‘Our guys are going to go wrestle great,’ Penn State’s Cael Sanderson says about Big Ten tournament

When ol’ Benjamin Franklin wrote that death and taxes are the only things certain in life, he didn’t know about Penn State wrestling.

As college wrestling’s Division I postseason begins, it’s a certainty that Penn State will be at its peak at the Big Ten Championships at Northwestern on Saturday and Sunday and at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia about 12 days later.

The No.1-ranked Nittany Lions, winners of 71 straight dual meets spanning five-plus years, are seeking their third straight B1G crown this weekend and their 12th NCAA title in the past 14 tournaments. Eight of State’s 10 wrestlers are ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 and the other two are top eight.

While the rankings matter for seeding purposes, it’s performance that is paramount in March.

“The bigger the match, the more fun it is,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said Monday. “We spend every day pretty much preparing and thinking about the big matches. So when you actually have an opportunity to go participate and do something about those big matches, I think that’s what it’s all about. We don’t live to prepare for the big matches, we live for the big matches.

“That’s the energy and the mentality, but we always keep things in perspective too. I think you just have a plan, and you follow the plan. There are variables, and things shift around throughout the year, and you adjust accordingly. But our guys have always competed really well in the postseason, and I think they have a lot of confidence in that. And there won’t be an exception this year. Our guys are going to go wrestle great, and they’re going to wrestle well at the Big Tens, and they’re going to wrestle even better at the nationals; it’s going to be fun.

We trust the coaches. The coaches prepare us in a good way,” said Bartlett, who will be the No. 1 seed at 141 this weekend. “We trust our training partners … they’re really selfless. They’re showing up every day. They want to see us win, because if we win, we all win together … we get rings … we’re the national champs.

“It’s really cool. So there’s a lot of people involved. And ultimately, I trust myself that I really want to do this. There’s no place I’d rather be than right now, and I make the most of it. So I trust I’m going to do that.”

Redshirt sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink, last season’s B1G champ and NCAA runner-up at 165 pounds, said he’s observed the Penn State coaching staff helping wrestlers improve since he was in youth wrestling.