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Penn State coach Cael Sanderson congratulates wrestler David Taylor after he won a title during the 2014 NCAA
Championships in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nate Billings)

Mike Gundy went back to his days at Monroney Junior High in Midwest
City by donning a singlet this week to make a video promoting OSU
wrestling. The top-ranked Cowboys host No. 2 Penn State on Sunday

in the national duals championship match.

In Gundy’s pitch, he said something that resonated. “The teams are
coached by the two greatest American wrestlers ever.”

[video:youtube]t6lAoxVXRuM[/video]

Interesting. Is it true? Well, any such declaration is dependent on
the parameters. But you can make a very good case that Gundy aced
this one.

OSU’s John Smith and Penn State’s Cael Sanderson don’t necessarily
rank 1-2 in any specific criteria. But each sits atop a particular
list.

Greatest freestyle wrestler in American history? That’s Smith. He’s
got gold medals from six World Championships or Olympics. Four
Worlds, two Olympics. No other American has won like that. Bruce
Baumgartner, who spent time as an OSU assistant coach, won five
(three World, two Olympic). Jordan Burroughs won four (three World,
one Olympic). Leroy Kemp won three Worlds. Former Sooner Mark
Schultz won two Worlds and one Olympic. Kevin Jackson won two
Worlds and one Olympic.

But no one has reached six, other than John Smith.

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John Smith

Greatest college wrestler ever? Well, that’s Sanderson, and while
his record might be tied some day, it’s not likely to be broken
unless the NCAA changes eligibility parameters. Sanderson wrestled
for Iowa State from 1999-2002; he won four NCAA titles and went
undefeated, 159-0. Sports Illustrated named Sanderson’s career as
the second-most impressive college sports of all time, trailing
only Jesse Owens setting four world records in a single hour at the
1935 Big Ten Track & Field Championships.

Smith was not in Sanderson’s class as an NCAA wrestler. Smith won
two NCAA titles.

But Sanderson was not in Smith’s class as an international freestyle
wrestler. Sanderson won one Olympic gold but no Worlds.

In a lot of sports, it’s hard to determine who is the greatest.

College basketball? Is it Lew Alcindor or Pete Maravich or Oscar
Robertson?

Pro football? Is it Tom Brady or Jim Brown or any of a host of
defensive behemoths?

But individual sports are a little easier to gauge. Jack Nicklaus,
Serena Williams, that crowd.

And so it is with wrestling. John Smith and Cael Sanderson stand at
the top of their sport, on two separate podiums. And their teams
wrestle Sunday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee