At 46, Penn State's Cael Sanderson Still Wrestles With a Purpose

The Penn State wrestling coach still gets on the mat with his top-ranked Nittany Lions, who continue to make history.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Cael Sanderson watches his team wrestle the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

He's 46 years old now, without the bend or flexibility or leg drive he had 25 years ago, but Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson still gets on the mat every day during the season. Sanderson joked that his wrestlers start asking him later in the week for a practice partner because they need someone lighter who "they can just throw around."

So that’s kind of the role that I take and have accepted," he said. But the Nittany Lions don't let Sanderson's self-deprecation fool them. They know he brings a purpose to the mat.

"I’m not throwing a fit if I’m not wrestling that day like I probably would have a few years ago, because your body is not designed to get beat up this far into your life, probably," Sanderson told reporters in State College at his weekly media availaility. "But I love it. I love that part of it. I feel like that's how I can teach kids."

As head coach of what Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft has called beyond a "dynasty," Sanderson nevertheless remains committed to wrestling's most basic components. That means putting his chops as perhaps the greatest amateur wrestler ever to use daily in the Nittany Lions' practice room. Which is unmatched in college wrestling today.

Penn State wrestling, the four-time defending NCAA team champion, is on another historic run this season. The top-ranked Nittany Lions (11-0) have shut out seven opponents, including four of five in the Big Ten, as they march through the 2025-26 schedule.

Penn State has outscored its 11 opponents by a combined total of 480-19. No team has won more than two bouts in a dual match vs. the Nittany Lions, who have a combined individual record of 104-6.

The Big Ten domination is even more stark. Penn State has shut out four of its five conference opponents, including Indiana and Maryland in less than 24 hours last weekend. The Nittany Lions are a combined 49-1 in Big Ten individual bouts, with the only loss being a 3-2 decision against Iowa.

Penn State has scored bonus points in 80 percent of its individual wins and has amassed 329 more takedowns than its opponents. The Nittany Lions seek to extend their NCAA-record win streak to 83 matches when they host No. 6 Nebraska at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday.

During an appearance on Big Ten Network, wrestling broadcaster Shane Sparks called the Nittany Lions' dominance "comical, quite frankly."

The Nittany Lions set the standard 😤@ShaneSparksBTN drops the numbers behind @pennstateWREST's control on the mat and just how impressive it's been 👇#B1GToday pic.twitter.com/SraUZ6BpTQ

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) January 26, 2026

At the center is Sanderson, the only NCAA Division I wrestler to finish his career as an undefeated (159-0) four-time champion. A 2004 Olympic gold medalist in Athens, Sanderson essentially retired from competition after that, though he donned a U.S. singlet again at the 2011 World Championships, placing fifth.

Fifteen years later, Sanderson continues to wrestle in the nation's most competitive room. Six Nittany Lions are No. 1 at their weight classes, according to the latest InterMat rankings, and the entire lineup ranks in the top 12. Penn State has a chance to break the national tournament scoring record for the third consecutive year at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships in March in Cleveland.

To get the Nittany Lions there, Sanderson won't be just a coach with a whistle. He and his staff (associate head coaches Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunningham and assistant Nick Lee) teach by doing.

"Different people learn in different ways," Sanderson said. "... Anybody can tell somebody what they're doing wrong. You can watch a match in Rec Hall, and a lot of people could tell you what somebody's doing wrong. But getting somebody to make a change or an adjustment, obviously that's the challenge."

Sanderson told Men's Health Magazine last year that wrestling in practice goes beyond teaching for him. It's his way of being "real."

"Share your passion. Be positive. Let them know you care," Sanderson told the magazine.

Before Penn State hosts Nebraska, Sanderson joked that he's more of a training "dummy" now than he was 20 years ago. Still, he revels in that part of the job.

"As coaches, if you can get on the mat with them and keep putting them in that position over and over and over again, whether they know it or not, they’re going to get better," Sanderson said. "I really enjoy that part of my job."

Up next

No. 1 Penn State hosts No. 6 Nebraska on Friday night in the second of three matches at the Bryce Jordan Center this season. The match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start on Big Ten Network.

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