By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A Division I collegiate wrestling squad can be compared to the liking of a well-oiled machine.

In order to function properly and produce as efficiently as possible, each must rely on the many parts and objects involved to work together as one.

For a wrestling team, this goes beyond the inclusion of student-athletes, trainers and assistive staff, and extends to the need for a cohesive and experienced coaching staff. At the start of this season, the Nittany Lions added two more veteran pieces to their administrative staff that have been a huge help thus far.

The names Aaron Anspach and Adam Lynch have been printed on the Penn State wrestling roster before, but this year they will not be listed as attached athletes. Instead, both veterans have traded in their singlets for Nittany Lion coaching positions.

Anspach joined Cael and Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunningham as an assistant coach while Lynch has taken on the role of the Director of Operations for the 2011-'12 season. And, according to their defending national champions, they both seem to be fitting into their new positions pretty well.

"They've been doing a great job," said redshirt junior Quentin Wright. "They've been around the program for so long and I know that everybody on the team, we just have such a high regard for Adam Lynch and Coach Anspach that it's really a help to us to have them there. We have a really good friendship built in with them and they're going to help us reach our goals at the end of the year."

A Penn State graduate and former All-American heavyweight, Anspach has been around the highly recognized program for more than seven years now. In the three years that followed his 2007 senior season, in which he garnered a national runner-up worthy 22-4 record, Anspach held the positions of Director of Operations, Assistant Coach and Nittany Lion Wrestling Club Coach.

Head coach Cael Sanderson said that Anspach's determination and need to succeed is one thing that will help everyone involved this season.

"Anspach has been around the program for a long time and he's just a workhorse," said Sanderson. "He just really loves Penn State."

Anspach's continued experience with the program is something that he says will especially assist him in lending a hand to this year's squad.

"I'm just exciting to be able to give back to a group of guys that are in the same place that I was a few years ago," said Anspach. "Now I get to see a bunch of talent and bunch of athletes go through a similar process that I did and I'm really ready to be a part of it."

With a number of years of experience wrestling at the 285 spot, Anspach said that he particularly helps out the athletes on this year's roster who wrestle at heavyweight. For guys like redshirt junior Cameron Wade, having coach Anspach around is not only beneficial but also comfortable.

"Me and Aaron have always been really close and he's always helped me throughout my college career," said Wade. "So to have him as an official coach again, because he was when I was a red-shirt freshman, it's just awesome."

For Lynch, the situation is very similar yet different.

As the Director of Operations, Lynch said that he is not permitted to practice with the team or have any coaching responsibilities, but instead works in a more administrative role handling issues involving funds, admissions, student housing and things of the like.

Lynch graduated in 2010 and came back as a fifth-year senior this past season to stick around the Penn State program. His decision to stay worked in his favor, as he was able to land a job in the only place he wanted to be.

"I think it's going well," said Lynch. "I really like it and I pretty much have a job doing something I love and a lot of people don't get that opportunity so I'm very thankful that I got this opportunity and I'm enjoying it."

As a recent Nittany Lion graduate, Lynch has actually wrestled with many of the grapplers who appear on the starting line-up this season. He said that he familiarity and history with the team makes his job that much more exciting.

"I definitely still have a lot of guys on the team that are good friends of mine and I'm pumped to be able to see them succeed this year and keep wrestling and winning some matches and hopefully win nationals again."

The pair of new leaders brings experience, talent and knowledge of the program that they now work with, and both are happy to be in State College. Sanderson said that their passion and dedication to the same group of young men that he cares so much about really contributes in more ways than one.

"You've got to have the right staff, the right culture and everybody's got to be on board together and have the same vision and belief in each other," said Sanderson. "That's why we're really happy about the staff that we were able to put together."