Sanderson's hire hopefully leads NCAA title back to East Coast

By Guy Cipriano

- gciprian@centredaily.com

Iowa has the Hawkeyes, Cyclones, Gable and Brands.

CDT photo/Christopher Weddle

New Penn State head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson answers questions during an open news conference on Monday at Rec Hall. Sanderson spoke to a crowd of more than 500 with his new program.

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Oklahoma has a thing called Bedlam, with stakes few outsiders understand.

Minnesota has a man who simply goes by J, a short name for one of the most complex and innovative figures to ever coach a wrestling match.

Penn Sate has Cael, which means after decades of Midwest domination college wrestling could receive a needed dose of parity.

OK, it’s unfair to place the hopes of an entire region — in this case the East Coast — on the broad shoulders of 29-year-old Cael Sanderson, the coach Penn State lured away from Iowa State last week.

Fortunately, Penn State has help.

Only Iowa has produced more All-Americans than Cornell University during the past five years. Ohio State, which falls along the sport’s geographic divide, finished second at the past two NCAA Championships.

Those desperate to see wrestling’s powerful triumvirate of Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota crack might receive their wish soon.

Ohio State pushed Iowa to the waning stages of last month’s NCAA Championships in St. Louis. The Hawkeyes were so frustrated that their star, Brent Metcalf, shoved North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell at the end of the 149-pound final.

From here, it looked like neither wrestle did anything wrong. Metcalf scrapped until the end. Caldwell entertained a large crowd with a celebratory backflip.

The duo kept people talking about wrestling.

And now Penn State and Sanderson have extended mat chatter into May.

“Certainly because of this economy it’s more important than ever we make the front page of the newspaper,” said Mike Moyer, the executive director of the Lancaster-based National Wrestling Coaches Association. “It’s exciting when there are rivalries. Rivalries like Iowa-Iowa State and Oklahoma- Oklahoma State are very important to our sport. We need more of those in the East.”

A national title wouldn’t hurt East Coast wrestling, either.

Wrestling’s list of Division I team champions reads like a book disengaged classes must scour twice.

Five programs — Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Minnesota — have won all but two of the past 56 team titles. Penn State, which routinely attracts more than 3,000 fans to Rec Hall for dual meets, won its lone title in 1953. Only five other schools — Indiana, Cornell College in Iowa, Northern Iowa, Michigan State and Arizona State — have hoisted wrestling’s most coveted plaque.

Parity turned the NFL into a global business. Parity makes the NCAA men’s basketball tournament college sports’ best event.

A lack of parity makes college wrestling frustrating to those living outside of Iowa, Oklahoma or Minnesota.

Why bother booking a flight and hotel, scrambling for tickets and taking vacation time to watch the same bullies receive adulation?

“Wrestling has always been strong in the East, but it’s been a long time since a team in the East has won a national title,” Moyer said. “Our sport needs that. When you go out to the NCAAs and see the lower bowl, you see the black and gold representing Iowa and the orange of Oklahoma State. It’s been a long time since you have seen a sea of one color representing a school from the East.”

Once again, geography factors into the discussion. The NCAA hasn’t brought its marquee event East since 2002, when Sanderson won his fourth title in Albany, N.Y.

Next year’s championships move to Omaha, Neb., for the first time. The NCAA is bringing its 2011 championships to Philadelphia.

We’ll bet cheesesteaks and Phillies’ tickets the Philadelphia tournament will be more intriguing than many of its predecessors.

By then, Iowa’s collection of Virginia Tech transfers will have exhausted their eligibility. Oklahoma State and Minnesota’s talented groups should be maturing. Ohio State, Cornell and Michigan figure to be serious factors. Nebraska and Missouri will be well-represented. Lehigh, Edinboro and Maryland might relish the short trip. Iowa State, Illinois and Arizona State, which are currently searching for coaches, have proud histories.

Penn State will also enter the Wachovia Center with a second-year coach.

That might be enough to change the hues in the lower bowl.

“Cael is obviously one of the top coaches in the country and his record as a wrestlers obviously speaks for itself,” Moyer said. “Bringing somebody like him into State College raises the bar for wrestling on the whole East Coast.”

Guy Cipriano covers wrestling for the Centre Daily Times. He can be reached at 231-4643 or gciprian@centredaily.com.