Just several weeks ago, it looked like Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor would never compete again.
But never say never.
Thursday afternoon, word got out that Taylor has been confirmed for the World Team Trials, which are scheduled for this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.
It's official, David Taylor is in for the World Team Trials.
He'll be competing at 92kg this weekend. pic.twitter.com/KPgvlxepLZ
— Justin Basch (@JustinJBasch) September 12, 2024
Although Taylor won his three world titles and 2020 Olympic Gold Medal at 86 KG, he’ll be competing at 92. An advantage the 33-year-old has is that those who qualified for the Olympics won’t be eligible to compete. Taylor is also still a contender, being less than five months removed from wresting at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
This past spring, Taylor became the head coach at Oklahoma State in a move that sent shockwaves through the wrestling community.
Taylor said at his introductory press conference that this marked the end of his competitive career, and it looked like a closed case. But plans change, and although they might not be changing here, Basch reported that seems the original plans, announced at the Press Conference, have changed.”
Taylor wouldn’t be the first to try to qualify for the World Championships while running a major college program.
In 2011, Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who helped Taylor to folkstyle greatness, competed at World’s months after winning his first of 11 (and counting) national titles at PSU.
Sanderson finished fifth, which looks modest considering the rest of his legendary career but, in reality, is extraordinary considering it had been seven years since his last freestyle competition.
Taylor isn’t nearly as far removed from competing. This past April, he wrestled another PSU great, Aaron Brooks, at 86 KG in a best-of-three series with a spot in the Paris Olympics on the line. At Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center, Brooks beat Taylor in two straight matches to make it to Paris, where he took Bronze. It looked like that was the end for Taylor.
But it wasnt
