙄

[@LittleLight_]

I’ve always wondered why Cael didn’t stay with the cyclones even after winning his flawless seasons. Thank you for this informative video!

[@harrymiller5470]

The money at Penn State is ridiculous and the Nitty Lion Club and USA Wrestling have some of the Worlds Greatest Wrestlers there . The pull of the best wrestlers in the country to have that opportunity to train with as a red shirt and roster wrestler is something to do a video on. Iowa State never had a chance with the Penn State $ and the best in the world being Happy Valley even post grads like Gilman and many others following the money and chance to train at their Club clearly impacted the NCAA - look at their success in the World Freestyle Recently-- I keep rooting for the smaller schools and and hope one day a program emerges that can break this streak and win a Championship. Glad to see Arron Brooks succeed and handle post match interviews better than some of his teammates with Humility and Grace -- not like WWE . Well done Arron fellow brother in Christ God Bless.

[@valleysings2065]

Iowa State University has a wonderful, storied history in wrestling. Sadly, they also have a solid history of allowing top level coaches to default to other schools. Dan Gable. Cael Sanderson. Two eventual coaching legends.....gone! I am old enough to remember both instances. Kevin Dresser finally has the ISU program pointed in the right direction, it's a big mountain to climb.

[@oldcougar65]

Look at it from Pennsylvania's POV. We KNEW we were the toughest wrestling state. We always put out the most All-Americans year after year. But PSU sucked. It made no sense. We obviously needed a new sherrif in town, and Cael was it. Two years after Cael arrived, PSU took its properr place atop the podium and has remained there ever since. All is right with the world.

[@byrondunbar6721]

Oklahoma State put South West on the map with Wrestling, Iowa put the Mid-West on the map with Wrestling, Now Penn State is putting Wrestling on the Map for the East Side. Pretty Awesome for the Sport. Oregon State gonna have to build the next Championships Dynasty for the rest of the Country. From Michigan myself love to watch the Wolverine win a couple. Wrestling is pretty big here

[@soraryukasuke1836]

Dude this video was awesome

[@carljacobson7156]

Just like Cael Sanderson's wrestling style - his Coaching Decisions are CRAFTY and he can play deception while setting you up for his traps. That's not 'Cheating', it's INTELLIGENCE. The guy was the BEST NCAA Wrestler EVER and the best in the World at his peak. Cael Sanderson IS Wrestling!

[@williamleahy510]

HILARIOUS!!! VERY WELL DONE VIDEO

[@Daffodildepp]

This channel is gold

[@Tfunrox]

Keep em coming

[@StaleMates]

🤝

[@philipkramer6069]

You should do a story on how ISU lost Gable to U of Iowa

[@coreyf1204]

Yes, please! That would be a great video.

[@cgmoran91]

Yeah, I did not even think of ISU connection to two great programs. Iowa took Gable and Penn State go Cael. There are differences. Gable did not get the offer at ISU, Cael could have stayed at ISU. He saw something at PSU. Credit to his staff for following.

[@bdig3726]

Amazing video! More of these please!

[@StaleMates]

More on the way!

[@davidbrown386]

Cael Sanderson the 21st Century John Wooden.

[@stevemumma3429]

No truer words spoken than calling Curley an idiot. I've had multiple conversations with him and always felt he was arrogant about things he had no business being arrogant about.

[@spladlemania]

This was done very well! Go Penn St.

[@bigmerc57]

I don't follow wrestling but as a Clone I tell you this still hurts and still seems a little unbelievable that he left. I can't believe anyone would leave Ames if they had it made.

[@Slapthematwrestling]

that was great, thank you

[@StaleMates]

Thanks for watching!

[@MP-tf7cc]

So they fired Douglas to keep Cael, he then leaves his alma mater, and people want to canonize him ? C'mon folks.

[@EverettBurger]

Please do a video on how NIL money will impact college wrestling

[@Dan.Lockner]

“The Penn State simpletons”. Lol

[@StaleMates]

Oops

[@zwicker3697]

Simpletons have a dynasty while the geniuses are fighting for second.

