What’s next for the No. 1 team in the nation, the one that somehow appears even more dominant than its two previous record-setting versions?
The Nittany Lions and coach Cael Sanderson, who are well on their way to their 13th national title in the past 15 years, seem to be only distancing themselves further from the rest of the country, including the preeminent Big Ten.
The Lions are in the midst of an NCAA-record 82-match winning streak. They have six No. 1-ranked wrestlers for the first time in history. They’ve stunningly shut out seven opponents this season, another school record.
The top sports dynasty in America? It’s to the point where the biggest question is whether top-10 opponents, like Nebraska on Friday night in the Bryce Jordan Center, will simply score.
When asked recently about they’re ever-growing dominance, Sanderson talked about culture and their long-standing program process.
‘I mean, we have a special thing going here, right? The kids know that. They see that,” he told reporters last week in State College. ‘I think I have a pretty good idea of what we’re doing and what we’re not doing. I think, in this era, the NIL era, and all the different motivations to go to different programs, our kids know that they’re coming here because they want to be the best wrestlers they can possibly be.
‘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 that are coming here for the right reasons. Because the kids know, recruits know, parents know.
‘Kids are coming here with very high character, wanting to be the best wrestlers in the world.’
How Penn State wrestling dynasty grows even stronger
Their overall dominance of the sport in the past 15 years is one matter. How they continually find new ways to improve upon themselves is quite another.
They certainly own an even deeper roster than the past two teams that broke overall points records at the NCAA Championships. They certainly seem possible of tying or bettering records for most individual finalists (six) and winners (five) at those national championships in Cleveland in late March.
This also would be their first time winning five straight team championships under Sanderson.
Then consider this: Only one of their 10 starters — Levi Haines — is a senior.
“I think the chemistry is really incredible right now in the program,” Sanderson said. ‘Just a lot of good kids that are here for the right reasons, the right kids that could have named their price and gone to other schools are here just because of what the program represents and stands for.
“Those are the kids that are going to care about one another and care about the team. When you do that, you’re going to get your best self and your best own individual results, just because that’s just how it goes.”
Sanderson, through all of their successes, has finally built a lineup without any holes. Even their only two non-top five wrestlers are trending upwards: junior Braeden Davis, a returning All-American, just getting accustomed to his third weight class in three seasons (141 pounds) and redshirt freshman heavyweight Cole Mirasola appear to be improving by the week.
Penn State (11-0) has beaten their opponents by an otherworldly combined score of 480-19. They’ve won 49 of their 50 individual Big Ten bouts.
This weekend’s opponent, Nebraska, boasts eight top-10 wrestlers and will still be a prohibitive underdog. The best measure will come Feb. 13 when No. 2 Ohio State — and its eight top-five wrestlers — come to State College.
Of course, the Lions have been in such positions before and haven’t lost a dual meet in six years. They haven’t lost at home, incredibly enough, in 11 years.
Their best may be a bespectacled, philosophical junior who’s lost just one match in three seasons. Listen to how Mitchell Mesenbrink, an upbeat, unassuming point-scoring machine, puts it:
‘I don’t think there’s any secret sauce,’ he told reporters last week about that team domination. ‘Just keep doing the same things and focusing on the bigger picture of things in preparing for the next match.
‘It’s instilling values into your day-to-day that mean something to you and mean something to God and make a difference. Everybody knows them. They’re not just some crazy fable or message that you’ve never heard. What’s the quote? ‘Extraordinary is just ordinary over and over.”
Frank Bodani covers Penn State wrestling for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.