Cael Sanderson celebrates with Bo Nickal after a victory in the NCAA semifinals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Cael Sanderson, four-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ, is now a four-time InterMat Coach of the Year, winning the honor again in 2017, the amateur wrestling website announced on Monday.
In addition to being voted 2017 Coach of the Year by InterMat, Sanderson has also received the award in 2007 (as coach at Iowa State), as well as in 2012 and 2016 at the helm at Penn State.
Presented each year to the best college coach in all divisions, the award is based solely on the votes of writers and executives at InterMat prior to the announcement of any other national wrestling media awards. Each staff member is asked to select five coaches and rank them from first to fifth. Point values are assigned to each placement, ranging from one point for a coach listed fifth on a voter's ballot, up to nine points for a first-place choice.
Sanderson received seven of ten first-place votes from InterMat staffer ballots, for a total of 80 votes. Ohio State's Tom Ryan placed second in the balloting with 37 points, despite not having received any first-place votes. Brandon Eggum, who was promoted to the head coaching position at University of Minnesota after the school dismissed long-time coach J Robinson in September 2016, got three first-place votes for a total of 35 votes, putting him in third place in the overall vote count.
During the 2016-17 season, Sanderson led Penn State to another perfect 14-0 dual-meet season, 9-0 vs. Big Ten conference competition. Most of the dual-meet final scores were decidedly lopsided; the closest dual was with Oklahoma State in Stillwater, with the Nittany Lions coming out on top, 27-13. At the 2017 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Indiana University, Penn State tried to battle back from a deficit, coming up short vs. conference titlewinner Ohio State in the final team standings. The Nittany Lions left Bloomington with two individual champs: Zain Retherford at 149 pounds (named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament) and Jason Nolf at 157 (Big Ten Wrestler of the Year).
Two weeks later, Penn State brought nine wrestlers to the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis ... and left the Gateway City with five individual champs (in addition to Retherford and Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph at 165, 174-pounder Mark Hall, and Bo Nickal at 184) and the team title -- the Lions' sixth in the past seven years.
Sanderson winning the InterMat 2017 Coach of the Year honors completes a sweep of all three national collegiate awards presented by InterMat this year. Earlier, the website announced Zain Retherford as InterMat 2017 Wrestler of the Year, and Mark Hall as InterMat 2017 Freshman of the Year.
2017 InterMat Coach of the Year Voting Results
1st-5th-Place Votes: 9-7-5-3-1
Total Votes/(First-Place Votes)
1. Cael Sanderson, Penn State 80 (7)
2. Tom Ryan, Ohio State 37
3. Brandon Eggum, Minnesota 35 (3)
4. John Smith, Oklahoma State 23
5. Brian Smith, Missouri 19
6. Nick Mitchell, Grand View 12
7. Chris Bono, South Dakota State 9
7. Eric Keller, Wartburg 9
9. Zeke Jones, Arizona State 8
10. Kevin Dresser, Virginia Tech 7
11. Tom Brands, Iowa 3
11. Cary Kolat, Campbell 3
13. Frank Romano, Notre Dame 2
13. Pat Santoro, Lehigh 2
15. Lonnie Morris, Johnson & Wales
InterMat Coach of the Year Past Winners:
2016: Cael Sanderson, Penn State
2015: Tom Ryan, Ohio State
2014: Tim Flynn, Edinboro and J Robinson, Minnesota
2013: John Smith, Oklahoma State
2012: Cael Sanderson, Penn State
2011: Mike Denney, Nebraska-Omaha
2010: Rob Koll, Cornell
2009: Tom Ryan, Ohio State
2008: Tom Ryan, Ohio State
2007: Cael Sanderson, Iowa State
2006: John Smith, Oklahoma State
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