Penn State’s Sanderson Receives ‘Coach of the Month’ Award from BlowRasslin’
June 13, 217
University Park, PA – For its inaugural monthly award in the international wrestling scene, start-up journalism outfit BlowRasslin’ has named Penn State’s Cael Sanderson ‘Coach of the Month’ for June 2017. Intuitively, most would assume the award honors Sanderson’s coaching of Penn State junior Zain Retherford to his first-place finish at the U.S. Freestyle Word Team Trials last weekend. However, according to BlowRasslin’ chief journalist Silly Wailer, the award is actually intended to commend Coach Sanderson for his selfless and courageous actions in saving the life of mat official Sammy Julian at the conclusion of the 86kg final on Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“It was a scary situation,” explains Sanderson, “David [Taylor] was coming back to the corner waving and flailing his arms like a madman. At first, I just thought he was upset about losing the match, but then Casey [Cunningham], who you know has an eagle eye and spots everything out there [on the mat], elbowed me and said ‘Look at the size of that bee!’ I looked more closely and saw this bee buzzing and swerving around David, and then Sammy approaching behind him. Sammy reached into his back pocket and showed us his Emergency Allergy Information Card. I was able to put two-and-two together and realized that this bee could kill Sammy. I mean, I’m allergic to bee stings, too, but, you know, I gotta look out for the guys around me, first.”
What happened next was nothing short of heroic. Continues Sanderson, “So, I immediately grabbed the challenge brick that was on the stage in front of me. I saw the bee land on Sammy’s chest, and I took the only shot I thought I was going to get.” Coach Sanderson proceeded to fire the brick into Sammy’s chest, blasting the bee so hard that it was killed on contact, having no chance to sting Julian.
“Yeah, he [Julian] seemed pretty stunned, so I tossed him a towel to clean the bee guts off his shirt. He was breathing heavily and irregularly, too – I gave him my chair so that he could sit down and collect himself.”
Coach Sanderson then chuckled. “I guess I was a little amped up – I kinda accidentally flipped the chair in my haste to help him. Of course, I was a little distracted at that moment, too, because David was kicking the brick and pointing toward something again. I thought there was another bee out there.”
Luckily, there was not another bee – Taylor was just a little squeamish about the guts on the brick and was trying to clean it off without touching it directly with his hands. Knowing that USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Coach (and former Iowa Hawkeye Volunteer Assistant Coach) Bill Zadick is widely renowned for a variety of wildlife services, Taylor pointed into the stands to ask the former Hawkeye if he would clean off the brick (after kicking it had failed to remove the bee guts).
“All in all, the inaugural BlowRasslin’ Coach of the Month Award was an easy choice,” remarked Wailer. “There were a couple of other options out there, and yeah, the Iowa Hawkeye fan base really pushed for Mark Perry to get it because of the formidable gauntlet that his guy [Hawkeye Wrestling Club member Thomas Gilman] successfully navigated to claim the 57kg championship. But you know what? This is Cael freakin’ Sanderson we are talking about here. In Cael We Trust, right?”
Sammy Julian certainly agrees.
June 13, 217
University Park, PA – For its inaugural monthly award in the international wrestling scene, start-up journalism outfit BlowRasslin’ has named Penn State’s Cael Sanderson ‘Coach of the Month’ for June 2017. Intuitively, most would assume the award honors Sanderson’s coaching of Penn State junior Zain Retherford to his first-place finish at the U.S. Freestyle Word Team Trials last weekend. However, according to BlowRasslin’ chief journalist Silly Wailer, the award is actually intended to commend Coach Sanderson for his selfless and courageous actions in saving the life of mat official Sammy Julian at the conclusion of the 86kg final on Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“It was a scary situation,” explains Sanderson, “David [Taylor] was coming back to the corner waving and flailing his arms like a madman. At first, I just thought he was upset about losing the match, but then Casey [Cunningham], who you know has an eagle eye and spots everything out there [on the mat], elbowed me and said ‘Look at the size of that bee!’ I looked more closely and saw this bee buzzing and swerving around David, and then Sammy approaching behind him. Sammy reached into his back pocket and showed us his Emergency Allergy Information Card. I was able to put two-and-two together and realized that this bee could kill Sammy. I mean, I’m allergic to bee stings, too, but, you know, I gotta look out for the guys around me, first.”
What happened next was nothing short of heroic. Continues Sanderson, “So, I immediately grabbed the challenge brick that was on the stage in front of me. I saw the bee land on Sammy’s chest, and I took the only shot I thought I was going to get.” Coach Sanderson proceeded to fire the brick into Sammy’s chest, blasting the bee so hard that it was killed on contact, having no chance to sting Julian.
“Yeah, he [Julian] seemed pretty stunned, so I tossed him a towel to clean the bee guts off his shirt. He was breathing heavily and irregularly, too – I gave him my chair so that he could sit down and collect himself.”
Coach Sanderson then chuckled. “I guess I was a little amped up – I kinda accidentally flipped the chair in my haste to help him. Of course, I was a little distracted at that moment, too, because David was kicking the brick and pointing toward something again. I thought there was another bee out there.”
Luckily, there was not another bee – Taylor was just a little squeamish about the guts on the brick and was trying to clean it off without touching it directly with his hands. Knowing that USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Coach (and former Iowa Hawkeye Volunteer Assistant Coach) Bill Zadick is widely renowned for a variety of wildlife services, Taylor pointed into the stands to ask the former Hawkeye if he would clean off the brick (after kicking it had failed to remove the bee guts).
“All in all, the inaugural BlowRasslin’ Coach of the Month Award was an easy choice,” remarked Wailer. “There were a couple of other options out there, and yeah, the Iowa Hawkeye fan base really pushed for Mark Perry to get it because of the formidable gauntlet that his guy [Hawkeye Wrestling Club member Thomas Gilman] successfully navigated to claim the 57kg championship. But you know what? This is Cael freakin’ Sanderson we are talking about here. In Cael We Trust, right?”
Sammy Julian certainly agrees.
