'If You Want to Be the Best in the World, You Come to Penn State,' Olympic Champ David Taylor Says
Penn State and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will be major storylines at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The most decorated international wrestler in Penn State history returned to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday to discuss his pursuit of a second Olympic gold medal. In the process, Taylor made a sweeping recruiting pitch for Penn State wrestling, its coaching staff and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
"Now we’re saying, 'Hey if you want to be the best in the world, you come to Penn State, you stay afterwards and you train with the Nittany Lion Wresting Club,'" Taylor told reporters on the eve of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials. "We just have a collective group of people who want to get better every single day and we’re pushing each other every single day."
Taylor headlines a huge group of wrestlers who will represent Penn State and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club at the two-day Olympic Trials, which will determine Team USA for the Summer Olympics in Paris. Sixteen current, former and future Nittany Lions will be in the freestyle field when action begins Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Among them are four-time NCAA champs Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks, three-time NCAA champ Zain Retherford and Taylor, who won two NCAA gold medals.
In addition, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, based at Penn State's Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, will send four morel wrestlers to the trials. Among them are Kyle Dake, a four-time world champion; Kyle Snyder, who won NCAA and Olympic titles in 2016; and Thomas Gilman, a 2021 world champ and Olympic bronze medalist. They are among the resident athletes who live and train in State Collge under the direction of coach Cael Sanderson and his staff. Taylor said the NLWC's success begins with Sanderson.
“It starts at the top," said Taylor, a three-time world champion and Penn State's first Olympic wrestling gold medalist. "Our coaches are the best leaders, role models that you can ask for. Coach Cael is who I wanted to wrestle like when I was a kid. I dreamed of wrestling for Coach Cael. Still to this point, to achieve every goal I wanted to achieve and beyond, and to still be doing that along someone I look up to, is great.
“And I’m just a small example of that. I think every athlete who comes to Penn State, their desire’s to be great. That’s why they come. Over the last 15 years, Penn State has shown that if you want to be a national champion, you come to Penn State."
Sanderson recently led the Nittany Lions to their third straight NCAA team title and 11th in 13 seasons. Penn State won four individual titles, delivered eight of its 10 wrestlers to the podium as All-Americans and set an NCAA scoring record in perhaps the best performance in tournament history. Six of those wrestlers, all of whom won gold or silver at NCAAs, will represent the NLWC at the Trials as well.
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The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club is a designated Olympic Regional Training Center with a strong international history. The NLWC sent seven wrestlers to the 2023 World Championships, where five won freestyle medals. Taylor and Retherford claimed gold, Dake won silver and Nick Lee and Jen Page earned bronze.
At the Olympic Trials, four NLWC wrestlers have byes through the early challenge tournament. Taylor awaits the 86 kg tournament's winner in Saturday's best-of-three championship series to determine the Olympic representative. Snyder has a similar bye at 97 kg. Retherford (65 kg) and Dake (74 kg) have byes into the semifinals. As a result, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club has a strong chance to represent the U.S. in four of the six men's freestyle weight classes at the Olympics. Page also has a bye into the semifinals of the women's freestyle 62 kg weight class.
(Because the U.S. isn't yet qualified for the Olympics at 65 kg, Retherford would have to compete at a qualifying tournament in May if he wins the weight class this weekend.)
“I know when I come into the room I have to wrestle my best," Taylor said of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. "There’s no other way to come in here.”
The U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials begin Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Here are the details.
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
