Wrestling is not only Penn State’s winningest program but arguably the most dominant team in sports history.

Led by Cael Sanderson, the Nittany Lions have won 11 out of the last 13 NCAA national championships, including eight Big Ten Championships since 2009 when the head coach was hired. In that span, Penn State is riding a 71 dual match winning streak, a new record for the conference, and five shy of tying the national record set by Oklahoma State from 1937 to 1951.

“He is one of one,” Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft said of Sanderson Monday. “He’s a unicorn.”

Sanderson, in his 16th season with the Nittany Lions, has made an immense impact on the culture, producing 39 individual NCAA champions and 91 All-Americans.

“He recruits amazing young men who understand and are fully committed to be the best,” Kraft said. “You think you come into a wrestling program and it’s like fire and brimstone. No. Take care of your person, first, take care of who you are, and bring people who understand that and who love to wrestle, and then we’re just gonna get better and better and better.”

Penn State’s recruiting has been known to rely on its production of champions as its selling point to young talent. In the past, Sanderson has been known to joke about how the coaching staff should recruit more than they do. In fact, Sanderson has repeatedly discussed that the right recruits will show their interest and align their values to that of Penn State’s culture.

“It sounds so simple, but the culture that [Cael Sanderson] builds in that building, Casey [Cunningham] and Cody [Sanderson]… There’s nothing like it,” Kraft said.

Kraft is in his third year as Penn State’s athletic director. During that time, he’s watched numerous wrestling matches, including postseason tournaments, sitting mat-side and near the Nittany Lion bench.

“What I learned from [the coaching staff] is you can do the best in everything you do, and at the end of the day, whatever happens, happens, and you move on, and they’re all like that,” Kraft said. “Just watching [the wrestling team] and taking a deep breath and understand that [Cael Sanderson] keeps the main thing, the main thing, man, that’s special.”

Kraft was complimentary of the coaching staff’s ability to be good role models and produce thoughtful young men who have one thing in mind: winning.

“Amazing people, great fathers, great leaders, and they get that culture to buy in and be exactly who they emulate, and they don’t complain about a thing,” Kraft said.

This thought process of only worrying about winning has been a cornerstone of the wrestling dynasty that has been the last 15 years. While keeping his athletes in mind, Sanderson has been selfless with university resources, a trait that Kraft has highly regarded.

“[Cael Sanderson] has never asked for anything more than what it takes to just win,” Kraft said.

With its fifth consecutive undefeated season, Sanderson and the rest of the Nittany Lions embark on another hopeful postseason. Kraft understands that the standard is as high as any sports team, with this season’s team being regarded by many as one of the best to come through the storied program. Kraft wanted to remind folks that this level of winning is not normal and that the Penn State wrestling program is no longer a dynasty. It’s reached an unforeseen level of excellence in any sport.

“I think we all have to understand what we are watching. It is the greatest. It’s not even a dynasty. It’s better than what anyone has done in college sports and maybe in all of sports because the Big Ten is loaded, and we’re going to do that as long as we can,” Kraft said.

Penn State wrestling will compete in the Big Ten Championships on March 8 and 9 at Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois. With a star-studded lineup, including four No. 1 seeds, Penn State is set to once again prove its storied excellence.