Senator McCormick Honors Penn State Wrestling’s Historic Fifth Straight National Championship | Senate Floor

Remarks as prepared for delivery: Mr. President, Pennsylvania is wrestling country. The sport fits the character of our Commonwealth. From small-town school gyms to the biggest stage in college athletics, generations of Pennsylvanians have learned on the mat that nothing is given and everything is earned. And our proud tradition is embodied by a team that has once again set the standard for intercollegiate wrestling and is here with us in the gallery today. So Mr. President, I rise to honor the 2026 NCAA national champion Penn State Nittany Lions and submit a resolution congratulating them on their fifth consecutive national championship and their 13th title in the last 15 NCAA tournaments. It recognizes the dedication, teamwork, and perseverance that made this historic achievement possible. When I watch wrestling, I see the best of Pennsylvania—and the best of America: hard work, courage, resilience, humility, and respect. In this remarkable group of young men, those virtues are on full display. I grew up wrestling across Pennsylvania—from Shikellamy to Shickshinny, from Selinsgrove to Schuylkill Haven. Years later, I had the privilege of serving as co-captain of the Army wrestling team at West Point. And last year, I sat in the front row in Philadelphia at the NCAA National Championships, alongside President Trump, as Penn State defended its title. I have spent much of my life around wrestling mats. What I learned there is simple: Wrestling reveals character. For seven minutes, there is nowhere to hide. No teammate can take your place. No excuse can score a takedown. The work you did, or didn’t do, when nobody was watching shows up under the lights. That is why wrestling is more than a sport. It teaches the virtues that have always sustained America. And no program embodies those virtues more consistently than Penn State wrestling. This season, the Nittany Lions went 15-and-0. They completed their sixth straight undefeated season and extended their dual-meet winning streak to 86. Then they went to the National Championships in Cleveland and raised the standard again. The team scored 181.5 points, breaking the NCAA record Penn State set just last year. That is not just a good weekend. It is sustained excellence. Six Nittany Lions reached the national finals, tying a school record. Luke Lilledahl, Josh Barr, Levi Haines, and Mitchell Mesenbrink returned as champions. And Mitchell delivered one of the tournament’s defining performances, winning in the finals by a technical fall, earning his second straight national title and the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. But the most compelling statistic is this: Every one of Penn State’s ten NCAA qualifiers scored points toward that record total, and eight became All-Americans. That’s teamwork. That’s excellence. There is much discussion these days about how boys become good men. Penn State wrestling has found a winning formula: demand excellence, teach discipline and humility, and bind individual ambition to a purpose larger than oneself. That is why Coach Cael Sanderson’s legacy is bigger than 13 national titles. He has built more than a championship program. He has built a culture that forms young men into the kind of leaders our communities and our country need. Cael often points to the Old Testament story of Nehemiah who was rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall when his enemies repeatedly tried to lure him away. Nehemiah’s response was simple: “I am doing a great work, so I cannot come down.” Coach Cael, his fellow coaches, and the Penn State wrestling team are doing “great work.” As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we in this body are striving to do a “great work” too: preserving the liberty we inherited, renewing the character that sustains it, and proving that a free people can accomplish hard things together. But to be a champion, each of us needs to renew that “great work” every day. The Penn State wrestling team understands that. And America, sometimes, must be reminded of it. I ask my colleagues to join me in this resolution recognizing what this remarkable team has accomplished. To the Penn State Nittany Lions: Congratulations on another historic championship. Pennsylvania is proud of you. The Senate honors you. We are Penn State.