[@jaynsilentboom]

Ngl, not one bit sad about his decision. Of course, this coming from a huge PSU fan. I wrestled in PA and I knew the latent talent and sleeping giant we have in the state. As soon as Cael signed, I knew it was game on. Sorry but not sorry. Cael wanted to fly the coop and fly on his own, make his own program and build his own dynasty. Every man has to face himself in the mirror and live with his choices. Cael seems to be doing just fine. Albeit at the expense of his alumni school. Amazing video, such good content for such a small channel. Well done!

[@mikeyj1983]

Great video! And wow, didn't realize Cael forced Iowa State's hand and made his longtime coach get fired 1 year prior to his planned departure, only to seek out and leave Iowa State against all of his advisor's wishes. BRUTAL, but at least he was right.

[@lexingtonconcord8751]

Sanderson left three seasons after he became Iowa State's head coach, not one year.

[@billsoderholm3125]

I read many of the comments, many effusive in their praise of Cael Sanderson. It appears that everyone is ignoring what he did to his coach(Bobby Douglas). Hard for me to get past that.

[@billpryor8764]

Maybe Cael felt he had to get out the Hawkeye shadow. Recruiting would have challenging . By going East into a Big Ten school that was a hotbed of recruiting prospects . Plus Iowa did not recruit heavily in PA. Still Cael took a tremendous gamble Shows great vision

[@dnoldy71]

I think that 100% played a factor because at the time Iowa was number one so he had to compete with recruiting at Iowa state. Simple move to penn state in the hot bed of wrestling all he has to do is keep the in state and surrounding area talents.

[@pennystocklocks]

He just wins

[@jlstock_1]

Good job

[@spladlemania]

Well done!

[@cardcollector0385]

Cael’s dominance at Penn State has actually been great for all of collegiate wrestling. Every program in the Big 10 has upped and improved their wrestling programs. Other conferences has improved programs or started new programs and tv coverage has exploded. Other schools have a vision based on what Cael did at Penn State that wrestling can be a money making and popular sport.

[@Sajidov3]

It's the opposite, actually. What Cael has done has been terrible for the sport and has made it much more money focused.

[@joeguerra8435]

They say a rising tide lifts all ships. Personally, I’m happy for all the success of Cael Sanderson and the juggernaut Penn State wrestling program. Penn State Wrestling success translates into overall success and great spectator entertainment for all of college wrestling.

[@jamescraig1343]

He's a great person and a awesome coach along with his assistant coaches... I'm extremely glad he's at Penn state... keep winning national wrestling championships because that's what you all do..

[@huntermccrea475]

as an iowa state fan i wish we still had him i can only imagine how good we could be

[@scottborkowski2411]

here is one for imagination sake, Dan Gable retired in 1997 If he had been at ISU and stayed a few more years he possibly could have coached Cael and then cael would have come on as his successor and ISU would have had the greatest dynasty in Wrestling for how long? 40 plus years.

[@rothenbj]

@@scottborkowski2411 Didn't Iowa State dominate for decades, kind of like ND, then Bama in football?

[@ericb.davenport9762]

Very interesting.

[@LilPitch-]

good video... I was always under the impression that Cael initially made $500,000 to come to PSU.

[@StreetGlide_]

Cael is a good dude he worked with us at the NCAA all star meet at F&M college dude took my wrestling to a whole different level. Forever grateful and he was in the middle of his legendary march for college immortality.

[@nategalvan3907]

This video begs to differ

[@pvwrestler222]

Conveniently left out Penn State’s/Sutherland’s NCAA 3rd place team finish in the 2007-2008 season to make it seam like the team was nonexistent before Cael…

[@marksieber4626]

Sunderland. Yes good point. He had some good teams there.

[@gregconn3553]

i think this video certainly showed a lot of opinions while Cael did leave i feel Penn State chased him and gave him what he wanted and since i am about the same age i can definitely say recruiting advantages was definitely part of the equation as a adult and professional he made a decision and it has worked tremendously for him and Penn State hard to feel anger for a man that is arguably the best or certainly one of the best coaches ever and is career likely will last another 20 to 30 years

[@raywalteroutdoors]

The only surprise here is how crazy that freshman led Iowa State team was yet they took 2nd to Minnesota. It's hard to remember that Minnesota used to be damn good.

[@Johnny-uy4iu]

This has a great documentary format for sports movements but the visuals are really bad. I'm watching this from the viewpoint of not knowing anyone but Cael Sanderson, so when you use Disney animations to represent every other person I am really confuses . just show the coaches, players and everyone involved like a normal documentary. The commentary is really good and I want to be able to follow this better.

