How Penn State Wrestling Remains Dominant in the NIL Era

This really wasn't what college wrestling coaches wanted to hear. After No. 1 Penn State overwhelmed Ohio State 36-5 to clinch its sixth straight unbeaten Big Ten season, coach Cael Sanderson said his team might be getting better because of NIL and revenue sharing. Even if his staff doesn't outbid other programs for talent.

"We have a great team," Sanderson said after Penn State won its NCAA-record 85th consecutive match. "Our culture, the friendship and the camaraderie, I don't think it's ever been anything as close to what we have right now. I think a lot of that has to do with all the changes in college athletics, and the kids are coming here because they want to be here and they want to be part of something special."

The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team has another "something special" season brewing. The Nittany Lions finished their Big Ten campaign 8-0 and with some truly dominant numbers. Penn State outscored conference opponents by a combined total of 328-23, beating second-ranked Ohio State by 31 points, fifth-ranked Iowa by 29 and sixth-ranked Nebraska by 14.

The Nittany Lions shut out four Big Ten opponents, and no team won more than three bouts against them. Ohio State and Iowa won one apiece. Penn State's lineup went a combined 74-6 against Big Ten opponents for a winning percentage of 92.5 percent. Its average Big Ten margin of victory was 38.1 points.

Penn State even outpaced its Big Ten supremacy of last season. The Nittany Lions went a combined 67-13 in individual conference bouts during the 2024-25 season, when they broke their own NCAA tournament scoring record.

Four Nittany Lions went 8-0 in conference duals last season. This year, seven Penn State wrestlers were 8-0 against the Big Ten.

Penn State set the NCAA Tournament scoring record in 2024, broke it in 2025 and has a tremendous opportunity to break it again this season. Seven Nittany Lions are unbeaten and ranked first or second at their respective weight classes, according to InterMat Wrestling.

Nine Penn State wrestlers rank among the top six, and the team enters its regular-season finale against Princeton with a combined dual-meet record of 129-11. With a win over Princeton, the Nittany Lions would complete their sixth straight unbeaten season under Sanderson and 10th in 17 seasons.

"I think we all have to understand what we are watching," Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft said in 2025, before the Nittany Lions won their fourth straight NCAA team title. "It is the greatest — it's not even a dynasty. It's better than what anyone has done in college sports and maybe in all sports, because the Big Ten is loaded. And we're going to do that as long as we can. .... [Sanderson]s just one of those people who thinks at a different level in all the right ways."

Penn State's recruiting strategy in the NIL era

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

Though his team is well funded, Sanderson has not made NIL the front door of his recruiting strategy.

"When kids are in our program, we’re going to do our best to take care of them," Sanderson said. "We’re not going to get anybody because of NIL money. That just goes against what we believe."

Penn State certainly can afford it: The wrestling team received $1.4 million in NIL funding during the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to the athletic department's most recent financial report. That total ranked third at Penn State behind football ($13.3 million) and men's basketball ($3 million). It does not represent athietic department revenue sharing, which went into effect July 1, 2025.

Sanderson has said that he and his staff recruit "like-minded people" who fit the Penn State wrestling program. Evidently, NIL has helped Sanderson identify those wrestlers even further, as he recruits wrestlers seeking more than a lucrative financial contract.

"With everything going on, it’s a blessing for us because we’re getting a lot of like-minded people to fit in with what we’re trying to do," Sanderson said. "And they’re close and they care about each other and they want to see each other win. That’s what makes your job fun as a coach, is seeing a team that cares about each other."

Sanderson also recruits wrestlers to compete for a global program. During the 2025 freestyle season, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club fielded half the U.S men's freestyle rosters (15 of 30 wrestlers) at the Senior, U23 and U20 world championships. Penn State's current lineup made up 70 percent of the U23 men's freestyle team that competed in Serbia.

NLWC wrestlers won 11 medals (six gold) at those events. Luke Lilledahl, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, made USA Wrestling history, becoming the first U.S. wrestler to win gold at the U17, U20 and U23 world championships.

"I think when we look back, we'll see that this era has been good to us because we do our best to follow the rules and we’re going to get the kids who are coming here for the right reasons," Sanderson said. "Kids know, recruits know, parents know. I think it will be an advantage to us, because kids are coming here with very high character wanting to be the best wrestlers in the world."

'A little slow to change'

Sanderson admits he doesn't process change well, or at least quicky. "We’re not very worldly as far as how we approach things as a staff, as a program," the coach said. "It’s more about, we want our kids to be happy and we want them to be able to do what they want to do for the rest of their lives and obviously be at their best in those big moments."

But at the same time, Penn State wrestling has the financial backing (from its athletic department and alumni network) to afford paying for talent. Sanderson doesn't avoid the topic but also doesn't make financial offers his top recruiting pitch.

"I think obviously our greatest recruiting tool is, we’re going to help you get to the top of the mountain and, whatever that means to you, you’re going to reach your highest levels," Sanderson said. "To us, obviously, it’s about helping you and preparing you with a certain lifestyle, mentality and approach that’s going to benefit you for the rest of your life. That’s what we want.

"We want to create kids that go out there and make a difference in the world and do what they want to do, whatever that might be. It might be the sport of wrestling, it might be outside the sport of wrestling, but that’s what we’ve been blessed to be able to do. And our greatest recruiting pitch is just, you can see what we’re doing. It’s not, 'Hey, what are we going to do?' It’s, 'This is what we are doing.' That makes it a lot easier."

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Penn State's recruiting strategy in the NIL era

'A little slow to change'

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