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NittanyCentral

NittanyCentral delivers expert analysis from veteran reporters and timely updates on Penn State sports, with in-depth coverage of Nittany Lions Football, Wrestling, Basketball, and more.

Penn State Wrestling, Cael Sanderson, David Taylor

Penn State Wrestling: Ranking the top 5 dual meets of the Cael Sanderson era

Chris SnyderCael Sanderson, Penn State Wrestling, ,

At the conclusion of No. 1 Penn State Wrestling’s 54-0 beatdown of No. 26 Wyoming this past Sunday, legendary coach Cael Sanderson picked up his 250th career dual meet victory.

This season marks the 19th year Sanderson has been prowling the mat as the head coach of a Division I program. His first three years were spent in Ames as Cael led Iowa State to a 44-10 record and had three straight top-five NCAA finishes.

Then in the offseason at the conclusion of the 2009 NCAA Championships, news reverberated across college wrestling when Penn State announced Cael Sanderson would be named the program’s 12th head wrestling coach. And as they say, the rest is history.

During his 16 years manning the ship as the Nittany Lions’ skipper, Sanderson holds a staggering record of 206-16-2. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a 92% winning percentage.

Additionally, Sanderson has coached 91 All-Americans and 38 NCAA Champions during his tenure in Happy Valley. Which is scary considering his coaching career is really just beginning.

Oh, and there is this little tidbit too:

NCAA Team Titles: 11

2011
2012
2013
2014
2016
2017
2018
2019
2022
2023
2024

If you want to get all of the championship banners hanging inside of Rec Hall in one frame, then you’re probably going to need a bigger lens.

So in honor of Coach Sanderson’s 250th career win, why not take a look back at some of the best dual meets of his Nittany Lion career?

Top 5 Dual Meets of the Cael Sanderson Era

No. 5

January 20, 2017
Iowa City, Iowa
No. 2 Penn State 26, No. 3 Iowa 11

Here are a couple of factors and notes leading up to the biggest B1G clash of the 2016-2017 season:

-Penn State had never won back-to-back dual meets in Iowa City (PSU won the previous one 24-12 in 2013)
-Penn State had seven underclassmen in their lineup
-Iowa had a senior-laden team
-Penn State had a 24 dual-match win streak

Not to mention the fact this dual meet featured a total of 15 ranked wrestlers, five ranked matchups, and a total of four matchups where both grapplers were ranked in the top five.

Wow.

Oh, and the Hawkeyes also crammed 14,311 fans into Carver Hawkeye Arena to ensure Penn State would not beat them a second consecutive time in Iowa City.

The night started out with one of the most anticipated matchups of the evening as No. 1 Thomas Gilman (IOWA) squared off against No. 3 Nick Suriano (PSU). Gilman ended up pulling out the close 3-2 decision and No. 3 Cory Clark (IOWA) extended the Hawkeye’s lead to 8-0 after a technical fall in the following match.

But now it was Penn State’s turn to exert its dominance. No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU) beat No. 18 Topher Carton (IOWA) in a decision and No. 1 Zain Retherford (PSU) snuck by No. 3 Brandon Sorensen (IOWA) in an exciting 9-8 win in TB2.

Penn State Football

Keeping up the momentum, No. 1 Jason Nolf (PSU) won a decision over No. 2 Michael Kemerer (IOWA) and No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU) earned a decision of his own.

And going into the final four matches of the night, Penn State Wrestling clung to a 12-8 lead. Additionally, Iowa’s hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of No. 13 Alex Meyer (IOWA) and No. 5 Sammy Brooks (IOWA) who were set to go in the next two matches.

Meyer held up his end of the bargain against an inexperienced and unranked Mark Hall to narrow the gap to 12-11.

How would Brooks fair against No. 2 Bo Nickal (PSU)? Well depending on which team you were rooting for it was either “terrible” or “awesome” because Nickal pinned Brooks 38 seconds into the match.

And just like that, those 14,311 fans magically turned into the quietest group of people on the planet.

