Courtesy of John Harrison
Troy Sunderland is completing his sixth year as the head coach of the Penn State wrestling team. During his tenure as head coach, he has coached a number of All-Americans and National Champions. In addition, Troy has thus far been named 1999 Amateur Wrestling News Coach of the Year and 2003 Big Ten Coach of the Year. As a PSU wrestler, he garnered a number of honors including: finishing three times as an All-American, two times as a NCAA finalist and serving as team captain. However, what most long time PSU wrestling fans remember about Troy’s days as a Penn State wrestler is that he was both a classy individual and a fierce competitor. As a head coach, Troy is now instilling those qualities in Penn State wrestlers. And his unique capability to help enable his athletes to exploit their abilities to the maximum is starting to attract attention from fans, wrestlers and coaches. Former walk-on Chris Vecchio finished as an All-American in 2002. In 2003, Josh Moore, Scott Moore and Pat Cummins, none of whom was a high school state champion, finished as All-Americans. Then in 2004, Josh and Pat again were All-Americans-both finishing as NCAA finalists!
Troy, what are your best memories from your high school wrestling years?
Winning the state titles, especially my junior year. I don’t think a lot of people expected me to win the title that year. I was second my sophomore year at 119 then moved up to 145 my junior year. That was a special moment in my high school career. Also, I have special memories of my family and friends following my wrestling career in high school.
Troy was a fierce competitor even then, and he seemingly could not get enough wrestling as he would go anywhere to wrestle anyone almost year round. He had a strong belief in himself, and he had a clear picture of what he wanted to achieve. Today, Troy believes in giving back to his high school alma mater, and he has come back several times to conduct clinics helping to develop young wrestlers and to share his love for the sport.”
-Former Mt. Union, Pa. high school wrestling head coach, Dan Brown
What are your best memories from the years you spent as a Penn State wrestler?
The camaraderie we had on the teams. We were third in the country my sophomore and junior years then second in the country my senior year. Winning National Duals in ’91 and ’93 was something special. These wins really brought the teams together. The coaches really spent so much time helping develop the team members both as wrestlers and as people.
Troy participated in wrestling year around during his high school and college years, winning every age group title possible to obtain in freestyle and scholastic wrestling. The only title that eluded him was the NCAA Championships. He was runner-up his junior year and had the title taken from him by poor officiating and timekeeping his senior year.
-Former Penn State wrestler and head coach, Rich Lorenzo
How has the Penn State Wrestling experience impacted your life?
It has really shaped me. It helped me develop a work ethic that will last me throughout my life. This work ethic shows that whatever kind adversity one might come up against, either on the mat or in life, one can find a way to deal with it and still reach one’s dreams.
Troy was one of the most well rounded, complete, and mentally tough competitors that I had the privilege of coaching during my tenure at Penn State. He was very aggressive, excellent in all three wrestling positions: top, bottom and neutral and loved to be challenged. The better the competition, the better his performance. He was a coach’s dream on and off the mat. Troy excelled in the classroom, was very responsible, loyal, and dedicated, a great team person who led by example.
-Rich Lorenzo
Troy Sunderland was one of the most focused and intense wrestlers I had the privilege of coaching. He was the epitome of what we would call a “match wrestler” as he was always at his best in a match situation or when it counted most. Troy combined his great intensity with a certain class that many of us witnessed after his match in the NCAA finals. We are all fortunate he has carried that same intensity and class into his coaching.
-Former Penn State National Champion wrestler and head coach, John Fritz
What appeals to you about coaching?
A lot of things. The most rewarding has occurred in the last couple years: when kids come into our program that may not have been state champions in high school, set high goals and then work as hard as they can and then achieve All-American status. Its a very satisfying experience for both the kids who achieve the goals and the coaches. The fact that they are competing with other kids who were multiple-time state champions and through hard work and dedication they achieve at the highest levels is something special. Helping kids who haven’t received a lot of accolades develop into top level wrestlers is very rewarding.
Coach Sunderland is a great coach, but more importantly a great friend. I knew I could talk to him about anything. Through his tremendous work ethic as a coach I can only see Penn State getting better and better each year.
-Former Penn State All-American wrestler, Chris Vecchio
What makes Penn State a great place to coach?
Penn State is a great educational institution. It is very helpful in terms of helping athletes prepare for a career after wrestling. The institution is also great in what it provides in terms of facilities, funding and general support for the athletic programs. Location is also a neat factor because we are the only Big Ten school in the east. We are also centrally located in the state of Pennsylvania which is definitely a hotbed for wrestling.
What makes for an ideal Penn State Wrestling recruit?
There are a lot of things that come into play when we look at potential recruits. But the underlying factor is that a potential recruit must have a great work ethic. They also must be a good representative of our program once they come to Penn State both on and off the mats. We want good kids who have high aspirations and work hard to reach those goals.
What advice to you have for high school wrestlers?
The biggest thing for college bound wrestlers, besides continuing to study hard, is to continue to try to get better on the mat. Go to camps, participate in different types of competitions whether its freestyle, folkstyle or greco. Whatever the style, its all intertwined in the sense that it’s helping you become a better wrestler.
What advice do you have for collegiate wrestlers?
Set your goals high, both on and off the mat, and work hard to attain them. Also, right now we are at a critical juncture at the collegiate level with how the Justice Department is interpreting Title IX. The biggest thing that collegiate wrestlers can do outside of the wrestling arena is to be a good representative of their wrestling program so that college administrators don’t have a negative connotation about wrestling. Wrestling programs have been dropped for a lot of reasons but there is a possibility that at some point someone who was part of the decision-making process to drop a program might have had a bad experience with a wrestler or a wrestling program and that doesn’t help the sport of wrestling. Wrestling is a great sport because it instills such great qualities in the athletes who compete in this sport such as the ability to set high goals and then work hard to reach them no matter the obstacles in front of the goals. We need to make sure this sport survives.
Thanks Troy!
