A few thoughts, while wondering if the snow will be gone before May: Many years ago, a former college wrestling coach was asked about how his team would do that season. His blunt response — put in a little kinder language here — came in cooking terms and that how it would be difficult, given his team’s current ingredients, to make chicken salad. I think most of you get the drift here. Well, Cael Sanderson must have gone to a different culinary school. The first-year Penn State wrestling coach is on par with Emeril Lagasse or Bobby Flay. Sanderson’s No. 10 Nittany Lions concluded their regular season last night with a 26-16 loss to Minnesota. They’ll enter the postseason after a 13-6-1 dual meet record and a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten.

The final numbers are very palatable, considering some of the ingredients Sanderson has used and some that are missing. Penn State has won consistently, despite having several wrestlers who were decided underdogs no matter who the Nittany Lions were facing. There’s little argument that this team is wrestling better than expected. Sanderson and his staff have helped turn David Erwin (No. 10) and Adam Lynch (No. 20) into nationally ranked wrestlers. The Nittany Lions have also fared well, despite having talented freshmen David Taylor, Jake Kemerer and Ed Ruth redshirting, along with former Bald Eagle Area standout Quentin Wright, who finished sixth in the NCAAs as a freshman last season. This year’s overachieving team has wrestling fans salivating over what Sanderson can cook up in the future. With a talented incoming freshman class, featuring Central Mountain twins Andrew and Dylan Alton, the future looks appetizing.

The wrestling success could cause Penn State one problem. While Rec Hall has been adequate in the past, it’s hard to imagine it will suffice for the demand for future home matches against powers like Iowa and Minnesota. Even with a relatively lightweight home schedule this season, fans packed Rec Hall. Some of that has to do with Sanderson himself, since the coach is one of the top two greatest names in amateur wrestling history, but everything points to his team being a major NCAA contender for many years to come. On several occasions, the wrestling team has outdrawn the school’s basketball teams (if you count actual bodies at the Bryce Jordan Center). Penn State should start thinking about moving high-profile wrestling matches to the Jordan Center. If not, those PSU-Ohio State wrestling tickets may become just as tough to get as ones for a football game between the two schools.

Thanks to Walt Moody and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article