Cael Sanderson is already up there with the greatest NCAA coaches of all time, and at just 40 years old, he still has a lot of coaching years in front of him. Through 14 seasons as a head coach (three at Iowa State and 11 at Penn State), Cael already has eight team titles, 25 AAs, and 73 individual national championships.

Below are each one of Cael Sanderson’s teams that he has coached in order from worst to best. These teams are ranked based on NCAA finish, points scored, dual record, conference finish, etc.

14) 2009-2010, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 9th

NCAA Points: 49

Dual Record: 13-6-1 (5-3)

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To put into perspective how good Cael has been, his first year at Penn State was easily his worst, and he still had a top-10 team. This is the only Penn State team Cael has coached that never had an individual national champion. Dan Vallimont came the closest when he made the finals at 165lbs, but lost to Andrew Howe. The three All-American total is the lowest of any of the Cael teams. Cael’s younger brother Cyler Sanderson was the only Big Ten champion. 

13) 2014-2015, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 6th

NCAA Points: 67.5

Dual Record: 11-4 (6-3)

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This was the famous “punt year” for Penn State. They redshirted Nico Megaludis, Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, and Bo Nickal among others. This squad still managed to put together a respectable season: five All-Americans, one national champion (Matt Brown), and all dual losses only came by single digits to top-five teams (Iowa, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, and Ohio State).

Watch Matt Brown defeat Tyler Wilps in the 2015 NCAA finals below.

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12) 2007-2008, Iowa State

NCAA Finish: 5th

NCAA Points: 72

Dual Record: 16-4 (3-1)

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This was an extremely young Cyclone team that had only two upperclassmen (Aron Scott and David Bertolino) in the starting lineup. However, six of those eight underclassmen earned All-American status: Nick Fanthorpe (7th-133), Nick Gallick (5th-141), Cyler Sanderson (7th-157), Jon Reader (7th-165), Jake Varner (2nd-184), and David Zabriskie (6th-HWT). Along with Bertolino’s eighth-place finish at 197, Iowa State finished with seven All-Americans, but zero champions.

11) 2008-2009, Iowa State

NCAA Finish: 3rd

NCAA Points: 84.5

Dual Record: 15-3 (3-1)

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Virtually the same team from the year prior with the addition of Jerome Ward and Duke Burk. The extra year of experience showed as the Cyclones finished with 12.5 more points and a team trophy at the national tournament. Despite having three fewer All-Americans, Gallick, Reader, Varner, and Zabriskie all improved their placements, and Varner defeated Craig Brester for his first national title.

10) 2019-2020, Penn State

NCAA Finish: NA

NCAA Points: NA

Dual Record: 12-2 (8-1)

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With the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA tournament, this team became harder to rank. We have to rely more heavily on the conference tournament and dual performance. Although Arizona State was a good team this season and PSU forfeited to Zahid Valencia and wrestled Kyle Conel (not Shakur Rasheed) at 197, they still lost despite picking up a win over ASU’s Tanner Hall with Anthony Cassar. The Nittany Lions also did not have a good Big Ten tournament by their own standards. They finished in fourth place with only Mark Hall and Aaron Brooks winning titles. In Flo’s final team tournament rankings, Penn State was in second with 78 points.

9) 2006-2007, Iowa State

NCAA Finish: 2nd

NCAA Points: 88.5

Dual Record: 13-3 (4-0)

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Cael inherited quite the team from Bobby Douglas in 2006. The team included the Paulson twins, Jake Varner, David Zabriskie, and Kurt Backes. Two of their three dual losses came to Minnesota, who won National Duals and the individual title that year. The other loss came to Iowa inside Carver. While Varner and Backes also made the national finals, Trent Paulson was the only champion. He defeated Craig Henning 6-5.

8) 2010-2011, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 107.5

Dual Record: 17-1-1 (6-1-1)

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It only took one transition year before Cael won a national championship at Penn State. With 107.5 points, the Nittany Lions outscored second-place Cornell by 14 points. Although they lost to Iowa and tied Minnesota during the regular season, PSU more than made up for it in the postseason. Five of the 10 Big Ten champions were Penn State wrestlers. Andrew Long (133), Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (157), Ed Ruth (174), and Quentin Wright (184) all won Big Ten titles and would go on to All-American as well.

