David Taylor says the talent on Team USA reminds him of his ‘days at Penn State’

David Taylor helped the United States capture its first UWW Men’s Freestyle World Cup since 2003 on Sunday at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The former Penn State standout won all four of his matches by technical fall in the world cup and earned a 12-2 win over Azerbaijan’s Aleksander Gostiev in the 86-kilogram bout in the finals. The United States beat Azerbaijan 6-4 to win the world cup.

Taylor’s victory over Gostiev elicited “USA” chants from the crowd as the team moved closer toward the title before clinching it on Kyle Snyder’s technical fall at 97 kilograms.

“We have a lot of talented guys on this roster. I know we’re all excited to go out, and it just really reminds me of my days at Penn State, just one after another after another,” Taylor, who wrestled at Penn State from 2010-14, told FloWrestling. “I think when you have that many talented guys, we’re pushing each other. We’re not saying it to each other, but man, I want to be as good as Kyle Snyder. He’s the guy. He’s the captain of America. I look up to him.”

Taylor also earned an 11-1 win over Georgia’s David Khutsishvili on Sunday, helping the United States advance to the finals.

Notably absent from this year’s world cup were Iran, winner of the past six cups, and Russia.

“We believe we’re the best team in the world. It doesn’t matter who’s here or who’s not here. These guys are great. These guys want to wrestle. It doesn’t matter what country they’re from,” Taylor said. “We’re on the right track as a team and as a country moving forward.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2018 at 7:36 PM with the headline "David Taylor says the talent on Team USA reminds him of his ‘days at Penn State’."