USA Wrestling Award Confirms OSU Cowboys Program in Good Hands

The latest award for Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling coach David Taylor just shows the program has the right coach in place.

Oklahoma State wrestling coach David Taylor. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Replacing a legend like John Smith is a tall order. Oklahoma State seems to have gotten it right with David Taylor.

The latest validation came from USA Wrestling, which on Monday announced that Taylor had been named the 2005 freestyle wrestling coach of the year for his work coaching wrestlers at the Cowboy Regional Training Center based in Stillwater, many of which were selected for international competition.

Taylor was named the Big 12 coach of the year after he guided the Cowboys to another Big 12 title earlier this year and helped take the program to a second-place finish in the NCAA Tournament, where three of his freshmen wrestlers won individual national titles, a first in NCAA history.

David Taylor’s International Work

Oklahoma State coach David Taylor. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Along with guiding the OSU program, three of Taylor’s wrestlers out of the RTC made the 2025 Senior World Team. That included Jax Forrest at 61 kg, Zahid Valencia at 86 kg and Wyatt Hendrickson at 125 kg. Valencia won gold at the world championships, Forrest reached the bronze medal match and finished in fifth place while Hendrickson finished 17th. He also coached two wrestlers who were selected to the senior national team — Joey McKenna at 65 kg and DJ Hamiti at 79 kg.

Taylor guided Forrest to a gold at the U23 World Championships and Ladarion Lockett to a fifth-place finish in the U20 World Championships.

Three of the wrestlers out of the RTC also won national championships for OSU. Hamati and Hendrickson won titles in 2025 while Forrest won a title in 2026, along with Sergio Vega and Landon Robideau. In Taylor’s first two seasons with the Cowboys, he has coached 14 all-Americans.

Taylor succeeded Smith as OSU head coach after Smith retired in 2024. Smith was one of the most decorated wrestlers in history. He wrestled at OSU, won two NCAA titles and two Olympic gold medals. As a coach he guided the Cowboys to five NCAA team championships and coached Team USA in two Olympic games.

In hiring Taylor, the Cowboys selected a worthy successor, even though when he took over the program for the 2025 season, he was a first-year head coach.

He wrestled at Penn State and in his career, he claimed two NCAA titles, two Dan Hodge trophies, four national finals appearances and four conference championships. Outside of college, he won a gold medal in the Olympics and three world championships and six world championship medals.