Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1476228
4 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M F ormer Penn State standouts Zain Retherford and David Taylor will compete for the United States at the Senior World Championships, Sept. 10- 18, in Serbia. Taylor, who won the world champi- onship in 2019, captured gold at the 2020 Olympics and took silver at the 2021 World Championships, made the World team again by topping former Arizona State two-time national cham- pion Zahid Valencia in the 86-kilogram (189.5-pound) weight class. Taylor won the first two matches of a best-of-three wrestle-off at Final X 2022 in June in New York. He has already set plans to train, with the idea of defending his gold medal at the 2024 Olympics. "After winning gold, you take some time off, and you feel, what is next?" Tay- lor told TeamUSA.org. "I realized I really love wrestling, and I thought, 'Let's do that again in Paris 2024.' It's an addictive feeling, to have your hand raised, and you get hungry for more." Taylor is probably headed for a fifth matchup with Iran's Yazdani Hassan. Taylor bested his rival, the defending world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, in the first round of the 2018 World Championships, overcoming a 6-2 first-period deficit to win 11-6. In the Tokyo Olympics title match, Taylor prevailed again 4-3, scoring a late takedown to earn the gold medal. He then fell to Yazdani in the finals of the 2021 World Championships, 6-2, ending his 57-match winning streak. Entering August, Taylor was rated No. 2 and Yazdani No. 1 in the world at 86 kilograms. Rutherford made his third U.S. Senior World Team earlier this summer at 70 kilograms (154 pounds), first by advanc- ing to the finals of the World Team Tri- als Challenge event and then by beat- ing former Oklahoma State two-time national champion Jordan Oliver at the Final X 2022 Stillwater in a two-out-of- three wrestleoff. Rutherford won the first match 9-3, Oliver took the second 5-4 and the former Penn State grap- pler captured the deciding match 4-3. Rutherford is ranked No. 5 for the World Championships. Former three-time Penn State national champion Jason Nolf won five consecutive matches to take gold at the U.S. Senior Open at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) and PENN STATERS SHINE IN SUMMER WRESTLING EVENTS G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Olympic champion David Taylor qualified for the upcoming Senior World Championships in Serbia by defeating Zahid Valencia in a best-of-three wrestle-off at 86 kilograms. PHOTO COURTESY UNITED WORLD WRESTLING