[@byrondunbar6721]

Good for him. He's team is awesome.

[@KevinMDowney]

All I know is doing what is doing at psu would be much tougher to do at isu.

[@kevinluzier799]

the man just knew and he was right! WE ARE!

[@umungus518]

Im just here to say the thumbnail looks like the great value version of chael sonnen😂

[@mrslaneful]

I really wonder how Iowa State fans feel about Cael. Obv he was the greatest ever to wrestle there (which says a lot when Gable was there) but do they hold ill will for him leaving as coach? Really curious about that

[@thomasnorton6963]

Strong mixed emotions. The whole situation all these years later feels more like a missed/lost opportunity than anything else. I'm not mad, just disappointed at what could have been.

[@peterkasper2067]

It hurts, it really hurts. He was the face of ISU for so long, but kinda in the shadow of Brands &Co. Strong rumors were our AD/Boosters were constantly meddling in his way. I wince as I recall how I mapped out all the bad luck that happened at 2010 NCAAs. 1. Gallick starting the year @#1, then getting injured & not wrestling. 2. Mueller not getting past the blood round hump. 3. Reader getting a concussion in the reg season & loosing in the blood round. 4. Cyler transferring out, not that I blame him... 5. Returning AA Fanthorpe getting stopped in blood round. Reader would win in 2011...and then we were in the wilderness with Jackson for so long. Honestly, I think our AD threw his hands up and said, "Who cares, we're a basketball school now. " Thanks @stalemates, I'm going back to therapy now.

[@fastrivers812]

I went to Iowa State when Cael was wrestling. He was a hulkish S.O.B to see on campus. I was saddened to see him leave after he started coaching but Pollard had a lot of controversies at ISU and I wonder if Pollard was one reason that he left. At any rate, ultimately, I'm happy for Cael and his staff. Personally, I realized when I attended ISU that they are just a business even though they call themselves a college. Thus, I can't feel sorry for the school when they didn't have the business sense to keep such strong talent.

[@Sajidov3]

I am not an ISU fan, but you can make a very strong argument that Sanderson was the worst thing to ever happen to ISU wrestling. From 1957-2009, ISU finished outside the top 10 at NCAAs only FOUR times. After Bael left in 2009, they have finished in the top 10 only once in 15 years, and that was the first year after Bael left (2010) when it wasn't feasible guys like Varner and Zabriskie to move to PSU because they were seniors.

[@macgyvervanschwartzenstall4662]

I am a growing fan of wrestling, so the last decade+ is foreign to me. Is Penn State in the midst of one of the most dominant eras in sports history in this country?

[@eddys.razorxp6445]

Yup in any sport.

[@nhardman]

Damn. Sanderson did ISU dirty. He forced ISU to fire his coach for the job and then quit on them. I'm not a fan of either school btw.

[@steve6631]

Only 10% increase... that may have been only over the base salary.

[@kenhouse3484]

Well done.

[@StaleMates]

Thank you!

[@user-df8zp9cb8y]

I think your next video should be on the B10 practice of giving excessive scholarships from 1979-80 to 1990-91, the degree it may've helped Iowa surpass Iowa State in wrestling, how much of Dan Gable's success should be attributed to the practice so as to potentially affect his broader legacy.

[@unclelarry9138]

Western PA is a hotbed for wrestling. Draw a three or four hundred mile circle around that and lock it up. Go get some kids nationally and you will have a monster team every year. He will keep winning until he leaves or retires. There is no stopping that train.

[@marksieber4626]

Pennsylvania is a hotbed in all corners. At every level. Every district. Even small colleges like Lock Haven wrestle D1. Sanderson gets the cream of the crop every year. Then it’s like they said about Bear Bryant “He takes his and beats yours and he’d take yours and beat his”. Or something similar

[@zyabayz101]