No. 10 Matt McCutcheon (PSU) and No. 5 Nick Nevills (PSU) kept the fans from making any more noise as they won via a decision and a technical fall.

Ball game.

Penn State won its second consecutive dual meet in Iowa City, and they did so in convincing fashion with a 26-11 smackdown.

No. 4

February 8, 2019
Columbus, Ohio
No. 1 Penn State 28, No. 2 Ohio State 9

For the second consecutive season, both Penn State Wrestling and Ohio State would lock horns as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. And the 2019 regular season dual was without a doubt one of the biggest duals in all of college wrestling that season.

Furthermore, Ohio State tried pulling out all of the stops. Leading up to the meeting, the Buckeyes were selling/giving away as many tickets as possible and trying to set up a “Scarlet Out”. Whatever that is …

To make matters seemingly worse, there was even some quiet confidence coming out of Columbus. The talented Buckeye’s squad had thoughts they could upend the Nittany Lions and end their streak of 55 straight dual meet victories.

And Tom Ryan tried to be slick by starting the dual at 133 where true freshman No. 15 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) would have to face off against No. 6 Luke Pletcher (OSU). Next, No. 7 Nick Lee (PSU) would face No. 2 Joey McKenna (OSU) in the following match.

How did that work out for you, Tom?

RBY pulled out the 2-1 decision in TB and Nick Lee won a come-from-behind decision 7-6 to make the dual 5-0* in favor of Penn State Wrestling.

No. 3 Micah Jordan (OSU) then tried to right the ship with a decision win over Jarod Verkleeren (PSU), but it really didn’t matter.

Because No. 1 Jason Nolf (PSU), No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU), and No. 1 Mark Hall (PSU) all scored bonus points against their ranked opponents. And at that point, the Nittany Lions opened up an 18-3 lead.

No. 1 Myles Martin (OSU) earned more points for the Buckeyes but it was way too little and way too late.

In the much-anticipated matchup of the evening, No. 1 Bo Nickal (PSU) was going against No. 2 Kollin Moore (OSU). The 13,276 people in attendance were rewarded by watching the match last one minute and 38 seconds with Moore’s shoulders on the mat and Nickal earning the fall.

Penn State and Ohio State then traded the next two matches to make the final 28-9. Penn State Wrestling extended their dual meet streak to 56 and Ohio State was left beaten and broken.

And they really haven’t been the same since. They had their chances in 2018 and 2019 but when you come at the king, you best not miss.

* – RBY was docked a point due to taking his headgear off

No. 3

February 19, 2017
Stillwater, Ok
No. 1 Penn State 27, No. 2 Oklahoma State 13

The No. 1 ranked Nittany Lions (13-0) rolled into Stillwater to take on the No. 2 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (14-0) late in the 2016-2017 season. The dual meet ended up featuring 18 ranked wrestlers and seven matchups where top 10 wrestlers squared off against one another.

This is what the wrestling experts call a solid, to quite solid tune-up for the upcoming B1G Championships.

Penn State started off in a 13-0 hole as Nick Suriano (PSU) had an injury default loss, George Carpenter (PSU) lost a major decision, and No. 10 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU) lost a tough decision to No. 1 Dean Heil.

No problem.

The buzzsaw of No. 1 Zain Retherford (PSU), No. 1 Jason Nolf (PSU), No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU), No. 7 Mark Hall (PSU), No. 2 Bo Nickal (PSU), No. 9 Matt McCutheon (PSU), and No. 3 Nick Nevills (PSU) accounted for 27 unanswered points. Importantly, Nolf got a technical fall against No. 6 Joe Smith, Joseph scored a major decision over No. 8 Chandler Rogers, and Nickal pinned No. 4 Nolan Boyd.

In the end, Penn State Wrestling thoroughly punished the Cowboys to the tune of 27-13. The 2016-2017 Nittany Lion lineup was unrelenting and no lead by the other team was safe at any time.

Moreover, at this point in the Sanderson era at Penn State, the results from above were simply routine.

