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How Penn State Wrestling Spent its Day at the White House, Pentagon

The Nittany Lions commemorate their fifth straight NCAA title with a whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C.
Mark Wogenrich|
Members of the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team pose for a photo after the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena.
Members of the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team pose for a photo after the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Penn State wrestling team celebrated its fifth straight NCAA wrestling title on Tuesday with visits to the White House, the U.S. Senate and the Pentagon. The Nittany Lions were greeted by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden, where they posed for photos with elected officials, including Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick.

Penn State in March won its fifth straight NCAA wrestling title, setting a team scoring record for the third consecutive year. The Nittany Lions claimed their 13th title in 17 years under head coach Cael Sanderson, who spent some time with Trump during the visit.

The Nittany Lions also were recognized on the floor of the Senate, where McCormick praised Pennsylvania as "wrestling country" and the Penn State wrestling team for setting "the standard" in NCAA wrestling.

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal, who competed at the White House in June for UFC Freedom 250, joined the team for its Washington trip. The Nittany Lions also visited the U.S. Department of War, where wrestlers worked out with members of the Armed Forces in the Pentagon Athletic Center.

Penn State has been the nation's most dominant college wrestling team for a decade, and Sanderson has been its most successful coach. He recently was recognized by The Open Mat as its 2026 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year after leading the Nittany Lions to their fifth consecutive undefeated season.

The Nittany Lions shut out eight opponents last season and won nearly 93 percent of their bouts in dual matches. The team then dominated the postseason, setting Penn State scoring records at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships, following the most statistically dominant regular season of its recent five-year run.

Penn State enters the 2026-27 season favored to win its sixth consecutive national championship. The Nittany Lions return three NCAA champs (and potentially four if Levi Haines comes back) and eight wrestlers who have won All-America honors in their career. Penn State also brings an NCAA-record, 86-match win streak into the 2026-27 season.

"We work every day," Sanderson said in Cleveland after the NCAA Championships. "We love what we do. We love each other, our staff. The kids in the program and the staff we work with, that's what it's all about. Seeing those guys every day is what motivates me and just continuing to learn and grow."

"We're a blessed program. We follow the rules. There's not a lot of that going on right now. And that's one of the reasons we can sleep when the wind blows. We train hard and do the right things to the best of our ability and things will work out."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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