Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533674
4 2 A P R I L 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "We asked ChatGPT how many high school wrestlers there are in the United States and how many make it to college and how many make it to the NCAA Tournament," Kasak explained. "That number just drastically decreases as it goes on. Putting that in perspective, it just makes me totally grateful to be in the position I'm in. I know there are a lot of people dying to have what I have, so I have to take it with a bit of gratitude." Sanderson said the 10 All-Americans was not only important but im- pressive. "It was a great team. Ten All-Ameri- cans is super hard to do," he said. "You have guys coming in here with injuries. "While everybody is talking about the expectations and the points record, we don't talk about that stuff. But kids live on their phones, so they're seeing it and hearing it all the time. "Being expected to do something and doing it is probably the toughest thing in sports. But that also makes it a fun challenge." Ample praise comes from outside the program as well. "I think it's fantastic what Cael has done for that program. … It's mind-bog- gling," said Minnesota's Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion who was upset in this year's NCAA finals by Wyatt Hendrick- son of Oklahoma State, 5-4. "Just seeing a guy, a coach, bring a group of guys together and dominate a collegiate sport is crazy," Steveson added. "It reminds me of Nick Saban and Alabama football or Coach K [Kry- zyzewski] and Duke basketball — just taking over the game and running with it. Shout out to them." And, yes, with just Bartlett, Starocci and Kerkvliet exiting the Penn State roster, and with the existing depth and incoming recruits, there is more to come, Sanderson noted. "It's just a great team. All of our teams, we feel they're special. And we're excited for next year, too. We just keep getting bet- ter," he said. " I 'm j u s t s u p e r p ro u d o f t h e m and happy for them. We're excited to get back to work. It's all a process. As coaches, we've got to take our own medicine and figure out how we can do things better." And just like winning, that never gets old. ■ 2024-25 Penn State Wrestling Results (15-0, 8-0 Big Ten) Date Opponent Time/TV Nov. 16 NWCA ALL-STAR CLASSIC Individ. Nov. 17 DREXEL W, 41-3 Nov. 24 Army Black Knight Invit'l* Individ. Dec. 8 Lehigh** W, 36-3 Dec. 15 WYOMING W, 54-0 Dec. 22 Binghamton^ W, 52-0 Arkansas-Little Rock^ W, 44-0 Missouri^ W, 41-3 Jan. 10 MICHIGAN STATE W, 55-0 Jan. 17 at Nebraska W, 31-7 Jan. 24 at Rutgers W, 35-3 Jan. 31 IOWA^^ W, 30-8 Feb. 7 MICHIGAN^^ W, 39-0 Feb. 9 MARYLAND W, 35-10 Feb. 14 at Ohio State W, 27-13 Feb. 16 at Illinois W, 29-9 Feb. 21 AMERICAN W, 50-3 Mar. 8-9 Big Ten Championships # 1st Mar. 20-22 NCAA Championships ## 1st * at West Point, N.Y.; ** at PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.; ^ Journeymen Duals at Nashville, Tenn.; ^^ at the Bryce Jordan Center; # at Evanston, Ill.; ## at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia In Cael Sanderson's 16th season with the program, Penn State went 15-0 in the dual-meet campaign and handily won the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS "He's never satisfied with what the situation is. … It could always be better. And honestly, until we have 10 national champions, I don't think it'll be enough." S O P H O M O R E 1 5 7 - P O U N D E R T Y L E R K A S A K O N C A E L S A N D E R S O N