 

No. 2

December 21, 2013
Iowa City, Iowa
No. 1 Penn State 24, No. 3 Iowa 12

Beating Iowa at wrestling is always going to be a challenge. In addition, beating Iowa in Iowa City is downright impossible. To put it in context, it’s about as rare as a Penn State Men’s Basketball appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

A Sanderson-coached Penn State Wrestling team traveled to Iowa City twice prior to the 2013 tilt, and both times the Hawkeyes were victorious. Conversely, the 2013-2014 team finally had the wrestling prodigies to possibly upend Iowa on its home mat.

The first three matches (starting at 125) saw the Nittany Lions win two decisions and the Hawkeyes earned a fall to tie up the score (6-6). Redshirt freshman Zack Beitz (PSU) topped Iowa’s Michael Kelly in a bit of a shocker, however, Iowa quickly answered with a decision of their own from the No. 1 ranked James Vollrath.

It seems like all of Penn State’s championship teams had a murderers row at some point in the lineup. And between No. 1 David Taylor (PSU), No. 3 Matt Brown (PSU), No. 1 Ed Ruth (PSU), and No. 3 Morgan McIntosh (PSU) they had just that in the 2013-2014 team. Furthermore, this group of experienced Nittany Lions racked up two majors and two decisions to put Penn State up 20-9.

Finally, the Iowa City monkey was off Cael’s back. Two years later the Nittany Lions were again able to take down the Hawkeyes at home. And as the loss in their 2020 dual will tell you, it’s never an easy task.

 

No. 1

February 3, 2018
University Park, Pa
No. 1 Ohio State 18, No. 2 Penn State 19

This is an easy one.

Dubbed the “Dual of the Century,” the 2018 clash between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State Wrestling has to be one of the best dual meets in college wrestling history.

The Nittany Lions were able to pull out the win 19-18 yet somehow the score doesn’t indicate just how close this match was.

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The dual started out at 125 where Ohio State was able to get out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a major decision from No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (OSU). Along with that, their lead was extended in the 133 match when No. 2 Luke Pletcher (OSU) won in a decision to make it 7-0.

Penn State Wrestling’s hopes were on No. 6 Nick Lee (PSU) as he went up against No. 11 Joey McKenna (OSU). A shocked crowd watched as Ohio State’s lead was further extended when Lee lost a 7-6 decision. Hope had seemingly vanished from the normally friendly confines of Rec Hall. Things looked bleak.

Thankfully, No. 1 Zain Retherford (PSU) was up next. And the legendary Nittany Lion star earned a 20-4 technical fall to get Penn State on the board. Bo Pipher (PSU) then lost in a technical fall against No. 5 Micah Jordan (OSU) and Ohio State pushed their lead to 15-5 with only 5 matches remaining. Moreover, the deficit still felt impossible to overcome.

However, remember when I said Penn State usually has a string of elite wrestlers in a row in their lineup? Well that year’s squad definitely had that going for them.

No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU), No. 2 Mark Hall (PSU), and No. 1 Bo Nickal (PSU) all took care of business earning two major decisions and a decision to give Penn State the lead 16-15. This was the good news. The bad news was Ohio State’s next two wrestlers were each the No. 1 ranked guys for the 197 and 285 weight classes.

No. 1 Kollin Moore (OSU) had not lost a match yet in the 2017-2018 season. And who did Cael throw out there to wrestle him? Unranked Anthony Cassar (PSU). We all know about Cassar now, however not much was really known about him then. This was about to change as Cassar shocked Ohio State, Ohio State fans, and Penn State fans when he defeated Moore in an improbable 6-3 decision giving Penn State a slim 19-15 edge.

Next up was No. 6 Nick Nevills (PSU) going against No. 1 Kyle Snyder (OSU). All Nevills had to do was lose no worse than a decision and Penn State would win the dual. He did just that with a thrilling 15-10 decision win by Snyder.

Thus one of the best regular season dual meets in college history had ended with Penn State Wrestling topping Ohio State 19-18. Incredible.

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