And then Kolat and Billman transferred out anyway.
How did PSU not put it together sooner?
- Thread starter rigi19040
- Start date
There’s a post in the pinned wrestling stats thread showing Div 1 national champs over the years from PA. Looks like about 22 or so schools. The talent has always been spread around liberally. I doubt any other state comes close.
(The chart hasn’t been updated for several years but I don’t believe there would be any new schools listed.)
(The chart hasn’t been updated for several years but I don’t believe there would be any new schools listed.)
In 2007 and 2008 I had a job with Morgan Academic Support Center on campus, tutoring student athletes. I worked with quite a few wrestlers during their study halls in Rec. I will just say that school was definitely not a priority for the vast majority of the wrestlers at the end of the Sunderland years. A lot of talent in that room, but not necessarily disciplined.
REcruiting regionally is not so bad when you are in the state/region with the MOST talent and most NCAA champs. PSU was not that far off. In 1988 they were 22 pts back and there were 5 other champs from Pennsylvania who were not wearing PSU singlet including the OW.
Some of the PSAC schools with LESS money were even finishing AHEAD of PSU.
I looked for some news source to post but can't find the article. Seems to me Ricky ran his wrestling clinic and Sanderson talked to Ricky about the scope of Pennsylvania wrestling. Sanderson has worked a couple of clinics for the Bonomos over the years. Rickey wasn't part of the immediate hiring but I believe he was a positive influence on the situation. If I find it I'll post it .
That would be the OW who went to NC State, right?
This is exactly why regional recruiting is dumb. You limit your pool unnecessarily, and then this is what happens when you lose those battles to teams that don't constrain themselves.
BTW, the 1988 national champ Arizona State team had 4 AAs from Michigan and Ohio.
No. Regional recruiting is not dumb if you are in a region with the most talent. Regional recruiting would be dumb if you were in a region without talent.
Ohio is a neighboring state and Michigan is in our region. Iowa and okstate recruit our region too. No excuse for PSU to finish in the 30s.
When Rich was deciding on whether or not to take the job he insisted on the assurance the team would be able to take 2 mid western trips a year. It was a huge issue at the time. The other issue was fully funded meant to Rich, full scholarships. To administration it meant what the current level was.
Rich paved the path leading to Cael
Please keep making my points for me!
If Arizona State can recruit from "our region" -- even if we accept Michigan being "in our region" 10 years before we joined B10 -- then we can recruit from other regions too. Same for Iowa and OKST recruiting our region.
Agreed, PSU should never have finished in the 30s. Disagree on the "no excuses" bit from people who simultaneously claim that "PSU lost titles because of other PA schools" and "PSU doesn't need to recruit nationally." One is an excuse, the other a rationalization.
Here's some things I found (Per AI):
Yes, Rocky Bonomo (not Ricky) was one of the friends who encouraged Cael Sanderson to accept the head wrestling coach position at Penn State in 2009.
Key Details
- Rocky Bonomo's Role: At the time of Sanderson's hiring, Rocky Bonomo was the head wrestling coach at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. He was one of several people in the state, including high school coach Chris Bentley, who encouraged Sanderson to take the job, highlighting the potential and strong wrestling community in Pennsylvania.
- Relationship: Rocky Bonomo and Sanderson became "buddies" after meeting when Sanderson was competing and later coaching at Iowa State and traveled to Lock Haven for clinics and camps with Bonomo.
- Ricky Bonomo: Ricky Bonomo is Rocky's twin brother, who had a successful collegiate wrestling career, but the sources specifically name Rocky as the one who influenced Sanderson's decision to come to Penn State.
Penn State’s Cael Sanderson holds wrestling clinic at Wyoming Valley West
KINGSTON — It was Friday when Rocky Bonomo decided to send Cael Sanderson a text with the address of the Wyoming Valley West Middle School for Saturday’s clinic, where the Penn State wrestling coach was set to appear. Sanderson had only been in the states for a few days after a long week in...
www.timesleader.com
Everyone posting here is over thinking the situation. It really just boils down to simple math which Cael figured out fast. All he needed was 8 scoring wrestlers and boom, national championship! 
