The sights and sounds of last weekend’s PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships captivated one group of interested observers. Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson and assistants Casey Cunningham and Cody Sanderson made stops in Hershey between the Nittany Lions’ preparations for the NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday in Omaha, Neb. The three-day event represented one of the few major tournaments Cael Sanderson, a four-time undefeated NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist, had never attended. “It’s a really impressive tournament,” he said Monday. “I didn’t really get a feel for what it takes even to make it to states until I was there. You look at the quality of every round. It was tough right out of the chute.” Sanderson spent last Thursday evening and Friday in Hershey with Cunningham, the program’s assistant head coach and lead recruiter. Associate head coach Cody Sanderson watched the tournament’s conclusion with Cunningham, who rarely left a Giant Center suite occupied by veteran Pennsylvania wrestling fans. “The atmosphere was awesome,” Cunningham said. “I don’t know what to compare it to. The fans know wrestling. I was in a booth where they are taking notes and have the history for the last 30 years. I could ask a question and they knew who won the state championship in 1978 and what weight he was.”

Penn State’s current coaches made recruiting Pennsylvania a priority when they arrived last April. The first four members of the 2010 recruiting class — Central Mountain’s Andrew and Dylan Alton, Coudersport’s Dirk Cowburn and West Mifflin’s Sam Sherlock — are Pennsylvania products. Penn State has received oral commitments from Franklin Regional junior Nico Megaludis and Shady Side Academy senior Frank Martellotti. Advertisement Megaludis is the first member of the 2011 class while Martellotti will join the 2010-11 team as a walk-on. The only non-Pennsylvania wrestler currently in the 2010 class is Hank Stinson, a two-time New Jersey state champion who orally committed in January. The PIAA tournament ended with Dylan Alton winning his third Class AAA title, Andrew Alton and Megaludis taking their second crowns, and Cowburn and Martellotti falling in the Class AA finals. Sherlock, last year’s 125-pound champion, missed the postseason because of a knee injury. Penn State recruits from Pennsylvania went a combined 228-5 this season, with the Altons and Megaludis finishing undefeated.

Penn State’s 2010 recruiting class and philosophies generated a buzz throughout the Giant Center. “I think what Penn State has done is something that’s going to help Pennsylvania wrestling all-around,” Shady Side Academy coach Tim Giel said. “No longer are we going to lose kids to Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa and other places. Hopefully we are going to keep our best kids home.” The state’s best talents are considered among the nation’s best. Twenty-five Pennsylvania wrestlers are ranked in the nation’s top 12 at their respective weights by Amateur Wrestling News. The senior class could be one of the best in Pennsylvania history. Six Class AAA seniors — the Altons, Bellefonte’s Mitchell Port, Central Dauphin’s Marshall Peppelman, Selinsgrove’s Spencer Myers and Abington Heights’ Evan Craig — went undefeated. The group will try to help Pennsylvania defeat a United States all-star for a second straight year during Saturday’s Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh. “You are going to see a lot of these kids that graduate this year go on and do great things in college,” said Cunningham, a former NCAA champion. “It’s a great senior class.”

College coaches also scoured the Giant Center for talented underclassmen. Both champions at 119 — Megaludis (36-0) and Reynolds’ Mason Beckman (49-0) — went undefeated as juniors. Central Dauphin’s Kenny Courts, the Class AAA 171-pound champion, and Nazareth’s Zach Horan, who lost to Port in the 125- pound final, are other gems in the Class of 2011. The sophomore and freshmen classes feature promising prospects. Derry’s Jimmy Gulibon and McDowell’s Steve Spearman won the Class AAA 112-and 130- pound titles as sophomores while Charleroi freshman Cody Wiercioch claimed a Class AA gold at 152. Two days after the tournament’s final whistle, Cunningham was still intrigued by what he witnessed. “Unbelievable talent,” he said. “Every one of those guys that won — at least in AAA — had signed to go somewhere and a lot of second- placers have unless they are not seniors yet. Obviously, we’re not the only ones who see talent there. People are seeing it all around the country. “There’s a few exceptions as far as kids that really standout. But for the most part, there’s a lot of parity across the board. It’s the toughest state tournament I have ever been to. It was exciting being there.”

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