Dec. 24, 2004: Provo Daily Herald

Cody Sanderson Feature
by Jordan Jensen

It still haunts him.

Back in 2000, Cody Sanderson accomplished what only the tiniest fraction of collegiate wrestlers even dream about, yet it gave him nightmares.

For someone accustomed to the winner's circle, there is nothing worse than second place.

After finishing a bride's maid his junior season at Iowa State in the national championship match — in overtime — Sanderson came back his senior year with fire in his gut, fully committed to winning the elusive title of national champion.

Overtraining in his zeal to win, Sanderson fell short — again, in overtime. Finishing second in the nation, a great feat in anyone else's eyes, was devastating for Sanderson. The eldest of a troupe of four wrestling brothers who claimed a combined 13 state titles at Wasatch High, and one of the few four-time state champions in the history of Utah, it's understandable Sanderson's sights were set on the gold going into college.

In spite of a tremendous career as a Cyclone, during which he earned two NCAA national tournament silver medals and a Big 12 championship, Sanderson graduated from college minus the national title he worked so hard for. He saw his brother Cael win a gold medal in Athens last summer.

It took a long time for Cody to find inner peace and reconciliation with his own collegiate results.

But all that is in the past. Having moved on from his collegiate disappointments, Sanderson, now in his second year as head wrestling coach at UVSC, has new hopes and dreams, and aims to build upon his many successes to help a fledgling program rise to national prominence.

He has his work cut out for him. With collegiate wrestling programs being cut left and right in the last decade, UVSC went out on a limb when it added Division I wrestling.

Reality check time: Obscurely situated nearly a mile west of I-15 on the brink of Utah Lake is a green-roofed private warehouse. Welcome to 1757 West Business Park Drive, the makeshift practice facility for the Wolverine wrestling team. Every afternoon you will find there a group of sweaty wrestlers conditioning, working on technique and scrimmaging. The cinder block and unfinished gypsum board walls enclose enough space to fit, among other things, two boats (in storage for the winter), two wrestling mats, a table for a 10-gallon water jug and some portable shelves to store shoes and ear pads.

Such circumstances are humbling, even comic, when compared to the state-of-the-art training facilities Sanderson enjoyed at Iowa State.

But Sanderson doesn't mind.

It's all relative, right? Besides, he said, "Everybody is pretty happy to be here because of last year's situation."

You mean it could be worse?

Last year, practice was held in one of the upper-deck peripheral gyms in the McKay Events Center and the team had the responsibility of hauling mats to and from practice multiple times a week as they competed with concerts and other events.

"At least now we only have to move our mat when we have a meet," Sanderson explained.

Among the youthful college students on the team you can pick out — that is, if you know who you are looking for — the almost-as-youthful, 28-year-old Sanderson. Dressed in the same garb as his team members, Sanderson blends in as one of the guys. In the middle of all the action, Sanderson is found teaching, guiding, and even scrimmaging as he provides his team with hands-on instruction.

"The best programs have coaches on the mat. The best way to teach is hands on," he said.

A small wrestler who always competed at the lower weights, Sanderson has enjoyed the help of his brother Cole, who is an assistant coach. A larger wrestler, Cole has been able to give the same hands-on coaching to the bigger guys. Cole was also a Cyclone, qualifying for the national tournament all four times, and he claimed three state titles of his own while prepping at Wasatch.

Deep inside the mind and heart of Cody Sanderson burns a fire of excellence that is forging the vision for the future of UVSC wrestling. He is far too modest to make exorbitant predictions, but the reality remains that Sanderson places no limits on what his team can accomplish in the future. Even though everyone on this year's team is likely to be long gone before UVSC has its chance to legitimately contend with the likes of Iowa State, team members recognize their roles in building a program from the ground up.

"It's going to be fun to come back when they're (UVSC wrestlers) in the big-time," said Talon Vickers, a 125-pound sophomore from Nampa, Idaho.

"We planted the seed," added Tanner Cowan, a 157-pound sophomore out of Nephi.

Sometimes sowing is painful. Sanderson has strategically thrown his guys to the wolves so far this season by entering tournaments with the nation's best Division I wrestlers. Earlier this season, Sanderson enticed Iowa State to bring its Top-10 squad to Orem in a showcase dual. Before Christmas, his team will have wrestled in tournaments with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, fourth-ranked Nebraska, and No. 1 Oklahoma State.

The result? UVSC is getting pounded.

"I will be the first to admit we are not on the same level yet as these top teams," Sanderson said, "but shying away from them for a few years, hoping that we will somehow arrive at their level is not the way to improve individually or as a team.

"It can be hard on the guys to take some of the beatings they take against top-ranked wrestlers, and part of my job out there is to be a cheerleader and point out to them where they are improving in spite of what looks like on paper as a black-and-white loss. My guys are making all kinds of improvement and that doesn't always show in the box scores."

So how does the team feel about the approach?

Said Vickers, "I'd rather wrestle the top guys because that's where we want to be in the future."

Cowan added, "We're D-1, so we might as well wrestle 'em."

How do you approach such daunting matches? Team captain Mitch Morgan, a senior from Midway who wrestles at 149 pounds, perhaps said it best.

"I never go into a match thinking I'm going to lose, but if I do lose, then I go back into the practice room and work harder, and let coach show me where I need to improve."

"You just gotta go out and fight," Cowan said.

The team appreciates what Sanderson has to offer.

"It's easier to take advice from a coach who is out there working with you," said Justin Rawle, a 141-pound sophomore from Springville.

"He shows you, instead of just telling you," Cowan said.

"It's nice having him on the mat with us because he is up to speed on the newest techniques and moves." Morgan said.

Perhaps most noteworthy, Sanderson knows excellence must extend beyond the mat. In a recent interview, Sanderson explained he would be holding practices to accommodate wrestlers' schedules during finals week.

"Finals are more important than the Reno tournament," he said.

Of course talk can be cheap, but the Sanderson boys can back it up like few others. Cody and Cole were both three-time academic All-Americans in college, and Cody had a 4.0 GPA his freshman year. Both coaches have college degrees from Iowa State, Cody in psychology and Cole in dietetics.

Though the future is still unwritten, and the wrestling facility still un-built, Cody Sanderson and the UVSC wrestling team are proving slowly but surely they are an acorn program with a towering oak's potential.