NCAA Wrestling Seeds Are 'Consistently Inconsistent,' Cael Sanderson Says

The Penn State coach says the NCAA should address its 'flawed system' to determine seeds for the national championships.

Penn State coach Cael Sanderson called the seeding process for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships "a flawed system" and recommended that it be addressed in the offseason.

Penn State qualified nine wrestlers for the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships, scheduled for March 17-19 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Six Lions are seeded among the top four wrestlers in their weight classes, including four at No. 1. However, Sanderson said the seeding system remains "consistently inconsistent" in how it seeds the 33 wrestlers in each bracket.

"I think it was consistently inconsistent, like it has been in the past years," Sanderson said of the seeding system used to form the 2022 brackets. "But it is what it is at this point. I think It’s something that probably should be addressed. We obviously have a flawed system with kind of lax judgment, wisdom and consistency. But right now we’ve got our draws and we’re ready to roll."

Sanderson referenced two wrestlers, Drew Hildebrandt and Brady Berge, whom he expected to be seeded differently. Berge's circumstance might be the most quizzical. He's seeded 16th at 157 pounds and is bracketed to wrestle Iowa State's David Carr, the top-seeded defending national champion, in the second round. Meanwhile, the wrestler whom he beat twice at the Big Ten tournament is seeded ninth.

Upon returning to Penn State in January, Berge wrestled four bouts at 165 before dropping to 157 just before the postseason. Seeded 10th at the Big Ten Tournament, Berge went 4-1 to place third. He beat three wrestlers seeded above him, including second-seeded Kaleb Young of Iowa twice. Berge (9-2) was seeded seven spots below Young (17-7) for NCAAs.

"I didn’t know what to expect with [Berge in the seedings]," Sanderson said at his weekly media availability. "Regardless, you’ve got to beat good guys and, if you want to win the national [title], you always have to beat everybody. But, yeah, obviously I think probably anybody would have figured he would have been seeded higher, a top-10 type of a situation.

"... But that just comes back to the system, the flawed system. It is what it is at this point. Brady wrestled better and better every match and he looked great and he’s ready to roll."

Hildebrandt, meanwhile, enters NCAAs seeded 16th at 125 pounds after placing 10th at the Big Ten championships. Hildebrandt entered the Big Ten tournament seeded second and ranked fifth nationally, according to InterMat Wrestling, but lost his first two bouts. He wrestled back to earn an automatic bid but did not compete in the ninth-place bout.

"His [seed] was a surprise also," Sanderson said. "He had a huge drop and lost to two top-10 guys [at the Big Ten tournament]. But if you don’t go take care of business, you kind of leave it up to somebody else. You leave it up to a committee and a system that you just don’t know what you’re going to get."

In addition, Sanderson had lobbied for junior Creighton Edsall to receive one of the four at-large bids available at 165. Edsall went 1-2 at the Big Ten tournament and did not place.

"I think he was the next guy probably in, and it could have gone his way," Sanderson said. "But again, if you leave it in somebody else’s hands, that’s the kind of stuff that can happen, unfortunately. I think he was a great candidate for that wild card, but there were also some other great candidates, and unfortunately he wasn’t selected."

The NCAA seeding process loads criteria such as coaches' rankings, a ratings percentage index, head-to-head results, quality wins, conference-tournament placement and more into a formula to determine the brackets. Sanderson said that the NCAA might want to revisit its process after the season.

"They have a system that they follow. It’s just not consistent," Sanderson said. "It doesn’t have a setup to where you’re using judgment and the wisdom of people that follow the sport on a consistent, daily basis. But it’s been like that for years.

"... You should get what you earn. That's what the system needs to be, and I think that's something that should be addressed in the offseason."

Penn State, which finished second to Michigan at the Big Ten tournament, seeks its ninth NCAA team title under Sanderson.

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