Friday night at 6:14 pm my phone buzzed because I had an incoming text message, it was my blogging cohort Nick and the message went as follows: "Cael Sanderson to take over PSU Wrestling, your thoughts?" I starred vacantly at my phone for a couple seconds and then checked my mug of beer because I was sure someone put something in it. "Stunned" doesn't even begin to describe my mood, I never thought in a million years that the Penn State athletic department would be able to hire Sanderson away from Iowa State. Sure I saw the internet rumors but I never thought Sanderson would want to leave the school that gave him his first coaching job. The same school that he spent 12 years of his life at. The same school were younger brother Cyler currently wrestles. Quite frankly I'm still shocked.
"I didn't really have a wrong answer," he said. "I could stay here where I love Iowa State. This is the place I wanted to win at. It is home. The potential and possibilities of Penn State, it is the highest regarded institution of sports in the East, maybe the country. It's tough to turn down."
This was a home run for Penn State, they get a coach whose teams have finished no worse than fifth in his three years as the coach.
In three years, Sanderson's teams went 44-10, won three Big 12 Conference championships, qualified all 30 of his starting wrestlers for nationals, and earned 15 All-America awards and two individual national titles.
Qualified all 30 of his wrestlers, ALL of them, that's quite impressive. Sanderson brings with him an aggressive style and an Olympic Gold medal as well. Sanderson should be an instant shot in the arm for recruiting and he comes to one of the best states for wrestling.
"In the end, Cael said that he appreciated everything Iowa State and our fans had done for him, but he believes winning a national championship will be easier at Penn State,'' [Iowa State athletic director Jamie] Pollard said. "He said the high school talent in Pennsylvania and surrounding states is the best in the country, and the kids in that area grow up wanting to wrestle for the Nittany Lions. He also said their overall athletics department resources are the best in the country.
Penn State fans should take note, this shows that the Athletic Department is not afraid to go outside the "Penn State family" to hire a coach. A friend of mine suggested this weekend that perhaps this is a test bed for hiring someone with no ties to Penn State, after all if this blows up in [Director of Athletics] Tim Curley's face it's not a "major" sport and will go largely unnoticed but if it works out Curley can point to it as proof that it's better to get the best man for the job and not just the best "Penn State" man. Perhaps he has something there, that may be the case but one thing's for sure, Penn State got one hell of a coach. It's such a hire I think it's time to break out the Dancin' Monkey!!
Sure it was just the NIT, but it's still a national tournament title and a huge step for this Penn State basketball program. No one play could epitomize what this team has endured this season other than Danny Morrissey's face first dive for a loose ball. It ended Morrissey's night prematurely but it demonstrated the kind of fight this team had and has had all season long. Special thanks to Morrissey, Jamelle Cornley, and Stanley Pringle for helping Penn State turn the corner. PSU is no longer just a football school.
While the players deserve a lot of the credit, I've always been an Ed DeChellis fan; he's done a great job through a lot of hard work and long days and it's finally paying off for him. Congrats Penn State, we are… champs!
Notre Dame: your shipment of FAIL has arrived first class
Sorry about the lack of posting lately but I've been extremely busy getting ready for vacation in Jamaica mon! Suffice it to say for the next 4 days (starting Thursday) my life will consist of the following:
I'm booked at an all-inclusive (read: all the alcohol you can drink!) resort and I plan to take full advantage of it.
Goal #1: Have more fun than an adult should be allowed
Goal #2: Stay out of Jamaican prison
Yes, in that order.
In the mean time the Big Ten conference handed out men's Basketball awards and Penn State is well represented. Talor Battle was selected first team by both the coaches and the media, Jamelle Cornley was selected second team by the media and third team by the coaches, and Stanley Pringle was honorable mention by both.
The Big Ten Wrestling championship was last weekend and Penn State finished a very disappointing 7th place with no Big Ten champs. Quentin Wright and Dan Vallimont were the lone bright spots for the Nittany Lions but the team finished at or near their pre-seeds and often lost by fall. Questions are really starting to mount about the future of head coach Troy Sunderland.
Penn State athletic director Tim Curley attended both days of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Curley said he's waiting until after this month's NCAA Championships in St. Louis to assess the state of the program.
"Right now, we are anxious to see how we come out of this weekend and how well we can do in two weeks out in St. Louis," Curley said before Sunday's 184-pound final. "We will see where we are from there."
