We’re Gonna be Ok - Monday, June 8th, 2009

What’s up? Things are going well in state college. It’s almost wrestling camp time. We start our 21 Day Camp in Ames on Saturday. I may be biased (just a little) but I think this is the best camp in the country. Our numbers being up from last year despite the poor economy suggests it’s a good one.

I have received a few emails and texts about the incident that was written about in this article. So I looked it up. It is several days old but I got a chance to sit down, look it up and write a blog tonight.

Here it is:

Sanderson loving Penn State while laying low in Ames
By ejpetersen

AMES – Cael Sanderson is not done in Iowa just yet.

The former Iowa State wrestling coach has been in and out of Ames since shocking the wrestling world back in April with his decision to go to Penn State.

Sanderson faced a great deal of criticism from Cyclone fans and, to some, will long be an unpopular figure in the state because of his career choice. Vulgar and even threatening emails and letters were written.

One fan, Sanderson said, went as far as to come to his house, ring the doorbell and throw ISU clothing into the house and his wife, Kelly, and 2-year-old son Tate. They now don’t come to the front door when it is someone the family doesn’t know.

To avoid any kind of confrontation, the Sandersons keep a pretty low profile. Cael has shied away from making many public appearances and will continue to do so until ISU summer wrestling camps are over in late July.

“The only problem is that I like to eat (out) a lot,” he said. “I’m not in Ames a great deal. I just do what I have to do. I don’t go out.”

The backlash has died down considerably since Sanderson accepted the new job.

Time has healed those wounds, even more so after Kevin Jackson was hired to take over ISU’s program. Still, the negative reaction has been bothersome to Sanderson and his family, though not a surprise.

“That’s expected. Kelly knew that when we were making the decision,” he said. “I expected people to be upset. I understand. It was emotional for me at first. People care about wrestling and that’s why Iowa State has been so good since the beginning.

“The problem initially was things that were said and rumors about why I was leaving. They just weren’t true.”

Attending last weekend’s World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Sanderson donned a blue Penn State cap.

Despite living in a hotel room when he’s in State College, Sanderson has enjoyed this busy time organizing the program, securing recruits and getting his current group of wrestlers to buy into what he’s selling.
“Change is exciting,” he said. “It’s been overwhelming a little bit with some of those things. I like the area a lot… It’s going well. People know what’s going on there. They love wrestling.”

It’s hard to say how good a team he’ll field this first year.

The Nittany Lions have a handful of All-Americans returning and will add Cyler Sanderson, who was released from his scholarship at ISU and is planning a transfer to Penn State.
No team members have asked to transfer, Sanderson said. PSU finished 17th at March’s NCAA Championships.

“There’s a lot of potential there,” Sanderson said. “But just like anything, you have to get in there and work hard. They’ve got to feel comfortable with me. I don’t want anyone there who doesn’t want to be there, but those kids all love Penn State.”

Former ISU teammate Joe Heskett will be competing against Sanderson for Big Ten Conference supremacy.
Heskett, who was one of the leading candidates to succeed Sanderson, is an assistant coach at Ohio State. Heskett said he was surprised, but not shocked with his good friend’s decision to leave Ames.
“I think it is good for the sport of wrestling,” Heskett said. “I love the competition. The more the merrier. Having him in the Big Ten is great.”

How about getting Iowa State on the schedule for a dual meet? In Ames?

“I’m not opposed to it,” Sanderson said. “I don’t have anything to prove or wouldn’t be trying to come in there and do anything.”

This really was not a big deal. My friend Eric Peterson who I have known since college wrote the article. After Jake Varner made the world team Eric came up to me and was looking for Jake. Jake had left so Eric was stuck for me and we casually started talking. We talked for awhile but the lady throwing the clothes incident was really not a big deal.

It bothered me that someone would come to my house, especially when I was not there and say something to my wife but it was not a big deal. Kelly said she has seen the lady around Ames but didn’t know her. I was grateful she didnt leaving a flaming bag of pooh that my wife would have had to put out with her boot. Now that would have been bad.

Anyway it was not a threatening incident at all. It was a weird lady who thought she was entitled to telling me off I guess. Later that night a couple ISU wrestlers came by the house and were very happy to take the gear home with them. So it was a win-win.

The weird lady got to put my family in their place (atleast she thinks so) and a couple great guys got some free clothes. But it was not a big deal at all. That stuff is all history and there are always a few nuts every where.

The overwhelming majority of people at Iowa State and Ames have been fabulous to me and family. everyone has moved on. this is all ancient history. The future is bright for college wrestling. that is good news.

Cunningham hasn’t seen the bear in his back yard again, but he is prepared if he does. he said he has been drinking a lot of water and walking around the border of his property marking his territory. ok, that’s not true.

That is a story from my childhood. My brothers Cody, Cole and I went backpacking when we were young in the Unitah Wilderness. We hiked many miles back into the wilderness and set up camp. the Unitah’s are a huge, beautiful and wild area just a few miles behind Heber City wheree we grew up. the unitahs have sasquatches, ghosts, and even a few black bears. we were probably in jr. high. the first evening my brother cole was guzzling all of our water and walking around whizzing all over around our camp to mark “our territory” to let all of the bears know that we claimed the site and that they should stay away. by the time cody and I realized what Cole was doing, our banana-strawberry lemonnade rations for the weekend were gone and chewing on a leaf within 50 yards of the camp wasn’t recommended. haha

Alright, Cole is going to beat me up the next time i see him. but to Cole’s credit we didnt see a bear on the trip. We did see a few misquitos though. l love misquitos

Cael

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