Column: Brotherhood building Penn State wrestling into a dynasty

Beneath all great structures is a foundation, a sturdy framework that reinforces it all. It might not be what first meets the eye, but that doesn’t diminish its value. Often the opposite is true.

With one of the greatest American wrestlers serving as the face of the program, Penn State wrestling is a case in point. The team is led by head coach Cael Sanderson. His principles guide its trajectory, but it’s his assistants, namely Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunningham, who stanchion the design.

Further strengthening the fabric is a brotherhood. In the case of Cael and Cody it’s by blood; the sons of Steve and Debbie, their births are separated by 34 and a half months, Cody being the elder. With Cunningham, their bond has been molded through nearly a decade of working side by side.

Since Cunningham joined the family in 2008, a move that coincided with their final season at Iowa State, their mindsets have meshed, their philosophies have merged and their mission has become singular – and it all reached an apex in St. Louis.

“It comes from the top, from Cael,” Cunningham said, standing outside the locker room of the Scottrade Center Saturday night. “He’s always preached to us no matter what else, the [wrestlers] come first. Your emails, your phone calls, your office stuff – that stuff waits. That is the kind of program we’ve had.”

Concluding their eighth year at PSU, they’ve tailored their roles to fit one another. Cael is the architect. Cody and Casey are the builders.

During the week in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, it’s often Cody and Cunningham who run the practices. Cody works with the 125-pounders through 157; Casey goes 165 and up. Cael oversees it all. “They do everything that I do and more,” he said. “I’m the one that has to come to the press conference."

The efficacy of their approach, the power of their system and the fruits of it all were on grand display when they crowned five individual champs and scored a school-record 146.5 points en route the team title at the NCAA championships. It's the sixth in the last seven years after the Nittany Lions hadn't won one since their first in 1953.

The hiring of the coaching staff has paid significant dividends, and their operation is one that is embraced by their understudies.

“Cael talks to the team as a whole and tries to help out everybody,” explained Jason Nolf, shortly after winning the 157-pound NCAA title. “Cody and Casey are more individualized guys, so they’re the ones who tell us what we should be eating and what we should be doing, what time we should start warming up. So, I mean, a lot of the credit goes to those guys because they take a lot of time. They look back at past years and what they’ve done, and they just know what they’re doing. So I love my coaches and I’m excited for another few years with them.”

Nolf has two remaining years of eligibility and international freestyle aspirations beyond his college career. For the long haul, it seems the coaching pyramid will remain intact. In the age of modern sports, in which coaches often move from one school to the next and assistants are routinely replaced, Cody and Cunningham, whose families have become entrenched in the State College, Pa., community, appear to be going nowhere soon.

In a season that has seen high-level job openings arise at places like Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and even the Sandersons’ alma mater Iowa State, there have been no whispers that anyone at Penn State is looking to move on. Their names not even mentioned in newspapers’ and websites’ obligatory hot lists.

"They’re loyal. They just love what they’re doing,” Cael said. “I would do anything for them.”

It's a two-way street, a sense of trust and empowerment, as the assistants find comfort in the freedom that the head coach grants them. As evidence, look no further than the 174-pound semifinal bout between freshman Mark Hall and Zahid Valencia of Arizona State.

With a spot in the championship round on the line – one that Hall eventually won – Hall surrendered a third-period takedown and seemed to be on the brink of falling to the consolations. But as he was taken to the mat, something didn’t look right to Cunningham. Upon instinct and with swiftness, the assistant coach acted.

As Valencia brought Hall down, Cunningham saw the chinstrap of Hall’s headgear slide up around his nose, an indication of a technical violation that the referee didn’t originally penalize, or see. Without hesitation, Cunningham leapt to his feet and then to the scorers’ table to wave (both) challenge flags, arguing that Valencia had illegally, even if incidentally, grabbed Hall’s equipment.

Permission was barely asked of Cael, who sat in the green corner. “Whatever he said, I’m with him,” Sanderson said afterward. “So yeah, Cunningham saw it [first].”

Upon instant-replay review, the takedown was waived off and Hall eventually prevailed, 4-3.

One reason for the win was the rapport that had been developed long before between his coaches.

“We spend more time together than we do with our families," Cunningham said. "This is the truth. We know how each other thinks. I knew [Cael] wouldn’t question that. I probably should have said, Hey you want to do this? Maybe I did. I don’t remember. I just know [Valencia] grabbed the headgear. I just jumped up once I saw it. It’s a trust factor.”

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It’s a representation of a bond that has been formed not only during daily workouts in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex but also upstairs in the offices of 237 Rec Hall.

“Behind the doors we can talk about things and maybe disagree on things, but bottom line is when we walk out of that office, we’re on the same page,” said Cunningham. “We’re brothers and it’s been awesome.”

Added Cody, “We speak together and we counsel together on a daily basis. We’re in a position where we can express our opinions freely and openly as assistant coaches. We’re encouraged to do that. Cael listens, and both of us have a tremendous amount of influence with Cael. But ultimately when it comes down to making a decision, he’s the one who makes that decision and he’s the one who has to live with the decision as a head coach. As assistants we know that, we respect that and we support it.”

The conversations aren’t always easy, but they’re effective. They get it done, because that’s what brothers do.

“I don’t think there are days that we really butt heads,” Cunningham said. “We’ll scrap on the mat for sure. I call Cael out all the time and he puts me in my place a lot (laughs). But I think that’s good and it’s healthy. It’s not argument. It’s being able to talk through things.”

Working in the highly pressurized world of Division I athletics, they’ve learned to balance their responsibilities while also taking a lighthearted approach. For Cael and Cody, that’s especially important, as sometimes there is even less separation.

In a family whose patriarch is one of the best high school wrestling coaches in Utah history, it can be tough to divide family from business. But it’s a line that they’ve learned to toe carefully in order to preserve the working rapport that helps make them so effective.

“You can’t ever get away from that,” Cody said. “I mean, we grew up together, wrestled together and are coaching together. It is what we do, but we’re very careful about not crossing lines, because when you’re that close to someone things can get sensitive if you’re not careful. Our relationship is very important to us and we guard it preciously.”

They have their own roles during the holidays, too, even when wrestling isn’t involved.

“When we’re outside of it, we’re outside of it and we just go back to being brothers,” Cody added. “We’re at Thanksgiving and I make the mashed potatoes and he plays Clash of Clans on the couch, and that’s the way it works.”

It’s a bond that is cherished and it’s a brotherhood that also includes Cunningham.

There’s now also another one who is working his way up.

Prior to this season, Penn State added a new assistant coach to the lineup, after 2012 national champ Frank Molinaro took a step back to focus on his international career. With Molinaro competing at the Olympics this past summer in Rio de Janeiro, Jake Varner was brought in to take his place. The Sandersons had coached Varner to two NCAA titles at Iowa State and then to a gold medal at the 2012 Games in London.

If he wasn’t part of the family already, he is now, after finishing his first season as a collegiate coach on a championship-winning squad.

Said Cody, “I’ve referred to him as a little brother to all of us before, and that started when we coached him way back in his college days and watched him and helped him through his Olympic gold medal. Now helping him bridge that gap into a coach, it’s fun to watch. He’s a smart kid, he’s competitive and he wants to learn, so he’s in there every day, trying to figure it out.”