"The Big Ten is a strong conference," Curley said. "We certainly would like to be in contention year in and year out, but there's a lot of good competition and programs in the Big Ten."
I'm not one of these "what have you done lately" kind of fans but this season has fallen way short of expectations. From the Dual meet season to the Big Ten's this team just hasn't performed like most would have expected.
By sheer luck I happened to look back and realized that today is the second anniversary of the start of The Nittany Line. Hard to believe I've been doing this for two years but here we are. So excuse me while I have a slice of birthday cake and some delicious peachy Paterno ice cream.
Vegas + Hooters cake = TNL birthday!
Penn State had a fantastic weekend in the NCAA Championship tournament this weekend crowning an individual champion and a total of four All-Americans. With the combined efforts of the seven wrestlers representing the Nittany Lions, Penn State finished a strong third place in the team standings behind only Iowa and Ohio State.
Both Phil Davis and Bubba Jenkins made it to the finals to both take on wrestlers they lost to previously. Bubba came up on the short end of a 14-8 decision to top ranked Brent Metcalf of Iowa at 149 but finished strong to take second place. The number 6 seed, Bubba upset #3 J.P. O'Connor of Harvard and beat #7 Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State to make to the finals.
Phil beat #4 Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan in the finals by a 7-2 score. Davis was beaten by Michalak in the nationals when Phil was a freshman and again in the Reno Tournament of Champions in 2006 but this was Phil's time. Phil pushed the offense and used his athleticism to counter any serious scoring chances Michalak posed. Davis dominated the match and walks away with the national championship that has eluded him after he set the bar so high for himself as a freshman. Phil leaves Penn State as only the fourth four time All-American wrestler in the 100 years of PSU Wrestling, that's no small task. He amassed an amazing 116-20 career record a won a national title despite never winning a state title in high school. Phil also brought an attitude and excitement with him to every match that easily made him a fan favorite.
Another senior that left with a bang was Mark McKnight at 125. Mark easily wrestled his best in a Penn State singlet finishing in 4th place after coming in unseeded. After losing to #5 Charlie Falck of Iowa in the second round Mark rattled off five straight wins including a 7-5 decision over the same Charlie Falck to get to the third place bout. While Mark came up short against #3 Paul Donahoe of Nebraska to take forth it was a magnificent end to a roller coaster career for McKnight.
Dan Vallimont gives Penn State their second sophomore All-American finishing 3rd at 157. Dan's only loss came to #2 Mike Poeta of Illinois by a hard fought 5-6 decision. The number 3 seed, Dan upset #1 Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro to get to the consolation finals where he beat #4 Brandon Becker of Indiana.
True freshman Garrett Scott came up short on his bid to become an All-American making it to the round of 12 but losing to Matt Kyler of Army. Scott's future and that of Penn State's is definitely bright.
All in all it was a great weekend for Penn State and something fans can be proud of. Penn State will have two returning All-American wrestlers in the lineup for two more seasons while Garrett Scott and Dave Rella are very close. Penn State celebrated 100 years of wrestling this season and they finished it in style.
Yippee! Penn State gets a rematch of the 1999 Alamo Bowl when the Nittany Lions shut out the Texas A&M Aggies 24-0. It will be the Aggies third appearance in the Bowl; the other was a 22-20 victory over Michigan. The part of the press release that I think is most interesting is this paragraph.
We look forward to welcoming the history and tradition of the Texas A&M Aggies to San Antonio to play the Penn State Nittany Lions," said John Yantis, Valero Alamo Bowl Chairman. The 1999 Alamo Bowl match-up between Texas A&M and Penn State filled the Alamodome with a record crowd and over 6 million viewers in ESPN. We are excited to again have the opportunity match two tradition-rich universities in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl.
If this isn't a sign of the times in college football I don't know what is. Notice it's not important that it's a "good" matchup of two teams that may end up in a decent game; no it's more important that we bring in butts to fill the seats and viewers to watch their sponsors' commercials. Moreover, if you look back at the three times Texas A&M played in the game (1995, 1999, 2007) the Alamo bowl was (in chronological order) the Builders Square Alamo Bowl, then the SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl, and finally the Valero Alamo Bowl. No wonder we have a lame system to determine the national championship – the corporate sponsors rule. Anyho, is there anyone out there really excited about this matchup? I'm not but hopefully some of you are.
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