USA Wrestling Heads to State College

Olympic trials will be held in the heartbeat of U.S. wrestling landscape

By Matt Traub (Sports Travel Magazine) April 16, 2024 — There are wrestling hotbeds throughout the United States and while most know of the tradition of Iowa and Oklahoma State collegiately, there’s always been one place where the sport’s heartbeat pumps faster and louder than others – Pennsylvania.

It’s the region that develops as many elite wrestlers as there are trees throughout the commonwealth. Perhaps no more is the sport more a part of life than in Central Pennsylvania, where towns with only a few stoplights – and some with none – don’t wait for football to start each school year but for wrestling season.

That extends to State College, where most may think of it as the home of Penn State football but where for men’s wrestling, there is a dynasty the likes of which may never have been seen before. The Nittany Lions recently captured the NCAA team championship with a record 172.5 points, an almost impossible-to-comprehend 100 points ahead of second-place Cornell. In the 13 years since USA Wrestling legend Cael Sanderson took over as head coach, Penn State has won 11 team championships.