As the youngest brother by more than seven years, Cyler missed out on much of the Sanderson family’s brotherly competition during childhood.

But as a Cyclone freshman wrestler, every practice is an opportunity to make up for lost time. His three older brothers – Cael, Cody and Cole – are coaches on the wrestling team.

“Wrestling has always been a family affair,” Cael said. “And that’s the best way.”

They were coached by their father, Steve, in high school. The oldest three wrestled each other from an early age, and in college, made up the foundation of the ISU wrestling team.

Cody Sanderson, the oldest, was recruited by former coach Bobby Douglas. With one Sanderson, Cole, a grade behind, and another, Cael, still a sophomore in high school, he saw the possible implications of the signing.

“When we were looking at Cody, we were looking at a package,” Douglas said.

“And it worked out . I’ve always recruited brothers in pairs and we were real fortunate to get all four.”

Cody was a two-time NCAA finalist for Douglas, and Cole was a three-time NCAA qualifier.

Cael became the biggest name in the sport, winning four NCAA titles as a Cyclone, never losing a match in college and eventually taking the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics.

After retiring last month, Douglas left the program in the hands of Cael, whose first priority was to find and hire his assistants.

He looked first to Cody, the oldest of the brothers, and hired him as the associate head coach. Cael pitched the idea soon after he was promoted.

“There is nobody I’d rather have in that position than him,” Cael said. “Just being around him is something I’ve been looking forward to. In addition to knowing he is the right coach for the job, it’s also getting your brother back in town.”

Cody resigned as the coach of Utah Valley State – a program he started in 2003. After graduation from Iowa State in 2000, he was the Cyclone Wrestling Club coach for three years.

“I had a tough decision to make because I really like what I was doing at Utah Valley,” he said. “But I talked to my wife, we just looked at the situation here, and it was better . she was from here, my brothers are all here. A big thing is that Cyler is wrestling here and I want to be a part of that.”

From Utah to Ames, the Sanderson family seems to have found a new home. Cael anticipates his parents will move to Ames in the near future.

Cole is finishing up his masters degree in exercise physiology and was an ISU team nutritionist this past season. He has been surprised by the events of the last month.

“I expected [Cael] to go on and be the head coach eventually, but it was kind of sudden, coach [Douglas] retiring and all,” he said. “But it’s exciting. I think it will be pretty exciting for all of the fans. Cael is pretty focused and he has a good idea of what he wants for the team.”

Cyler said he is just glad to have his brothers back.

“They are all going to be around. They’ll be coaches; they’ll be in there,” Cyler said. “One of the funniest parts will be just wrestling with my brothers. I haven’t really been able to [until] the past couple years.”

Wrestling with Cyler this season, the 27-year-old Cole has gotten a taste of the family battles that will happen in the next four years.

“It’s interesting. It’s just so different to have him be the same size and be so strong,” he said. “In the back of your mind, you always think of your youngest brother as being 8, 10 years old. When he grabs a hold of you and he is stronger than you are, it is pretty scary.”