Penn State’s David Taylor to Wrestle for Olympic Gold

Penn State wrestling great and State College resident David Taylor dominated overnight in Tokyo en route to the Olympic finals. Now, he’s got a chance to bring home his first Olympic gold medal.

Representing the United States at 86 kg, Taylor, who trains with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, began his Olympic tournament Tuesday night (U.S. time) by dominating four-time world medalist Ali Shabanau of Belarus. Taylor jumped out to an 11-0 win with a four-point double leg to finish off a technical fall.

A few hours later, Taylor faced former Michigan wrestler Myles Amine, who was the tournament’s No. 3 seed representing San Marino. Amine scored an early takedown before Taylor battled back with 10 straight points, including four more takedowns to land a 12-2 win over the American-born star.

In his semifinal bout, Taylor kept rolling. He recorded his third technical fall of the tournament and moved on to the gold medal match with a 10-0 win over No. 2 seed and former world medalist Deepak Punia of India.

Taylor will now face 2016 Olympic champion Hassan Yazdanicharati in the gold-medal finals. The match will air in the 5:15 a.m. EDT session on Thursday, likely closer to 6:30 a.m.

Notably, Taylor previously defeated Yazdanicharati to become a 2018 World Champion. The former Penn State star is a three-time U.S. national champion, two-time NCAA title-winner, and two-time Hodge Trophy winner.

“I’ve dreamed of nothing but a gold medal, I’m going to go out and earn it every single second,” Taylor said from Tokyo.  “Back home at Penn State, we’ve got these young killers. They bring the fire every single day, and you’ve got no choice. They keep me young, excited, hungry. They help me prepare every step of the way; I am challenged all the time. I believe in myself. I want to be here.”

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.

While Taylor is is still vying for Olympic gold, defending Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, who trained with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, will compete for the bronze in the 57 kg women’s freestyle on Wednesday night after dropping a 2-1 decision to Japan’s Risako Kawai in the semifinals.

NLWC’s Thomas Gilman lost his opening match at 57 kg but remains alive for a bronze Wednesday night.

Among other NLWC competitors, Jane Valencia, the first woman from Mexico to qualify for Olympic freestlye wrestling, lost a 5-2 decision in her opening bout at 57kg

Defending Olympic champion and NLWC member Kyle Snyder is set to compete at 97 kg. Two more NLWC members, Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan, will face off against each other in the opening round at 74kg on Wednesday night.