I was at Iowa State during Cael's NCAA career and then when he became Bobby Douglas's assistant; I still followed the program after I left ISU. It was pretty clear at the time that they forced Bobby out because they were appropriately desperate to do everything possible to retain Cael, when he clearly had many head-coaching options opening for him then or very soon. Now, when Cael defected to Penn State--that was a BIG shock. The thinking was, why on Earth didn't ISU do EVERYTHING they could to keep him? Match and beat every other offer by some huge amount, whatever. How could they let him slip away? But from this reporting, it doesn't sound like Cael gave them some ultimatum with a big salary number attached. He could have done that, but it seems that he didn't. He just decided to up and leave, and ISU lost any chance they might have had to make a big play to keep him. Afterwards, it sure seemed that Kevin Jackson was a decent hire to keep things moving ahead, but...well, what can you say? Just a disaster in the end. Sad, sad story for ISU Wrestling, when it looked like the sky was the limit. And Cael at Penn State--wow, talk about a brilliantly talented visionary who makes dreams come true. And how? World-class wrestling skill certainly isn't enough; Jackson had that. What is it that makes Cael such an extraordinarily successful coach? I'd be interested to know. He certainly was mentored by one of the very best of all time in Bobby Douglas. (Which makes the whole story all the more ironically painful.)

[@valleysings2065]

Cael also recognized the pool of talent in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. He referenced this in several interviews and clearly stated it would be easier to create an NCAA championship team in that area.

[@danrose3233]

Although I hate to state it as an ISU grad, I think Cael didn't want to have to complete with UI recruiting locally.

[@mitchmurray117]

Recruiting locally in PA was no picnic either since they have several strong schools. But what PA does have are the best high school wrestlers in the Country.

[@doncook3584]

I remember thinking how awful. Way to show your appreciation. With sports salaries today I’m not willing to pay NFL ticket prices not to mention the price to park at Arrowhead. Budweiser and Ford trucks likewise are not worth the prices. Let all these players and coaches price the sport out of existence.

[@susanhummel1104]

I guess the AD at ISU learned a valuable lesson that day.

[@COACHWARBLE]

Please do a documentary on Bill Racich from Ursinus College in PA. When he died in 2018 he was the 2nd winningest active coach in the NCAA. He is 4th all time in career victories with 544 dual meet wins. Then do one on Freddy Richardson, the greatest referee in US wrestling history. Just ask the wrestling hall of fame in Oklahoma about Freddy.

[@operumfragmenta5496]

So Cael got bobby Douglass fired?!

[@carlosramirez3733]

They said journalism was dead.

[@StaleMates]

Hahaha facts. Thank you 🙏

[@chuku3073]

I just adore him

[@ejnewton9953]

Awesome

[@stephenmoist623]

Best move Cael ever made. Came to the best State in the country in Wrestling. He knew PSU is right in the Hot bed of wrestling !!!!

[@deanodebo]

Sad story as an isu alum

[@cjohnsonisadrummer]

Yeah Kevin Jackson was not the move for us

[@scarhart53]

Come on! MONEY!

[@butchworm7793]

Met him many times. He is just an all around special human. Even if you took wrestling out of the equation he would still be successful and that has to do with the way he treats people. His entire staff is that way.

[@paulenger-dt1bw]

They'll be number 1 for the foreseeable future.. another 15-20 years

[@dominicaccordino8932]

We Are

[@user-up1us9jf1o]

We Are….

[@sharlenehreinson5316]

You may want to check your story with the people who were really there.

[@LZAK123]

Could they have got coach bobby back?

[@scooobydoo27]

Iowa is a great wrestling state, but the population base isn't large. Then add on that every wrestler growing up in Iowa wants to go to the U of I and Sanderson saw that he'd never be able to recruit the same level of talent necessary to win Championships.

[@corbz9868]

I think he’ll be alright

[@dinocollins720]

Cael always turning to God! Great man of faith!

[@upsidedown69302]

Should have tied dresser leaving VT for Iowa St. An Iowa national champ now enemy.

[@opaca512]

👀🔥👏👏👏🙏 Let's GO

[@StaleMates]

LETS GO!

[@DA-bp8lf]

Iam not sure if it was offering Cal a 10% increase in his pay that insulted him, or not? But based on what me know now, they would’ve doubled his pay to get him to stay! Couldn’t they see the potential of his name on young wrestlers?? ISU had there opportunity at getting one of the greatest coaches of all time and they blew it!!!!

[@scarhart53]

Where opportunity???

[@60zeller]

One of the greatest wrestlers ever. 4 ncaa championships, Olympic gold! Then… assistant coach….wrong sport to be great at

[@youarerightboss]

Glad Cael came to Penn State

[@tflats]

Secret base style