Cael Sanderson

American wrestler

凯尔·桑德森 · カエル・サンダーソン · 케일 샌더슨

Born

20 June 1979, Salt Lake City

Citizenship

United States

Sport

amateur wrestling

Occupation

amateur wrestler, coach

Height

182 cm (6 ft 0 in)

Weight

84 kg (185 lb)

Cael Norman Sanderson ( KAYL; born June 20, 1979) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of collegiate wrestling at Iowa State (159–0), becoming a four-time NCAA Division I champion. He is the only wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy three times, receiving the award in 2000, 2001 (shared) and 2002. He is also the only wrestler in NCAA history to win four NCAA Championships Outstanding Wrestler awards.

Sanderson is the only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to go undefeated in official matches with more than 100 wins. Sports Illustrated named his college career as the second most impressive college sports feat of all-time, behind the setting of four world records by Jesse Owens in a single hour at the 1935 Big Ten track and field conference championship meet.

Competitions

Awards and honours

• Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award 2002

External links

• Wikipedia
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q1025377 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.