David Taylor (wrestler, born 1990)

David Taylor
Weight 165 lbs.
Born (1990-12-05) December 5, 1990
High school St. Paris Graham
State championships 4 (Ohio)
College Penn State University
NCAA championships 6 (2 individual, 4 team)


David Taylor

David Taylor, born December 5, 1990,[1] is a former Penn State University collegiate wrestler who is also a four time Division I All-American and two time Division I National Champion. Taylor, currently ranked third in the nation at 74 Kilograms, has been competing for the United States International free style wrestling team[1]

Early life

Growing up in Wyoming, David Taylor was presented with a unique set of opportunities in his practice facilities where he trained with famous collegiate wrestler Cael Sanderson, along with Sanderson’s father and Coach, Steve Sanderson.,[2] before moving to St. Paris Ohio with his family just before the start of his Junior High Career[2] During his youth, David Taylor experienced great success in the sport of wrestling. In 2005, Taylor captured a Cadet National freestyle wrestling championship, FILA Cadet National Folk-style wrestling championship and a silver medal in Cadet National Greco-Roman nationals.[1] Taylor continued his dominance on the mat in his teen years as he won a Cadet National Greco-Roman title in 2006, and both a Junior Free-style and Greco-Roman title in 2007.[1]

High School

David Taylor began his high school wrestling career at the 103 pound class, where he would move on to capture two Ohio State Division II state titles for the St. Paris Graham High School Falcons.[3] In the remaining two years of his high school wrestling career, Taylor won two more Ohio State Division II state titles in the 112 pound and 135 pound classes respectively.[3] Adding to his resume, Taylor was twice named an Asics first team All-American.[3] In addition, Taylor became the first and only wrestler to win four consecutive Walsh Ironman gold medals.[3] Taylor ended his high school wrestling career with an overall record of 180 wins with just two losses and was awarded the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award for the nation, which is presented to the top wrestler in the nation, judged by not only by athletic achievement but also by character, academic success and community involvement.[4] Taylor graduated from St. Paris Graham High School with a 4.0 grade point average.[3]

College

Originally committing to Iowa State to wrestle under then head coach Cael Sanderson, David Taylor secured his release and followed coach Sanderson to Penn State[4] where Taylor wrestled five seasons as a Nittany Lion. David Taylor began his wrestling and academic career at Penn State in 2009, where he redshirted for his freshman year, and did not compete with the varsity team.[3] During Taylor's redshirt year, he was a competitor at five individual open college tournaments.[3] Taylor claimed gold medals in three of the five tournaments and posted an overall record of 21 wins and two losses.[3] During Taylor's first year of varsity competition in the 2010-2011 year, he completed the regular season of competition undefeated and won the Big Ten Championship tournament.[3] Taylor finished in second place in the NCAA Division I national tournament, where he received his only loss of the season in the finals competition. He completed his first year of college competition with a final record of 38 wins with just one losses and All-American honors.[3] As a redshirt sophomore, Taylor posted an overall record of 32-0, winning a national title, and scoring a NCAA record 22 points in the Division I National finals over his opponent Brandon Hatchett of Lehigh University.[3] After a perfect season as a sophomore, Taylor was awarded with the Dan Hodge Trophy, which was implemented by Mike Chapman in 1995.[5] In his junior year of competition, Taylor once again obtained a spot in the NCAA Division I national finals, where he was defeated by opponent, and childhood friend and practice partner, Kyle Dake of Cornell University.[3] David Taylor completed his junior year of competition with a final record of 30-2, with both losses of the season against Dake of Cornell University.[3] During Taylors final season as a Penn State Nittany Lion, he claimed his second NCAA Division I national gold medal by defeating Tyler Caldwell of 6-0 in the national finals at 165 pounds,[5] and earned his fourth All-American honors.[6] With his undefeated senior season, Taylor was awarded his second Dan Hodge Trophy, becoming only the third wrestler in the awards 20 year span to win the trophy multiple times,[7] and was named the most dominant wrestler of the NCAA Division I national wrestling tournament.[8] Taylor also became the only wrestler in the history of the Penn State wrestling program to win four Big Ten titles.[6] In addition to the Dan Hodge Trophy, Taylor was named the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, named after Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens.[6] Taylor was the second Penn State male athlete to receive the award in Penn State history.[9] Also, Taylor was nominated for an ESPN ESPY award for best male college athlete of the year at the end of his collegiate career in 2014.[10] David Taylor was a part of a Nittany Lion wrestling team that won four consecutive NCAA Division I Team national titles, one in each of Taylor's varsity seasons.[8]

Post Collegiate Competition

Since graduating from Penn State, David Taylor is focusing on qualifying for the United States olympic wrestling team for a chance to wrestle in the 2016 olympics, where he aims to compete at the 74 kilogram weight against returning United States olympic gold medalist, Jordan Burroughs.[10] Coach Bruce Bennet of the United States wrestling team believes that Taylor is poised for great success in international competition and even stated "David is on track to be a world or Olympic champion,".[10]

Outside Competition

In 2015, Taylor and Adidas released a line of wrestling apparel labeled “M2” after Taylors college nickname “Magic Man”.[11] Taylor received the nickname "Magic Man" during an interesting exchange of events during the Big Ten Championship bout his senior year at Penn State as he turned an unfavorable situation for himself into a takedown that contributed to him capturing his fourth consecutive Big Ten title.[12] The apparel line began with wrestling shoes and since has expanded to clothing, posters and Adidas sponsored events[10] Along with his clothing, Taylor is also a promoter of the sport of wrestling. Taylor regularly attends wrestling clinics to help younger wrestlers become better at the sport, such as the Journeyman wrestling camps, where thousands of young fans and athletes gather to learn from the Penn State two time national champion[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "USA Wrestling". USA Wrestling. Team USA. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 Hipps, Andrew. "Iowa State-bound Taylor not afraid of challenges". Intermat. Intermat. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "David Taylor". Penn State Athletics. Penn State Athletics. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 "High School Wrestling All-American and Nation's Top Recruit David Taylor Commits to Penn State". Penn State Athletics. Penn State Athletics. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 Finn, Mike. "Looking back at 20 years with the Dan Hodge Trophy Winners". WIN. Wing-magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Donghia, Pat. "Wrestler David Taylor named Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year". Penn State News. Penn State. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Penn State wrestler David Taylor wins Hodge Trophy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  8. 1 2 Jones, Ryan. "The Penn Stater Daily - March 24, 2014". The Penn Stater. The Penn Stater. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Donghia, Pat. "Wrestler David Taylor named Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year". Penn State. Penn State News. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Ford, Bob. "Penn State wrestler David Taylor has one goal to go: the Olympics". Philly. Philly. Articles. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Ford, Bob. "Penn State wrestler David Taylor has one goal to go: the Olympics". Philly. PhillyArticles. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Goodwin, Cody. "Wrestling David Taylor". The Daily Iowan. The Daily Iowan.
  13. ↑ Grogan, Sean. "Journeyman wrestlers get to learn from one of the best - David Taylor". The Record Sports. Troy Records. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
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