Academic Achievement

Penn State has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the NWCA All-Academic list in 26 of the last 31 years, including 10 of 12 under head coach Cael Sanderson.

NWCA TOP 25 PLACINGS AND NCAA FINISHES SINCE 1991

Year Acad. Place GPA NCAA 2022 DNP 1st 2021 DNP 2nd 2020 DNP Canceled 2019 21st 3.22 1st 2018 19th 3.27 1st 2017 19th 3.27 1st 2016 9th 3.26 1st 2015 12th 3.19 6th 2014 10th 3.18 1st 2013 10th 3.15 1st 2012 26th 3.03 1st 2011 11th 3.10 1st 2010 15th 3.06 9th 2009 14th 3.06 17th 2008 DNP 3rd 2007 17th 2.90 11th 2006 17th 2.93 T9th 2005 21st 2.97 23rd 2004 16th 2.98 12th 2003 11th 3.07 6th 2002 12th 3.08 35th 2001 14th 2.99 T25th 2000 18th 2.94 T16th 1999 4th 3.09 4th 1998 10th 2.92 4th 1997 15th 2.90 10th 1996 25th 2.60 4th 1995 9th 2.86 5th 1994 24th 2.57 3rd 1993 None selected 2nd 1992 DNP 3rd 1991 6th 2.75 3rd

* Penn State wrestlers have earned eight NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarships.

* Nittany Lion wrestlers have earned 72 NWCA Academic All-America honors.

* Penn State wrestlers have earned 10 fi rst-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

* A total of 41 Nittany Lions have earned Academic All-America laurels from the coaches association during Sanderson’s 13 years at Penn State.

* Penn State wrestlers have earned 255 Big Ten All-Academic Team selections in 30 years.

* A total of 157 Nittany Lions have earned Big Ten All-Academic honors in Sanderson’s 13 years as mentor.

* Penn State has had only two male athletes ever named the nation’s National Academic All-America of the Year and BOTH were wrestlers. Jim Martin was honored as such in 1989 and Matt Brown was honored in 2015.

THE PENN STATE WRESTLING CLUB

Since 1980, the Penn State Wrestling Booster Club has made Penn State Wrestling a family aff air. Approximately 1,200 members provide volunteer support for the team.

They join wrestlers, parents, coaches and administrators at picnics, socials and the annual team banquet honoring team and individual accomplishments. They fi ll buses with fans to cheer on the team at away meets and at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.

Working alongside the Student Affi liate Club, the two organizations share the workload for Club events. The affi liates spread posters around town and campus to promote Penn State matches. The Student Affi liate Club creates fundraisers (like Dodgeball Domination) and is in charge of promoting the Penn State student section in Rec Hall.

The Club produces 8-10 newsletters a year for its membership, which ranges across the United States in 29 states – from California to New England, Wisconsin to Texas. Fans get detailed reports on every club activity and every match, covering all squad members in and out of season and even independent redshirt competition.

The Booster Club is now developing new strategies to better promote Nittany Lion wrestling. Proceeds from membership and donations have helped purchase equipment, produced both recruiting tapes for the coaches and annual highlight fi lms available to the public, funded satellite broadcasts of matches and supported promotional activities such as schedule magnets and vacation prizes at wrestling matches.

The Club’s many long-time members are always looking for new members willing to share their commitment to the best wrestling program East-of-the-Mississippi. Their wide-range of fundraising, promotional and social activities gives them all a deeply felt and widely shared sense of involvement in the program’s success.