Blue White Illustrated

LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M eneath all great structures is a foundation, a sturdy framework that reinforces it all. It might not be what first meets the eye, but that doesn't diminish its value. Often the opposite is true. With one of the greatest American wrestlers serving as the face of the pro- gram, Penn State wrestling is a case in point. The team is led by head coach Cael Sanderson. His principles guide its trajectory, but it's his assistants, namely Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunning- ham, who stanchion the design. Further strengthening the fabric is a brotherhood. In the case of Cael and Cody it's by blood; the sons of Steve and Debbie, their births are separated by 34 1 ⁄2 months, Cody being the elder. With Cunningham, their bond has been molded through nearly a decade of working side by side. Since Cunningham joined the family in 2008, a move that coincided with their final season at Iowa State, their mindsets have meshed, their philoso- phies have merged and their mission has become singular – and it all reached an apex last month in St. Louis. "It comes from the top, from Cael," Cunningham said, standing outside the locker room of the Scottrade Cen- ter at the conclusion of the NCAA tournament. "He's always preached to us no matter what else, the [wrestlers] come first. Your emails, your phone calls, your office stuff – that stuff waits. That is the kind of program we've had." Concluding their eighth year at PSU, they've tailored their roles to fit one an- other. Cael is the architect. Cody and Casey are the builders. Weekdays in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, it's often Cody and Cunningham who run the practices. Cody works with the 125-pounders through 157; Cunningham goes 165 and up. Cael oversees it all. "They do every- thing that I do and more," he said. "I'm the one that has to come to the press conference." The efficacy of their approach, the power of their system and the fruits of it all were on grand display when Penn State crowned five individual champs and scored a school-record 146.5 points en route to the team title at the NCAA tournament. It's the Lions' sixth na- tional crown in the past seven years, and it's important to note that those cham- pionships were preceded by a lengthy drought. Before the Sandersons' arrival, the Nittany Lions hadn't won the NCAA team title since claiming their first in 1953. The hiring of the coaching staff has paid significant divi- dends, and the staff's meth- ods have been embraced by Penn State's wrestlers. "Cael talks to the team as a whole and tries to help out everybody," explained Jason Nolf, shortly after winning the 157-pound NCAA title. "Cody and Casey are more individu- alized guys, so they're the ones who tell us what we should be eating and what we should be doing, what time we should start warm- ing up. So a lot of the credit goes to those guys because they take a lot of time. They look back at past years and what they've done, and they just know what they're doing. So I love my coaches and I'm excited for another few years with them." Nolf has two remaining years of eligi- bility and international freestyle aspira- Assistant coaches play crucial role in Lions' success B TEAMWORK Cun- ningham and Cael Sanderson cele- brate Penn State's championship per- formance at the NCAA tourney. The Lions totaled a school-record 146.5 points. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

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