Last Thursday was a distinctive day here in Happy Valley. According to my handy weather forecasting app, sunrise happened at 7:20 a.m. and sunset occurred at 7:20 p.m., giving us exactly 12 hours each of “day” and “night.” It was also St. Patrick’s Day, so those of us with some Irish heritage in our family – a red-headed daughter is usually outward evidence of such a bloodline – had cause to celebrate.
And most importantly for the thousands upon thousands of wrestling fans in central Pennsylvania and beyond, it was the beginning of “March Matness.” The first day of the three-day NCAA Wrestling Championships, the best championship experience in NCAA sports. Or, as Penn State head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson says, “This is the most fun wrestling event in the world every year.” Not state or country – world. And this statement from a man whose passport has been stamped many times in far-flung places all over the globe.
This year the championships were held in Detroit, a mere 43 miles from the University of Michigan campus, providing the Wolverines with a small home court advantage. But with air travel it meant the return flight to State College for the Penn State team took less than an hour. In addition to being a quick trip, it was a celebratory flight. In case you haven’t heard, Penn State won the 2022 NCAA wrestling team title, and also crowned five individual champions.
If you’re a wrestling fan, you already know these statistics, but for those who are not, Penn State has now won nine of the last 11 NCAA team wrestling championships (The inside-wrestling joke is that Nick Saban is just trying, but not succeeding, to be the Cael Sanderson of football). The five individual national champions also tied an NCAA record for most in a year.
One of the broadcaster for the tournament put that in perspective for the average fan: There are 10 weight classes in NCAA wrestling. Penn State crowned champions in half the weight classes – and only brought nine guys to the tournament while everyone else brought 321 guys.
For us wrestling fans, last Thursday was the beginning of what has become an annual three-day stay-cation. With modern technology, every minute of every match of the tournament is now broadcast live. This is an event where even the finals used to be difficult to find on television and it’s now available for anyone to easily watch. And watch we do.
As the parents of kids who were and are involved in sports, we’ve sat through our share of multi-day swimming meets, soccer tournaments, basketball games, etc. As general sports fans, we’ve attended and watched many events in-person and on television. No championship sporting event takes up as much time for its fans as the NCAA wrestling tournament. The broadcast schedule started at noon on Thursday and went to 3:30 p.m., then picked up again from 7 to 10:30 p.m. On Friday it was 11 a.m.– 2 p.m. and 8-11 p.m. On Saturday it was again 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and the finals finished up from 7–10 p.m.
If you’re counting, between noon on Thursday and 10 p.m. on Saturday, a span of less than two-and-a-half days, there are 19 hours of action. Which, because Penn State had nine wrestlers participating and the matches are spread out over that time, there was never a session when a Penn State wrestler wasn’t due to compete. So you always have the television or computer on and ready. And since the matches never end at the scheduled time, and there are award ceremonies after, plus you want to be set up ahead of time with food and beverages so you’re ready to start watching right at the appointed time, well, like I said, it’s a three-day stay-cation. A three-day stay-cation that wrestling fans willingly and happily give themselves up to.
Because, as much as all sports can embody and encapsulate the many facets of life, collegiate wrestling is a sport that can epitomize life even more so. To paraphrase what Coach Sanderson said after the championships concluded, “…(collegiate) wrestling represents the things that I value. Hard work. You get knocked down, you get back up. You’ve got to earn your escape. If you lay on your belly you’re going to be there a long time, right. Nobody is going to come rescue you.”
It’s a hard work ethic.
But it’s also an academic ethic. The Association of American Universities (AAU) is a group of 64 of America’s leading research universities. Membership is by invitation and the schools are distinguished by the breadth and quality of their academic programs. It’s considered prestigious to be a member.
When the NCAA wrestling championships were completed and the team scores were added up, six of the top 10 schools were AAU schools – including one Ivy League school, Cornell – and 16 of the top 25 schools were AAU members. Compare that to the final AP college football rankings where only three of the top 10 schools were AAU schools and only seven of the top 25.
Then if we look at the 20 individual wrestlers who made the finals, 16 of those 20 wrestlers attend AAU colleges. That includes three wrestlers from Ivy League schools – two from Princeton and one from Cornell. And if you wanted a clearer statement of wrestling academic ethics you need look no further than this: every single wrestler that won an individual NCAA national wrestling championship attends an AAU school. All 10 national champions. Clearly these wrestlers are smart kids.
Having had the honor to get to know a few of the Penn State wrestlers over the years, I can say from experience these young men are not only intelligent but professional, respectful, hardworking and outstanding ambassadors for Penn State. They embody the spirit of “May our lives but swell thy fame.”
Then they continue to achieve after they leave Penn State. I watched the finals wearing my Black Wrestling Association hoodie. The Black Wrestling Association’s mission is “to inspire, connect and empower black wrestlers and allies to grow wrestling through representation, equality and opportunity.” Two of the founding members – Kerry McCoy and Mark Hall – are Penn Staters. It’s a privilege to say that I know both of them and they are wonderful, impactful human beings.
The above wrestling and wrestler qualities may be some of the reasons that wrestling is arguably the most popular sport at Penn State. If I wanted to buy season tickets for football, I could give the university my credit card and they would get me season tickets. Same for basketball. I might have to wait just a bit for hockey tickets. But wrestling, well, it’s a question of how many years you’ll be on the waiting list before you’ll ever get the chance to hand over your money to sit in Rec Hall.
A final note about wrestling… My wife, whose life work is about helping people find peace and healing, enjoys watching these wrestling championships. She brings her parents to our house so we can do all the mat-switching technology maneuvers to ensure we get to see every Penn State wrestler. She originally thought wrestling was about meanness, but has grown to appreciate and respect that it is a great metaphor for the struggles we all face and harnessing the power within.
So, if you haven’t marked your calendar already, do so now for your three-day “stay-cation” to watch the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Thursday, March 16 through Saturday, March 18, 2023. Enjoy the show!
