Cael Sanderson's Approach Continues To Power Penn State Wrestling Dynasty
Cael Sanderson's Approach Continues To Power Penn State Wrestling Dynasty
Cael Sanderson’s Penn State team heads to the NCAA Championships with seven top seeds and a chance to win its fifth straight team title.
Cael Sanderson’s method for constructing dominant teams year after year changes every so often, depending on various factors.
Sanderson’s primary objective has never changed.
It’s why the Nittany Lions keep winning, and likely will until someone can find a way to send handfuls of healthy, happy and focused wrestlers to the NCAA Championships to counter them.
- NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets 2026 And First Round Matchups
- NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026 Schedule And How To Watch
- Who Got Tough Draws? NCAA Bracket Reactions
“You want your kids to enjoy the sport and enjoy competing more when they leave here than when they get here,” Sanderson said. “That’s something that we talk about and pride ourselves in.”
Minutes after Sanderson said as much, Shayne Van Ness and Luke Lilledahl stepped into the Rec Hall media room looking as fresh as they did months ago at the beginning of the season.
Despite a full slate of duals and runs through last week’s Big Ten tournament, Van Ness and Lilledahl both beamed, ready for what comes next.
“I think for us, peaking is just about enthusiasm,” Sanderson said. “It’s being excited to be where you’re at in that moment.”
For the team, it’s a chance do what no Sanderson-coached squad has done in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions could win their fifth straight NCAA team title after three separate runs of four-peats over Sanderson’s first 15 seasons. They very well could exceed their own tournament record of 177 points set a year ago. Every wrestler in the lineup has a chance to become an All-American just as the 10 Nittany Lions who competed last season did.
“Those are things you look back later at maybe,” Sanderson said. “But when you’re looking ahead, you’re keeping things really simple. You’re focusing on exactly what you can control and the way you’re thinking and what you can do with your hands and your feet.”
They’ll start on Thursday with seven #1 seeds.
“It’s obviously really cool to be part of a team that’s full of a bunch of savages,” Lilledahl said. “But at the same time, none of us really care about the seeds. We’re just going to go out there and wrestle hard and do our job and we want to have 10 NCAA champs.”
Missing Rematch
Lilledahl will try to be the first Nittany Lion to win a title at 125 pounds since Nico Megaludis did so to cap the 2015-16 season.
“Lightning Luke” as his teammates call him, has been nearly flawless in his sophomore season. His lone loss was to teammate Nate Desmond, who finished the season at 149 pounds, but there is something missing from Lilledahl’s resume as he heads into Cleveland as the #1 seed.
He hasn’t had a chance to avenge his NCAA tournament defeat from last season.
Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour beat Lilledahl in a Friday morning tiebreaker a year ago. Lilledahl wrestled his way back for third while Seymour lost his next match and fell again in the fifth-place bout.
Seymour, who’s the #4 seed, did not wrestle in the Lehigh-Penn State dual in early December.
“Yeah, I think I definitely wanted that rematch at the dual and didn’t get it, so I’d be more than happy, more than excited to wrestle him,” Lilledahl said. “But at the same time, I’m more than excited to wrestle every guy in that bracket.”
Finishing Tough
Van Ness has yet to win an NCAA title, but he’s wrestled some of Penn State’s most inspiring matches down the stretch.
All-in-all, the redshirt junior has wrestled 12 times in two NCAA tournaments, wrestling back for third after tough losses in both of his last two tries.
In 2023, Van Ness — then the #12 seed — fell to Yianni Diakomihalis in the semis before beating the #3 and #4 seeds in back-to-back wrestleback bouts.
As the #3 seed last year, Van Ness fell in the semis to eventual NCAA champ Ridge Lovett. He turned in a quick pin and followed it with a major to win the consolation bracket.
“When I take things too serious, I tend to overthink and I’m just not myself out there,” Van Ness said. “So as long as I’m having fun, everything’s going to take care of itself.”
He’s the top seed for the first time at 149.
PSU Wrestling Freshmen Depth
Nittany Lion freshmen Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke will make their first NCAA tournament appearances in weight classes where a handful of fellow newcomers appear ready to challenge for championships.
Blaze enters as the #3 seed after losing a tough Big Ten championship match to Ohio State’s redshirt freshman Ben Davino on riding time in a tiebreaker, less than a month after reversing Davino in a tiebreaker for a dual win.
Sanderson said he believes Blaze has focused on finishing his shots to end tighter matches in regulation.
“I don’t think anybody really wants to be there,” Sanderson said. “But that’s just something that when you have two great wrestlers and they’re both hard to score on, sometimes you find yourself in those positions.”
Duke, meanwhile, has also been a buzzsaw in his first collegiate season. He’s tied with 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink for the team lead with eight falls while only Van Ness (58) and Lilledahl (51) have more dual-meet takedowns.
He was named the Big Ten’s tournament’s most outstanding wrestler after winning the 157-pound title. In doing so, he avenged his only loss of the season to Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor 12-4 in the finals.
Duke is the #1 seed at his weight.
“He’s pretty good at what he does,” Lilledahl said. “And that’s just go out there, get to his ties and score as many points as he can.”
NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026 Schedule
Thursday, March 19
- 12:00 p.m. ET: Session I (First Round) - ESPN2
- 7:00 p.m. ET: Session II (Second Round, Consolation Matches) - ESPN
Friday, March 20
- 12:00 p.m. ET: Session III (Quarterfinals, Consolation Matches) - ESPNU
- 8:00 p.m. ET: Session IV (Semifinals, Consolation Matches) - ESPN2
Saturday, March 21
- 11:00 a.m. ET: Session V (Medal Matches) - ESPNU
- 6:30 p.m. ET: Session VI (Finals) - ESPN
How To Watch NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026
- The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be broadcast across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU from March 19-21 in Cleveland.
- Every match will also be streamed on ESPN+, including concurrent mat coverage.
NCAA Wrestling Championships Seeds 2026
Here are the top eight seeds for each weight class at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. See more here.
125 lbs
- (1) Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
- (2) Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
- (3) Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State
- (4) Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
- (5) Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
- (6) Jore Volk, Minnesota
- (7) Nico Provo, Stanford
- (8) Dean Peterson, Iowa
133 lbs
- (1) Jax Forrest, Oklahoma State
- (2) Ben Davino, Ohio State
- (3) Marcus Blaze, Penn State
- (4) Aaron Seidel, Virginia Tech
- (5) Kyler Larkin, Arizona State
- (6) Drake Ayala, Iowa
- (7) Lucas Byrd, Illinois
- (8) Markel Baker, Northern Illinois
141 lbs
- (1) Jesse Mendez, Ohio State
- (2) Sergio Vega, Oklahoma State
- (3) Brock Hardy, Nebraska
- (4) Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State
- (5) Luke Stanich, Lehigh
- (6) Vince Cornella, Cornell
- (7) Nasir Bailey, Iowa
- (8) Vance Vombaur, Minnesota
149 lbs
- (1) Shayne Van Ness, Penn State
- (2) Jaxon Joy, Cornell
- (3) Cross Wasilewski, Penn
- (4) Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech
- (5) Koy Buesgens, NC State
- (6) Caleb Tyus, SIUE
- (7) Ethan Stiles, Ohio State
- (8) Casey Swiderski, Oklahoma State
157 lbs
- (1) PJ Duke, Penn State
- (2) Antrell Taylor, Nebraska
- (3) Meyer Shapiro, Cornell
- (4) Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State
- (5) Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State
- (6) Jude Swisher, Penn
- (7) Kannon Webster, Illinois
- (8) Brandon Cannon, Ohio State
165 lbs
- (1) Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State
- (2) Joey Blaze, Purdue
- (3) Mikey Caliendo, Iowa
- (4) Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State
- (5) LaDarion Lockett, Oklahoma State
- (6) LJ Araujo, Nebraska
- (7) Max Brignola, Lehigh
- (8) Matty Bianchi, Little Rock
174 lbs
- (1) Levi Haines, Penn State
- (2) Simon Ruiz, Cornell
- (3) Christopher Minto, Nebraska
- (4) Carson Kharchla, Ohio State
- (5) Patrick Kennedy, Iowa
- (6) Matty Singleton, NC State
- (7) Cam Steed, Missouri
- (8) Alex Facundo, Oklahoma State
184 lbs
- (1) Rocco Welsh, Penn State
- (2) Aeoden Sinclair, Missouri
- (3) Max McEnelly, Minnesota
- (4) James Conway, Franklin & Marshall
- (5) Brock Mantanona, Michigan
- (6) Eddie Neitenbach, Wyoming
- (7) Angelo Ferrari, Iowa
- (8) Silas Allred, Nebraska
197 lbs
- (1) Josh Barr, Penn State
- (2) Rocky Elam, Iowa State
- (3) Stephen Little, Little Rock
- (4) Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech
- (5) Joey Novak, Wyoming
- (6) Justin Rademacher, Oregon State
- (7) Cody Merrill, Oklahoma State
- (8) DJ Parker, Oklahoma
285 lbs
- (1) Yonger Bastida, Iowa State
- (2) Isaac Trumble, NC State
- (3) Taye Ghadiali, Michigan
- (4) AJ Ferrari, Nebraska
- (5) Nick Feldman, Ohio State
- (6) Nathan Taylor, Lehigh
- (7) Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State
- (8) Ben Kueter, Iowa
FloWrestling College Wrestling Team Rankings
- Penn State (Points: 164, Prev Rank: 1)
- OK State (Points: 95.5, Prev Rank: 3)
- Ohio State (Points: 94, Prev Rank: 2)
- Nebraska (Points: 76.5, Prev Rank: 5)
- Iowa State (Points: 68.5, Prev Rank: 4)
- Iowa (Points: 66.5, Prev Rank: 6)
- Virginia Tech (Points: 53.5, Prev Rank: 9)
- Cornell (Points: 52, Prev Rank: 7)
- NC State (Points: 48, Prev Rank: 8)
- Arizona State (Points: 41, Prev Rank: 14)
Trackwrestling Has Joined The New FloWrestling
Trackwrestling has officially merged with FloWrestling, bringing its powerful tournament tracking tools and live data into a modern, all-in-one platform.
Fans can follow every bout with pro-grade brackets, mat schedules, team rosters and detailed wrestler profiles—all seamlessly integrated within FloWrestling.
This move delivers a faster, smarter and more connected experience for the wrestling community. Through the updated FloSports app, users can track live results, explore brackets and even sign up for free alerts so they never miss a match.
FloWrestling Archived Footage
Video footage from all events on FloWrestling will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.
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