Penn State Wrestling Alum and State College Resident David Taylor Wins Olympic Gold Medal

For the first time in its history, Penn State wrestling has an Olympic gold medalist.

Competing with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, program legend and State College resident David Taylor took gold in the 86 kg finals against 2016 Olympic champion Hassan Yazdanicharati of Iran. Despite a slow start, Taylor battled back to claim the ultimate prize in his first Olympic tournament.

Yazdanicharati rattled off two quick points to put Taylor down early, but a takedown tied the bout 2-2. Yazdanicharati expanded his lead to 3-2 with a quick pushout.

A miraculous last-minute takedown with just 15 seconds left gave Taylor a 4-3 edge, ultimately leading to the victory.

Taylor previously defeated Yazdanicharati to become a 2018 World Champion.

The former Penn State athlete dominated his way to the Olympic finals, making easy work of wrestlers from Belarus, San Marino, and India.

Taylor graduated from Penn State in 2014. Since then, he moved to State College and now owns K2 Roots, a small business focused on cold-pressed juices. The shop recently opened on Fraser Street.

Taylor’s gold medal is Penn State’s first since 1988. That year, Lady Lions alumna Suzie McConnell won gold with the U.S. women’s basketball team in Seoul. At Penn State, McConnell led Penn State to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and held NCAA Division I records for career assists, assists in a season, and season assist average.

In addition to his Olympic win, Taylor is a three-time U.S. national champion, two-time NCAA title-winner, and two-time Hodge Trophy winner.

While Taylor won gold, Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member Thomas Gilman won bronze at 57kg with a 9-1 win over Iran’s Riza Atrinagharchi. Helen Maroulis, who trained with NLWC, won bronze with an 11-0 tech over Mongolia’s Khongorzul Boldsaikhan.