Cael Sanderson closing in on records of legendary coach Dan Gable

Last Saturday, as Penn State wrestling stood on the elevated stage in the middle of the Wells Fargo Center after capturing the program’s 12th NCAA Championship under Cael Sanderson, the question in the back of my head was, is Sanderson the greatest head coach of all time?

He has dominated the sport for the past decade and a half. Only two programs have won national championships since his first title in 2011. Ohio State won in 2015 when the Penn State coach redshirted all his hammers. Iowa won in 2021 with a perfect lineup that caught the Nittany Lions in a year with a rare lack of depth.

Outside of those two years, the gap between Penn State wrestling and the rest of the sport appears to be widening. In 2024, the Nittany Lions broke the NCAA points record by scoring 172.5 points and also toppled the margin of victory record after winning by 100 points. This season, the Nittany Lions’ margin of victory was lower after Nebraska and Oklahoma State put together excellent tournaments. But Penn State still broke its own record with 177 team points and became the second school ever to finish with All-Americans at all 10 weight classes.

Dan Gable vs Cael Sanderson

Dan Gable is perhaps the greatest contributor to the sport of wrestling. Gable finished his college wrestling career with a 118-1 record and two NCAA Championships. He then won Gold Medals at the 1971 World Championships and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. As coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Gable went 355-21-5 in dual meets, winning 21 Big Ten titles and 15 NCAA Championships. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, he coached 158 All-Americans, 50 individual NCAA Champions, 106 Big Ten Champions, and 12 Olympians.

Gable is often regarded as the greatest coach in NCAA history. But with Cael Sanderson’s recent success, how much longer will that be the case?

Sanderson is closing in on all the records Gable set in Iowa City. The Nittany Lions head coach holds a 262-26-2 dual meet record in his career, including a 218-16-2 record at Penn State. He has won 9 Big Ten Championships and 12 NCAA Championships in his 15 seasons in Happy Valley. Including his three seasons at Iowa State, Sanderson has coached 116 All-Americans and 42 National Champions. He has produced 101 All-Americans and 40 NCAA Champions as the Penn State wrestling coach.

Will Sanderson catch Gable?

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson looks on as 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink battles Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo. © Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2025.

Dan Gable retired at the age of 48 after coaching Iowa for 21 seasons. Cael Sanderson is currently 45 and has already coached for 19 seasons, 16 of them at Penn State. One of those years was the 2020 COVID season, during which the postseason was canceled, preventing Sanderson from winning a Big Ten or NCAA Championship and from adding to his All-American or individual champion tally.

As of now, it appears Sanderson will eventually pass Gable by means of longevity. But can he surpass the legendary Hawkeyes coach before reaching year 21 at Penn State?

The wins record will not happen in the next five seasons. Penn State wrestling does not compete in the same amount of duals as Gable’s teams did. Even if Sanderson goes a perfect 75-0 over the next five years, he would still be 62 wins short. Similarly, even producing 10 All-Americans per year over the next five seasons would leave Sanderson short of Gable by seven.

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The most likely achievement Sanderson can reach by year 21 is the individual NCAA Champions record, where he is currently only 10 behind Gable. To reach this feat, Penn State wrestling would need two national champions in each of the next five seasons. Over the last five years, the Nittany Lions have averaged 3.4 national title winners per season. 

However, the achievement that most fans track is team NCAA Championships. There, Sanderson sits at 12 NCAA titles behind Gable’s 15. To pass Gable before the end of his 21st year at Penn State, Sanderson would need to capture four of the next five national championships. Including his years at Iowa State, Sanderson would fall one short of the legendary Hawkeye even if he wins the next two titles. 

No signs of Penn State wrestling taking its foot off the gas

Currently, it doesn’t look like Cael Sanderson is slowing down anytime soon. Penn State wrestling has another top-ranked recruiting class arriving on campus next season, which includes highly touted prospects Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke. In addition to the incoming high school talent, the Nittany Lions are also adding world champion Masanosuke Ono to next year’s roster. Further ahead, Penn State has the No. 3 recruiting class in 2026 after flipping No. 4-ranked recruit Jayden James from Virginia Tech last week.

With how much talent is currently in the Nittany Lions pipeline, it’s highly likely that Sanderson will break every Division I record over the next 10 seasons. He may even help Penn State wrestling pass Iowa for the second-most titles in NCAA history by the time his career is finished.

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