It's July 3 and Cael Sanderson has yet to sign a contract extension with Penn State University.

Sanderson, who first took the reins of the Nittany Lions wrestling program in 2009, signed a five-year extension with the university in 2012. That contract expired on June 30, 2017, and no new contract has been announced.

Neither Sanderson nor Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour has provided much detail on how the negotiations are going, but Barbour did speak to PennLive last Friday, telling the newspaper:

We are committed to Cael being the head coach of Nittany Lion wrestling and he, too, is committed to building upon his championship success at Penn State.

Sanderson's previous contract paid him $175,000 per year in base pay not including performance incentives. Penn State assistant wrestling coaches Cody Sanderson, Casey Cunningham, and Jake Varner are all looking for new contracts as well.

Sanderson, who has guided the Nittany Lions to six of the last seven NCAA team Championships, may have something in mind similar to what Kevin Dresser secured when he signed with Iowa State back in February. Dresser is guaranteed $2.25 million over the next five years, plus incentives.

Pennsylvania state lawmakers passed the latest budget for the commonwealth last Friday. The state legislature still needs to come up with a plan on how to raise revenue to close a deficit of over $2 billion before Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf will officially sign the spending bill into law. That won't happen until after the Fourth of July, after which a breakthrough in Sanderson's negotiations may occur.

At least, that is the hope of anxious Nittany Lions wrestling fans.

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