Correction; It was Rocky Bonomo
Below comment is from AI query and answer.
Cael Sanderson has several friends in Pennsylvania who encouraged him to take the head coaching job at Penn State, including Rocky Bonomo, who was the head coach at Lock Haven University at the time.
I don't think people realize how true this is.
One of Cael's demands was funds to pay Cody and Casey head coach level money, which was unheard of for wrestling. Cael knew both were capable HCs and it goes without saying how important they have been to the dynasty. Tim Curley didn't want to pay that but Ira told him he'll take care of it.
I also believe if Cael didn't come to PSU in 2009, him ending up at Ohio State eventually was very possible. I don't think he was ever going to stay at Iowa State forever, the reality is they were always going to be behind Iowa in support and be the lesser brand. I think he was always going to convince a B1G administration to let him plant his flag there, just write the check and enjoy the trophies, I'm glad it was us.
Kraft gets his flake but Brantt on 247 quote of how he views the wrestling program will always make me a fan: "To say he's been good to the coaches and team might be the biggest understatement of all time"
Goes without saying knowing Kraft's personality now that he really wants to make sure his winner stays a winner
Brantt also mentioned Cael, Casey, Cody and Nick have all recently signed extensions.
Goes without saying knowing Kraft's personality now that he really wants to make sure his winner stays a winner
Brantt also mentioned Cael, Casey, Cody and Nick have all recently signed extensions.
Thank goodness for Ira, because without his support the administration and athletic department would have screwed this up.
Great information, never heard this before. I spent a lot of time around Bloomsburg when Roger Sanders was the coach. (Which was during the Bonomo era).Here's some things I found (Per AI):
Yes, Rocky Bonomo (not Ricky) was one of the friends who encouraged Cael Sanderson to accept the head wrestling coach position at Penn State in 2009.
Key Details
- Rocky Bonomo's Role: At the time of Sanderson's hiring, Rocky Bonomo was the head wrestling coach at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. He was one of several people in the state, including high school coach Chris Bentley, who encouraged Sanderson to take the job, highlighting the potential and strong wrestling community in Pennsylvania.
- Relationship: Rocky Bonomo and Sanderson became "buddies" after meeting when Sanderson was competing and later coaching at Iowa State and traveled to Lock Haven for clinics and camps with Bonomo.
- Ricky Bonomo: Ricky Bonomo is Rocky's twin brother, who had a successful collegiate wrestling career, but the sources specifically name Rocky as the one who influenced Sanderson's decision to come to Penn State.
Penn State’s Cael Sanderson holds wrestling clinic at Wyoming Valley West
KINGSTON — It was Friday when Rocky Bonomo decided to send Cael Sanderson a text with the address of the Wyoming Valley West Middle School for Saturday’s clinic, where the Penn State wrestling coach was set to appear. Sanderson had only been in the states for a few days after a long week in...
IDK if Cael would've landed at Ohio State. The timing wasn't right. They hired Tan Tom in 2007 and did enable him to build the better program if not the better team.
IMO a much more likely scenario would've been OKST retiring Smith sooner than they did. They might also have seen the effect earlier with Cael in their conference.
A wild card would've been the Goofers when their Xanax runners got Robinson fired 2 years after they printed National Championship t-shirts. They were still a high-end program with a good RTC and talent pool. If they had enough alumni donors, that might have happened.
The timing was everything. All of the programs you mentioned were still doing reasonably well and tOSU had already brought in Ryan. At the same period of time, Penn State was stumbling. IIRC, Sunderland was told at the end of the 2008-2009 season that his contract wouldn’t be renewed. In other words, he got canned. Sanderson wasn’t even on Penn State’s radar at that point in time, but the open position set the stage. It was really Sanderson who made the first move.
All of this is true.