7) 2012-2013, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 123.5

Dual Record: 13-1 (7-1)

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All five of Penn State’s All-Americans this year made the NCAA finals. However, they only came away with two titles. Ed Ruth and Quentin Wright won at 184 and 197. Jesse Delgado defeated Nico Megaludis, Chris Perry defeated Matt Brown, and Kyle Dake defeated David Taylor. The lone dual loss came to Iowa in Carver. The Hawkeyes used a Ramos pin and two close wins from Matt McDonough and Mike Evans to pull off the upset 22-16.

6) 2013-2014, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 109.5

Dual Record: 15-1 (7-1)

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This was David Taylor and Ed Ruth’s senior season and their fourth-straight Big Ten team title. Although the Nittany Lions lost Quentin Wright from the year before, they replaced him with Morgan McIntosh and added freshman Zain Retherford to the lineup at 141. Ruth and Taylor won titles while Megaludis (3rd-125), Retherford (5th-141), James English (7th-149), Brown (5th-174), and McIntosh (7th-197) All-Americaned. The loss occurred in Minneapolis. While both teams won five matches, the difference was Logan Storley knocking off Matt Brown 8-4 and Dylan Ness pinning Dylan Alton. The Gophers won 18-17.

5) 2015-2016, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 123

Dual Record: 16-0 (9-0)

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Cael Sanderson’s first undefeated season as a head coach. The Nittany Lions defeated every team they faced including #2 Oklahoma State 29-18. This year Zain moved up to 149 and made incredible gains in the offseason to go from good to elite. He went 35-0 with almost a 90% bonus rate. Zain and Nico beat a pair of Hawkeyes in the finals in Brandon Sorensen and Thomas Gilman. This was also the year the NCAA wrestling world was introduced to Jason Nolf. Although his two losses on the season came to Isaiah Martinez at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships, Nolf did hand IMar his first college loss at the dual.

Watch Jason Nolf pin Isaiah Martinez below.

4) 2011-2012, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 143

Dual Record: 13-1 (7-1)

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The Nittany Lion’s run through the field at the 2012 NCAA Championships was a dominant showcase. They had three champions, five finalists, and the sixth AA (Dylan Alton-157) took third. Second-place Minnesota finished 25.5 points behind. Sophomore stars David Taylor and Ed Ruth racked up plenty of bonus points while senior Frank Molinaro went undefeated. Cael also made the decision to start true freshman Nico Megaludis, who went 28-8 and made the NCAA finals. Minnesota matched up perfectly with Penn State this season and was able to defeat them in mid-November winning seven out of 10 matches.

3) 2018-2019, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 137.5

Dual Record: 14-0 (9-0)

LINEUP

The back half of this lineup is almost unbelievable: Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall, Shakur Rasheed, Bo Nickal, Anthony Cassar. Dominant is underselling what they did to the field in Pittsburgh. Those six, along with Roman Bravo-Young (8th-133) and Nick Lee (5th-141) All-Americaned and outscored second-place Ohio State 137.5 to 96.5. They also won the Big Ten championship with four champions and beat #2 Ohio State in the dual 28-9.

2) 2017-2018, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 141.5

Dual Record: 14-0 (9-0)

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What a year this was for Penn State wrestling: four NCAA champions, eight All-Americans, beat Iowa 28-13, defeated Ohio State in what was deemed “the dual of the century,” and Bo Nickal gave us the “that’s what we do” soundbite after pinning Myles Martin in the finals.

Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), and Bo Nickal (197) won titles, while Nick Lee (5th-141), Mark Hall (2nd-174), Shakur Rasheed (7th-197), Nick Nevills (7th-285) AAd. This year Zain won his second-straight Hodge Trophy and Bo Nickal was a Hodge finalist as well.

Watch Bo Nickal pin Myles Martin in the 2018 NCAA finals below.

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1) 2016-2017, Penn State

NCAA Finish: 1

NCAA Points: 146.5

Dual Record: 14-0 (9-0)

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As good as Cael’s Penn State team was in 2018, it was even better in 2017 largely because of one piece: Nick Suriano at 125 lbs. Unfortunately, Suriano, who had defeated eventual champion Darian Cruz earlier in the season 7-0, injured his ankle late in the season and wasn’t able to compete at the national tournament. Despite this, the Nittany Lions still had an absurd five champions, going 5-0 in the finals. Nick Nevills (5th-285) was the lone AA who didn’t win that season. PSU won the title with a school-record 146.5 points, 36.5 points ahead of second-place Ohio State. Cael and co. also defeated Ohio State in the dual that year, as well as #3 Oklahoma State and #4 Iowa. 

Now just take a second to appreciate the greatness of Cael Sanderson.