By Wade Schalles

I initially thought about starting the column with, “Penn State’s Cael Sanderson . . . yes!” Followed by, “This move is the best thing to happen to wrestling in decades, if not a century.”

             But after asking around, I’m still thrilled for Penn State. But my excitement has calmed to controlled enthusiasm regarding it being the best thing to happen in the sport.

             I’ll explain why in a moment but let’s start with Penn State.

             There are several individuals that it’s important to tip our hats to regarding this change of leadership and without being there in person, I’ll just say thank you. First to PSU President Graham Spanier; for nothing of this magnitude happens without sign off from the top. I’d like to think that he saw the possibilities and decided to elevate the sport to levels its fans knew were possible, but until now, only dreamed about. That was when I heard Cael’s un-announced annual salary was in the mid-six figures.

 But unfortunately for the sport, I’ve learned that the monthly number Penn State is depositing in Cael’s account is significantly less than the buzz. Not that the rumored amount is incorrect. It’s that the Nittany Lions aren’t on the hook for the entire amount, but rather, his compensation is a combination of institutional dollars and alumni incentives.

  That’s where the move loses some of its luster.

  Could you imagine what that would have done for wrestling had those numbers been on the university’s books?                           

  Think how much exposure wrestling would have enjoyed in the media? What might have been possible regarding alumni everywhere who have a history of always enjoying a good old fashioned arms race when it comes to winning?

  Wouldn’t that have been exciting? Can you visualize this: it’s the 14th green at Glen Oaks in Des Moines, a high-end group of Cyclone alumni are trying to come to terms with the loss of their second favorite son. “This can’t happen,” says the shortest of the foursome. “I’ve got 100K, will each of you guys match me? Let’s get Gable back.”

             Now I’m not sure the golf game actually took place but the Cyclones did ask Dan to return. Fortunately for the Hawks he said no but that isn’t the story here. It’s the fact that he was asked and we’re able to discuss the possibilities.

             How about waking up one morning to ESPN’s Mike and Mike and hearing, “What’s going on in wrestling! Oklahoma State’s John Smith has just signed a 5-year, $3 million deal to coach at Arizona State. This comes on the heels of Sanderson moving to Penn State and J Robinson’s big announcement that he’s restarting the wrestling program at LSU.”

            Wouldn’t that be fun? And that’s exactly the types of things that would happen had those initial numbers come from one source.

            Back to the thank-yous; next in line is Nittany Lion Athletic Director Tim Curley, who strayed from a three-decade old tradition of only hiring coaches that previously wore the school’s blue and white in competition. Of course Tim hasn’t needed to make too many decisions like that at Penn State, JoPa has been coaching football there for twice that long and — God bless him — still winning and giving back.

             For Curley, the decision to bring one of the country’s greatest wrestlers and a true gentleman of the sport to Happy Valley was the result of three things taking place; two of which happened within weeks of the other. The first pulled Cael East; almost two decades of sub-par seasons for the Nittany Lions which gave way to disappointment at multiple levels and the current check writing spree by alumni. Their motivation was simple, “we’re tired of being far less than our resources should dictate and we’re making a change.”

             The second was a push; Coach Sanderson being informed that ISU wrestling wasn’t part of the government’s economic stimulus package so we’re cutting the budget. That had to have been a large pill to swallow. It’s difficult enough winning in the Big 12, but with the reduced wherewithal to stay competitive it was “Hello, Allied Van Lines, how much is it to move a four bedroom house from Ames, Iowa to State College, Pennsylvania?”

             The last reason was both a push and a pull. It’s rather obvious that Cael has grown more uncomfortable with some combination of the unbelievable amount of attention that comes with success and the pressure that appears with expectations.

             Now I understand that moving probably added to the attention side of the equation, at least initially. But it reduced the pressure substantially. No one expects Penn State to finish in the top five next year (the pull) whereas the Cyclones are one of the favored teams (the push) to win it all in 2010. Of course that assumes that those who are already in Ames stay as part of their program and don’t move east.  

             Now before I have to ask Ma Bell for an unlisted phone number, understand I’m a huge Cael fan. I just happen to believe that he’s greater than his titles and accomplishments suggest and as he matures as a coach like Gable did, he’ll have plenty of days in the sun.

             What’s next for Penn State? Let’s look into the crystal ball and see.

            The Swami envisions a second-place finish at the NCAAs in 2011 and the following year the Nittany Lions will win their second NCAA team title. The first occurred 59 years earlier under National Hall of Fame coach Charlie Speidel.

            Now you Hawk fans, relax. There’s still room for you at the top but not near as often as you’ve grown accustomed. Buck-eye faithful, I know you came so close the last two years. Enjoy the resurgence. You have a great state to recruit from and a solid program. Tom Ryan has done a fabulous job.

            Then who wants to bet against J Robinson at Minnesota? He’ll never go quietly into the good night. Ever!

             And of course John Smith will be back in the hunt starting next year. But all these programs, including Nebraska and Cornell, will have to get used to there being a new sheriff in town; although the swearing-in ceremony might not take place for a year or two. But regardless when it happens, Pennsylvania’s flag-ship program is about to set sail.  

             For those who noticed I didn’t mention Iowa State in the previous paragraphs, I had my reasons. None of which have anything to do with Cael’s very-accomplished replacement, Kevin Jackson, or the Cyclones’ exceptionally strong tradition.

             It’s just that the future of Cyclone wrestling was put in jeopardy when Jamie Pollard, Iowa State’s athletic director, was faced with the current financial dilemmas of Division I athletics. Add to that the inability of the school to lure Dan back and then asking Cyclone antagonist Terry Brands to take the job and be turned down. Well, that had to frost a lot of the school’s financially faithful. Then to turn around and reportedly ask Nebraska’s Mark Manning and once again hear, “thanks, but no thanks.”

             I guess the $2.5 million question is why did one of America’s greatest programs struggle to convince their initial selections to come onboard? Might it have anything to do with them increasing the pressure to perform by way of budgetary cuts?

             When you add that to Kevin’s inexperience at the collegiate level plus the one or two wrestlers that might follow Cael east, you have an uphill battle for a program that’s used to being on top of the hill.

             For Penn State, all I can say is, “It’s about time!” As someone who was born and grew up 50 miles down the road from State College, even with my Clarion roots, this is exciting. For as far back as I can remember, Pennsylvania has had the best prep programs in the U.S. and now it’s going to have one of the top collegiate programs too.

             Then there’s the school itself, State College’s campus is simply gorgeous. They have great academics and big-time football. The wrestling room and competition arena are the most impressive facilities in America. Their fan base is very supportive and about to get a great deal larger. The alumni have proven they’re onboard with all that’s going on, as has the administration. And as I mentioned, besides being in the top recruiting state in the nation, three of the other top-five states are neighbors. Then what you might say is the cherry on top of this hot fudge sundae, they also have a “to-die-for” creamery on campus. What wrestler doesn’t melt for a cup of pralines and cream?

             So why am I so optimistic for Penn State? Because I know a lot of issues can be resolved through a healthy diet of winning; something Cael knows a lot about. And when that happens regularly, you’ll see scores of people wanting to be on board with him.

            (A native Pennsylvanian, Schalles is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most wins and most pins of anyone in the sport. Sports Illustrated said Mr. Schalles was “the most exciting wrestler to ever walk onto a wrestling mat.” He’s a distinguished member of the National Wrest-ling Hall of Fame, been named national wresting sportswriter of the year, coach of the year, man of the year, and he’s the sport’s only syndicated columnist.)