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The NCAA News -- April 26, 1999

End Zone -- Iowa State brothers pose triple threat in wrestling, academics

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

Good things come in threes at Iowa State University. Three of the school's premier wrestlers go by the last name of Sanderson and all three hail from Heber, Utah.

While the commonality of the trio might escape the casual observer since the three are so different -- both physically and in their wrestling style -- opposing schools are well aware of the Sanderson brothers.

There's Cody, the oldest brother, a 5-6 junior who wrestles at 133 pounds. Then there's Cole, a 5-9 sophomore who wrestles at 149 pounds. And there's Cael, a 6-0 freshman who wrestles at 184 pounds.

All three made it to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships this year, with Cael taking home a national title in his weight class and being recognized as the championship's most outstanding wrestler. Cody, who had spent much of the year ranked second in the nation in his weight class, made it to the national semifinals. Cole, who had been ranked 12th in the nation despite struggling with a shoulder injury, lost in the second round of the championships.

The Sandersons' success is not limited to the wrestling mat, either. Cody and Cole are members of the 1999 Big 12 Conference academic first team and Cael is an honorable mention. Cody, who has been an academic all-Big 12 selection every year of his career so far, is a psychology and pre-med major; Cole is a dietetics major; and Cael is a graphic design major.

The three also share a close bond -- living together in a house off campus and spending much of their free time together.

"When I say they are a tight family unit, I mean that they are totally committed to each other," said Iowa State coach Bobby Douglas. "That's love; that's the kind of family most people would give anything to be a part of. Their commitment goes as far as seeing that they are studying enough, goes as far as to make sure they are on time and it goes as far as for a big brother to step in and say, 'This is right and that is wrong. Let's get moving.' But they always do these things with compassion, with authority and above all, with love."

The Sandersons credit their parents, Steve and Debbie, with much of their success. Their father coached the three to a total of 11 individual state titles at Wasatch High School. Steve retired two seasons ago, after Wasatch won its fifth consecutive team title, so he would have more time to watch his sons wrestle collegiately.

"Our dad coached us since we were little, and he still does whatever he can to help us," Cody said. "Every time we go home for either the summer or for Christmas, he works with all of us."

While the three are different sizes and weights now, they still got plenty of practice wrestling each other when they were younger. "When we were growing up, we were all about the same size," Cole said. "It wasn't until Cael was a junior (in high school) that he started getting bigger."

Cael grew and wrestled, then grew some more and wrestled some more, all through high school. He won four state titles, from his freshman season at 119 pounds to his senior season at 171.

The Sanderson also think big. Their goals include individual national championships all the way around and a team title for Iowa State.

A few years down the road, don't be surprised if there are Sandersons in the Olympics. One of them may even be little brother Cyler, now 12, who won the junior high state championship in Utah last year as a fifth grader. After all, he'll certainly grow up with a few good role models -- three, to be exact.