How Cael Sanderson Won His First NCAA Title | NCAA Finals 1999

Here we have Cael Sanderson of Iowa State in the red going up against Brandon Eggum of Minnesota. This is Cael’s first NCAA title, which he won as a freshman. I thought it might be interesting to go back in time and see the start of Cael’s legacy.

The first period was fairly tame, lots of deep tie ups, Eggum clearly trying to pull things close and slow Cael down. Cael has one of my favorite styles, he has a great ability to move from situation to situation on his feet and create opportunities, he was always just a step above everyone else in that regard, which you see bleed onto his current wrestlers at Penn State. He was incredibly good at picking ankles and getting to low leg singles, which you may have seen David Taylor do as well extensively. They just make it look effortless.

Around the 42 second mark, Brandon goes from wrist control on the left to a lefty single attempt. He didn’t really penetrate that well, doesn’t look like he committed to the shot, but his head did fall underneath the chest, allowing Cael to get a nice little front headlock.

The shot itself wasn’t a bad idea, but he lacked control of the wrist. If he kept the wrist with his right hand and pulled it forward as he took the shot, even a little bit, it would have been much easier to get. The angle would have been a lot better, the sprawl wouldn’t have been so square, Cael wouldn’t have been able to get any type of whizzer, it could have put Brandon in a good spot to get to the takedown, but that didn’t happen.

As you get to a single like this with a sprawl you can do a peek out on the left, throw your elbow back, pop your head out the left side, and aim for a double. That is a little testy sometimes, so you don’t see too many wrestlers go for it that consistently. You can also throw your left knee down, hopefully penetrate a little, pop your head out the right side, and aim for a lefty double.

The front headlock grip that Cael has is interesting, his left hand above the head and right hand on the chin. Getting a grip like this does tend to give you a good piece of the head, while also keeping your elbows away from your opponent’s grip. If you have a front headlock and your elbows are within reach they can grab them, pull down, and clinch you for a stalemate, along with a couple other options like a peak out, sucker drag, dump, etc.

Cael pulls a ton of weight down, which cements Brandon’s feet to the mat, making it so he can’t move them, as he attacks an ankle pick on the left. He lets the head slip and falls down to the ankles, wrapping them up for 2 points. There’s not much Brandon could have done once this ankle pick was in control. This motion is similar to a dresser dump, which the Iowa State head coach is famous for, though you’d switch your arms, right one attacks the leg, left keeps the head. David Taylor did that a bunch as well. Easy takedown, 2-0 Cael.

Cael rode Brandon out for the rest of the period. 2nd period, gets choice, chooses down. He makes his way to his feet via the tripod stand up, where he controls hands, off his knees, works his way up. It’s worth noting that this stand up seems simple, seems like anyone at any level would be able to do it, but the truth is it works best in college when bodies are fully matured and difficult to hold onto due to the physiology. Things are slippery as well, college wrestlers sweat a lot. In high school and younger it’s much more difficult to escape this way, and you’ll be required to either have a really quick stand up and stay on your feet the whole time, or be able to create enough motion for a switch, granby, peak out, peterson, until you can find your way back to your feet. So, more motion and changes of direction might be required.

Brandon goes to a front headlock, holding onto the head and arm. It looks like he’s trying to bait out a stalemate, which the ref may do, to get a fresh start while burning time and gaining riding time. The ref doesn’t bite though, instead gives Brandon a stall call while Cael picks the hands enough to eventually get free for his escape. 3-0 Cael.

About a minute left in the 2nd, Brandon goes for a random single from space. This is prompted by the deep steps that Cael has been taking all match, and I’m sure Brandon has taken notice and wanted to jump on them. It just so happens that he takes this shot a split second too late. The overall idea is that your opponent is stepping, so shooting on the leg he steps with is a good bet because it takes time for their weight to come back off of that foot, time enough for you to get there, also the foot gets closer to you. You want to time it so you land on the leg as the leg lands, if you’re a split second too late, you’ll miss it or give up a re-shot opportunity, which is what happens here.

Cael slips off of a very loosely gripped front headlock and attacks the ankle. Cael starts to work up, doesn’t look like Brandon is very comfortable in this out the back door position, though to be fair at this point in time funk and scrambling was just starting to emerge, so there probably wasn’t that much information out there about it, no flowrestling or any easy to find resources. Y’all have it easy these days. He’s picking at ankles, but would need to fall off to a side and pull an ankle to his chest, push at the hips with his foot to straighten the leg out, and go for funk or a leg pass. You could also look to lock around the waist, trap an arm, out to the side, lock a leg, or go win-dixie. There’s options for sure, but in 1999, i doubt many people knew any of those.

Cael turns, catches the hips, threatens a near side cradle, for the easy takedown, 5-0.

3rd period, Brandon takes bottom. Interesting choice because he got ridden out both times he was on bottom, though I can’t say neutral worked out any better for him. The idea would be to look for an escape and then a big move, or a reversal to backs, but that’s a fever dream, doesn’t happen that often for the elite wrestlers who are very good at not giving up points in general, let alone at the end of the match. I know he got taken down twice, but I really think neutral is still a better bet than bottom.

Cael rides out Brandon fairly easily until about the 40 second mark, where it just plain doesn’t look like he tries to hold him down anymore, lets him free.

About 20 seconds left, the same type of event happens like before, Cael steps, Brandon bites and tries to attack that single, Cael dodges and then slides onto a low leg single. Cael goes out the back door, this time Brandon does get a piece of that ankle, roll across his back, funk, so this was already a thing back then. Cael does a good job however of staying between the legs with that left arm, gets a navy ride which stops Brandon from finishing his roll and coming up, forces Brandon back the other direction, and so Cael wraps the other leg, adjusts his weight well, and starts looking for a grip on the head, as if to get a low leg cradle. This is actually very intelligent for this time. Understanding that by staying between the legs you keep control of your opponent like this, in a time where scrambling was just starting to emerge, is very cool to see. But let’s face it, this is Cael Sanderson we’re talking about.

And so Cael finishes his freshman year of college undefeated, with a 6-1 victory.