Despite falling just short of a Big Ten team title, Penn State isn’t looking to make changes in its preparation and mindset ahead of its trip to Detroit for the annual NCAA Wrestling Championships.
After finishing second at the conference championships, a tournament that they entered as the clear favorite, the Nittany Lions found themselves 1.5 points behind the champion, Michigan.
Even with the runner-up finish, Cael Sanderson remains positive heading into the national tournament, an event he’s won eight times during his tenure as head coach in Happy Valley.
Sanderson said his group is “focusing on the positives” and is primed and ready to deliver its “best performance of the year” on the national stage.
The blue and white’s head coach was impressed with what he saw at the conference tournament and is focused on the current task in front of his team rather than what happened in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“I think for the most part, our guys wrestled pretty well at the Big Tens,” Sanderson said. “We got nine guys through, we got through healthy and we’re ready to roll here for the nationals.”
Winning more national titles than conference in his 13-year tenure, Sanderson and his coaching staff have a history of having wrestlers peak at the right time.
“The nationals are always really what we focus on, and our guys know that,” Sanderson said. “So [the Big Ten Tournament is] the past, we’re good. We’re moving on.”
Nick Lee is the most experienced wrestler on the current Nittany Lions’ 2021-22 roster.
He is in his fifth year with the program and will find himself wrestling in his fourth national tournament Thursday.
Lee, like his coach, said he also believes the team wrestled well at the conference tournament, and the team will be ready to go for the much anticipated national tournament.
As one of the veteran members of the group, Lee stressed the mindset of the team will remain the same, but it’s still important to enjoy the moment.
“Very few people on Earth are going to be able to wrestle in a national championship, which is probably the most fun tournament on the planet with all the fans there,” Lee said. “I would just say don’t try to block things out — just really enjoy it and have fun because it’s an opportunity not a lot of people are going to have.”
Penn State’s Max Dean is crowned Big Ten champion of the 197-pound weight class during the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sunday, Mar. 6, 2022.
Unlike Lee, who is the reigning national champion at his weight class, Penn State’s Max Dean is looking to win his first national title.
In the last NCAA Tournament he wrestled in, three seasons ago, Dean finished runner-up at 184 pounds and nabbed All-American honors for the second time in his career.
The Cornell transfer is clearly no stranger to success on big stages.
In his media availability, Dean echoed the same message that Lee shared in regards to enjoying the tournament and the moments that it brings.
“I think just managing your energy, in between matches don’t go too high or too low no matter what happens, just [stay] on task and get ready for the next one,” Dean said.
While Cornell is a top wrestling program like Penn State, it doesn’t necessarily have the annual opportunity to compete for a team title on the national stage.
In just his first year in a blue and white singlet, Dean will be a vital member of the program that is favored to win the tournament.
Dean said the team isn’t concerned with where it stands among the front runners heading into the tournament, and the junior will focus on what’s in his control instead.
The Lowell, Michigan, native cited his coach’s stance on what the best way to help the team. Dean quoted Sanderson and said, “the best thing you can do is take care of yourself.”
Dean’s concern with his own performance doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t supporting his teammates, though.
“Obviously, I love my teammates and I want to see them do really well and support them, but at the same time, I need to go out and score points,” Dean said. “In order to do that, I need to stay in my routine, stay focused on what I need and I think that’s the way that I can best serve everybody.”
In just a few short days Dean and the rest of the blue and white will find out just how talented they are when they take on the top wrestlers from across the nation — in the meantime though, they’ll be preparing for one final competition.
“I think it’s nice sometimes to have those weekends off because you can get some hard training in, but when you’re wrestling matches you want to use that like training too,” Dean said. “There’s really no better practice than competition, and we just have a couple more hard days of training here before we rest up for NCAAs.”
MORE WRESTLING COVERAGE
Penn State is officially sending nine of its 10 starting wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Cha…
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism