Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/663838
SPOILS OF VICTORY Wrestlers, coaches and university dignitaries gather on the floor of Madison Square Gar- den for a post-tourna- ment photo. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics EW YORK – Penn State's Cael Sanderson and Oklahoma State's John Smith occupied the same small room, not far from the event 2oor of Madison Square Garden. Sanderson was speaking at the mi- crophone at an impromptu Friday night press conference. His Oklahoma State counterpart was leaning against a table in the back corner of the room. Sander- son had just sent all 1ve of his semi1- nalists into the next day's 1nal round. Smith, meanwhile, had only two wrestlers still in contention for indi- vidual championships a4er qualifying a full 10-man contingent. Speaking 1rst, Sanderson propped himself toward the mic for all to hear; Smith stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head slightly as he awaited his turn. If the juxtaposition of their postures didn't reveal enough about the results of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the comments that soon followed did. Asked how he and his coaching sta3 helped his wrestlers maintain a positive attitude, especially during the most stressful, anxiety-driven portion of the season, Sanderson almost got lost in his response. The trick, he said, is trying to have a little bit of fun. He made it sound easy, almost as though it was advice coming from someone who had never lost before. Oh wait... "These guys, they dream about win- ning NCAA championships when they're 1ve years old," Sanderson said. "That [mentality] shouldn't change when they get to the nationals. We say, 'What did you want to do? You want to win? Let's go win. Take that fun men- tality and take the same approach that you would have if you were skipping ahead ten years or if you're a little kid looking at it.' Wrestling is fun. Yeah, | N W R A P