The most decorated international wrestler in Penn State history visited the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday to discuss pursuing his second Olympic gold medal. Along the way, Taylor made a thorough recruiting effort to Penn State Wrestling, its coaching staff, and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
“Now we're saying, 'If you want to be the best in the world, come to Penn State, stay and train at the Nittany Lion Wresting Club,'” Taylor said in 2024. He spoke to reporters on the eve of the 2017 tournament. US Olympic Wrestling Trials. “We have a group of people who want to get better every day, and we challenge each other every day.”
Taylor leads a large group of wrestlers representing Penn State University and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club during the two-day Olympic trials that will determine who will represent the United States at the Paris Summer Olympics. When play begins Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center, 16 current, former and future Nittany Lions will take to the freestyle field. That includes four-time NCAA champions Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks, three-time NCAA champion Zane Retherford and two-time NCAA gold medalist Taylor.
In addition, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, based at the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex in Pennsylvania, will send four Morel wrestlers to trials. Among them is four-time world champion Kyle Dake. Kyle Snyder won NCAA and Olympic titles in 2016. and 2021 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman. They are among the resident athletes who live and train at State University under the guidance of Coach Cael Sanderson and his staff. Taylor said NLWC's success starts 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 and role models you could ask for.” Coach Kael is the guy I wanted to try wrestling like when I was a kid. I dreamed of wrestling for Coach Frog. So far, it's amazing that I've achieved and exceeded all the goals I wanted to achieve and am still doing it with someone I admire.
“And I'm just one example of that. I think every athlete that comes to Penn State wants to be great. That's why they come. For the past 15 years, Penn State has been a national champion. I've proven that if you want to be, you should come to Penn State.”
Sanderson recently led the Nittany Lions to their third consecutive NCAA team title and 11th in 13 seasons. Penn State won his four individual titles, had eight of his ten wrestlers finish on the podium as All-Americans, and set his NCAA scoring record with perhaps the best performance in tournament history. Six of them have won gold or silver medals in the NCAA and will represent the NLWC at the Trials.
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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, and five won medals in freestyle. Taylor and Retherford won gold, Dake took silver, and Nick Lee and Jenn Page took bronze.
At the Olympic Trials, four NLWC wrestlers received byes in the Early Challenge Tournament. Taylor will wait for the winner of the 86kg tournament in Saturday's best-of-three championship series to determine the Olympic squad. Snyder also won by default at 97kg. Retherford (65kg) and Dake (74kg) advanced to the semi-finals by default. As a result, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club has a great chance to represent the United States in his four of his six Olympic men's freestyle weight classes. Paige also advanced to the semifinals of the women's freestyle 62kg class by default.
(The U.S. has not yet qualified for the Olympics in the 65kg weight class, so if Retherford wins this weekend's weight class, he will have to compete in a qualifying tournament in May).
“When I walk into a room, I know I have to wrestle as hard as I can. There's no other way to get in here,” Taylor said of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.
The U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials begin Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Here are the details:
AllPennState is your destination for Penn State news, opinions and perspectives 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 an impressive catalog of articles. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
