Amidst all the March Madness hoopla that’s gone on over the weekend, something happened in Philadelphia that Cyclone wrestling fans, and all ISU fans for that matter, should be more upset about.

No, not Jon Reader winning his first national championship. That’s cause for celebration as Reader was one of the few bright spots in a season that was a constant struggle for coach Kevin Jackson and his squad.

I’m talking about Penn State winning the team national championship.

Why should ISU fans care about a Big Ten team winning? That means Iowa didn’t win, which is always a plus for Cyclone fans if Iowa State isn’t in the running, right?

No, ISU fans should care because the man who coached the Nittany Lions to the title made the name he rode to that job right here in Ames. The man who never lost a match in his four years as a Cyclone, and went on to be an Olympic gold medalist.

Yep, Cael Sanderson.

Sanderson coached at Iowa State — replacing his own coach Bobby Douglas — from 2006 to 2009, winning Big 12 championships all three seasons, and finishing runner-up to Iowa for the national championship in his final year as coach in Ames. He had assembled a team that looked more than capable of winning a national title at some point.

He had his brother Cyler, Jake Varner, Reader and others all coming back for the 2009-10 season. Yet he bolted after that runner-up finish for the job at Penn State, and took Cyler and three others with him, winning a national title in just his second year there. Aside from those he took immediately, the countless recruits that were and potentially could have been drawn to Iowa State because of his legacy are what hurts the most.

When Gene Chizik left the football team for Auburn, Cyclone fans were up in arms. Yet when Sanderson left, it was barely a blip on the radar. 

As I’ve written in the space before, Chizik’s national championship — also in his second year away from Ames — wasn’t going to belong to Iowa State had he stayed. The football team wasn’t in any position for that in this time frame. 

But wrestling? Penn State’s national championship very easily could have been the Cyclones’ had Sanderson stayed, and with him, his brother and the five-star wrestling recruits he’s been known to bring in.

This isn’t a knock on ISU coach Kevin Jackson in any way.

A member of the last ISU national championship team in 1987 and an Olympic gold medalist himself, Jackson inherited a terribly difficult situation. Sanderson’s 159-0 casts a big shadow, and adding three consecutive conference crowns piled on the pressure.

Still, Jackson was able to lead the Cyclones to a third-place finish, behind Iowa and Cornell, last season in his first year at the helm. Now, he’s struggled in his second year while retooling a team that saw about as much change to its roster as the men’s basketball team did.

The future is definitely still bright for Cyclone wrestling, and I am by no means saying a national championship is out of the question without Sanderson coaching here. What I’m saying is that Sanderson sold out the school, fans and community that made him who he is.

Yes, he sold out.

Without Iowa State — and Bobby Douglas coaching him for that matter — would Sanderson have gone undefeated as a wrestler, then been given his first head coaching position at a Big 12 program? 

I just don’t think so.

If Cyclone fans should be upset about a former coach’s success, forget Chizik. Look no further than a man who like Chizik, used Iowa State as his stepping stone for something better.

What makes Sanderson’s worse is that he didn’t have to look away for something better. He had it here all along.