Penn State great Taylor’s gold medal highlights four medals for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Former Nittany Lion wrestling great David Taylor is an Olympic Champion. Taylor won Olympic Gold at the 2020 Tokyo games with an epic performance in the finals at 86 kg to claim the title. Taylor was one of multiple Nittany Lion Wrestling Club wrestlers competing in Tokyo and the first to grab a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics.
Taylor met Hassan Yazdani of Iran for the Olympic title at 86 kg. He fell behind 1-0 early and trailed by that score at the break. Taylor fell behind 2-0 on a pushout with just under 3:00 to wrestle and then tied the bout 2-2 at 2:10 with a takedown. Yazdani took a 3-2 lead on another pushout with just 1:38 left, a lead that held to the :20 mark when Taylor made his move. The former Nittany Lion moved through a strong double that led to a takedown and a 4-3 lead as the clock neared :10. Taylor’s second takedown, the only two in the bout, clinched the gold medal in the 4-3 victory.
Taylor advanced to the gold medal match by winning his first three matches at 86 kg, all by technical superiority. The four-time All-American, two-time NCAA champion downed Ali Shabanou of Belarus 11-0 in the opening round. He then took down former Michigan Wolverine Myles Amine, wrestling for San Marino, 12-2.
Taylor handled India’s Deepak Punia in the semifinals, quickly posting a 10-0 tech to advance to the gold medal bout.
Defending Olympic Champion Kyle Snyder advanced to the gold medal bout against ROC’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev, setting up a classic match-up between the world’s two best 97 kg wrestlers. Snyder fell behind 6-0 early and then rallied as the match ended. Cutting Sadulaev’s lead in half in the process, time ran out on the comeback attempt and Snyder fell 6-3. Snyder won the silver medal with his run to the finals and is now a two-time Olympic medalist, gold in 2016 and silver this year.
Snyder began his quest for a second title with three impressive wins, including a resounding semifinal victory. Snyder’s three wins by a combined 23-2 score have moved him into the gold medal match at 97 kg against the ROC’s Abulrashid Sadulaev tomorrow morning. He began the tournament with a 12-2 win over Canada’s Jordan Steen and followed that up by shutting out Abraham Conyedo-Ruano of Italy 6-0. Snyder advanced to the semifinals with the win and dominated Turkey’s Suleyman Karadeniz by a 5-0 score.
