Just a week after his Penn State team won its first NCAA Division I Championship since 1953, Cael Sanderson is back to work.

Only this time, Sanderson won’t just be in the corner, he’ll be on the mat. Sanderson, a four-time NCAA Division I Champion who went 159-0 at Iowa State and won the 2004 Olympic Championship, will be competing in the Northeast Senior Freestyle Regionals in Brockport, N.Y.

Sanderson weighed in for the 96kg/211 pound bracket and his first match since winning gold in Athens at 84kg/185 pounds when he defeated South Korea’s Moon Eui-Jae 3-1.

Text messages sent to Sanderson on Friday confirmed his entry, and according to Sanderson, his entry into the tournament was prodded by his wrestlers. 

“Just for fun,” Sanderson said via text. “Some guys on the team told me if we win Big Ten’s, I had to wrestle here. So here I am.”

Sanderson finished with a silver medal at the 2003 World Championships in New York City. 

Sanderson joked on Friday if he should “trim back my hair.”

Sanderson’s first match will be against the winner of the DeAndre Nunn-Richard Perry bout. 

Other Nittany Lion Wrestling Club entries in the Senior Freestyle tournament are Mark McKnight (55kg/121 pounds), Nick Fanthorpe (60kg/132 pounds), Doug Umbehauer (84kg/185 pounds) and Jake Varner (120kg/264.5 pounds).

Fans can follow the tournament results online via TrackWrestling.com