Former Penn State wrestler and State College resident David Taylor wins Olympic gold
Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor defeated Iranian Hassan Yazdanicharati by a score of 4-3 on Thursday in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to take the gold medal in the 86 kilogram men’s freestyle competition.
Taylor was trailing 3-2 until a double leg takedown with less than 15 seconds on the clock sealed the deal for the American over the 2016 Olympic gold medalist.
The 30-year-old State College resident’s journey to becoming an Olympic champ hasn’t been an easy road. Over the past eight years, he experienced the disappointment of failing to make the 2012 and 2016 teams, the challenge of increasing his weight from 74-86 kgs, and the emotional swing of winning a World Championship in 2018 to tearing his ACL in 2019.
But it all culminated in Taylor achieving the one goal he’s had his entire life.
“My goal in Tokyo is coming back with a gold medal,” Taylor previously told the Centre Daily Times. “I’ve always dreamed about being an Olympic gold medalist, since I wrote down my goals as a little kid.”
While the road to Tokyo wasn’t easy, Taylor didn’t have a particularly hard time once he got there. The 2014 Penn State grad was nothing short of dominant in his 16-man bracket.
In his first three matches on Wednesday, Taylor hardly seemed to break a sweat, outscoring his opponents by a total of 33-2.
Taylor’s biggest competition in Tokyo before the final was 2019 World silver medalist and No. 2 seed Deepak Punia, of India, who Taylor quickly dismantled, 10-0, in the semifinal match. Taylor was ahead 3-0 at the two-minute mark and continued to pour on the points to stamp his ticket to the final with a technical superiority.
The only wrestler to score a point on Taylor that day was San Marino’s Myles Amine, who wrestles for the University of Michigan. Despite giving up two points, Taylor rolled to yet another emphatic victory, putting Amine away 12-2 in the quarterfinals. Amine ended up taking bronze. Taylor also put away Ali Shabanau, of Belarus, by technical superiority, 11-0, in the opening round of 16.
Taylor’s gold medal follows in the footsteps of his Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and former Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, who won gold in the same event and weight class in 2004. Taylor’s NLWC teammate Thomas Gilman, also a State College resident, earned a bronze medal earlier in Thursday’s session, topping Iran’s Reza Atrinagharchi, 9-1. Helen Maroulis, who has also spent time with the NLWC, also won Olympic bronze, with an 11-0 tech.
Penn State grad Joe Kovacs earns silver in shot put
Taylor’s gold wasn’t the only medal won Thursday in Tokyo by a Penn State graduate.
Adding to the successful day for former Nittany Lions was American shot put thrower and 2012 graduate Joe Kovacs, who earned a silver medal with a 22.65 meter toss to defend his second-place title that he earned in the Rio Games five years ago.
Kovacs was able to rebound from a shaky qualification round that saw him barely scrape into the finals placed 11 of 12 qualifiers for the final throws in Tokyo. His qualifying 20.93 meter throw was vastly improved upon in the biggest moment.
The lone thrower to top him was fellow American and now repeat gold medalist Ryan Crouser, who set an Olympic Record with a 23.30 meter throw in the final round of the competition.
Alyssa Naeher and U.S. women’s soccer take bronze
While she didn’t play due to injury, 2009 Penn State grad Alyssa Naeher picked up a bronze medal Thursday when the U.S. women’s soccer team beat Australia 4-3.
Veterans Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd each scored twice, while Adrianna Franch started in goal for the injured Naeher.
Before injuring her knee in the U.S.’s semifinal loss to Canada, Naeher had put together a solid tournament. The highlight was her three penalty kick saves to help the U.S. beat the Netherlands in the quarterfinal shootout.
Penn State head women’s soccer coach Erica Dambach is also an assistant for Team USA.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 7:47 AM.