In the alt-history version, what happens if PSU hadn't become available or if we had gone ahead and hired Koll? IMO in a few years later, OKST and Minny would've been the next most likely. Pitt after Midland Hookers, except that would've been a complete program build from scratch with no RTC and a bad facility by local HS standards, and their donors being more hypothetical than real.
Then again, by the time those things happened, Cael might have built Iowa State into a big enough power to not leave.
Another guy Sunderland neglected to recruit: Matt Brown.
Sure, he was from Utah. But his parents are PSU alums and he wanted to go here. Teed up, but we weren't willing to swing the bat.
Sure, he was from Utah. But his parents are PSU alums and he wanted to go here. Teed up, but we weren't willing to swing the bat.
Sunderland wasn't very good at this head coaching stuff. His level of indifference drove Storniolo to Oklahoma, as his inability to find a communication link with Billman drove Billman from PSU. I can't help but think Davis with our current coaching staff would have been a possible 3X champ. The Moore brothers with the CCC staff would have been amazing and legitimate multiple time champs. Plus I doubt Cael and company after having Scott Moore for 4 years, scholarship free would have been caught with no plan on how to help Scott with his graduate study costs.
Yes, he left a fairly decently stocked pantry for Cael. Without Cael though, I doubt Q, Ed and Frank wrestle in 8 finals and win 6 titles.
That is awesome news. I'm especially happy for Nick. That is a very coveted position he has. From all of the insider comments on this forum Nick is an excellent coach in his own right. He also seems like a great guy. His also still being in prime wrestling age and rolling around with the guys on a consistent basis is another great benefit for the program. Throw in Zain, Jordan Conaway, and RBY in the lighter weights alone and it is no wonder you see so much growth from being in that room.
IMO it's quite possible neither Q or Tank win any titles without Cael. Both of them overcame late-season injuries, and needed some help to get there. Also Q might not have gotten thru both Wilps and Kilgore -- as-is, Wilps took him to rideouts.
No answer for the OP, but loving the provided insights never heard before. Then again, I like to believe that the NCAA’s most legendary wrestler coaching in the sport’s most fertile recruiting grounds was wrestling god fate.
Holding that tack, if convinced our juggernaut is equal parts Cael & Co plus location, isn't the answer simply that Cael (with head coach experience) wasn’t available much sooner? And if the argument is that other PSU coaches could’ve and should’ve mirrored 3C success earlier, I’ll politely disagree. Again, if coaching staff is an equal part (I think it’s far greater) of the juggernaut, no prior or future coaching trio ever comes close.
Holding that tack, if convinced our juggernaut is equal parts Cael & Co plus location, isn't the answer simply that Cael (with head coach experience) wasn’t available much sooner? And if the argument is that other PSU coaches could’ve and should’ve mirrored 3C success earlier, I’ll politely disagree. Again, if coaching staff is an equal part (I think it’s far greater) of the juggernaut, no prior or future coaching trio ever comes close.
I am hoping Teag, Asher and one of Cody's boys just pick the ball up and run it 25 or years farther into the future, post CCC.
I was their before the Bonomo's. A couple of good wrestlers that were on the team .
Don Reese got beat beat by CB Mock(North Carolina ) in National finals . Both were PA high school talent..
Don DiGiochino got beat at Nationals in Overtime by Matt Reiss (NC State) who was from Lehigh Valley. Matt won Nationals that year . Don D. got in big trouble when he was head coach at ESU.
I got to know a bunch of wrestlers. I went to the DOK house on regular basis.
Sanders was a tremendous coach. Bloomsburg finished 5th at Nationals one year. The weight cuts his wrestlers did were unbelievable.
Last edited:
2
I don't have unrealistic expectations. Psu didnt have to keep everyone or even have to outrecruut iowa or okstate. How about not losing 3 timers to psac schools. I think 87, 88 there were three 3 timers in other PA schools. Other years there were individual champs at temple, trenton state, esu, bloom, clarion, Edinboro and loch haven.