Blue White Illustrated

KLAHOMA CITY – It's a ques- tion that will always linger around his career. Where is David Taylor's spot in college wrestling history? By the time he won his second NCAA championship March 22, 100 other college wrestlers had already accomplished the feat. Twenty-:ve others had won three; three others had won four. So is Taylor – who arguably had the most accomplished prep career in U.S. history, who is only the 14th four-time NCAA :nalist, a Hodge Trophy winner who spearheaded his team's four national championship runs – muddled in the top 100? Or does he rank alone? Head coach Cael Sanderson, the only undefeated four-timer, was asked about Taylor's place in wrestling lore a;er his 165-pound senior beat Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell, 6-0, in the NCAA :nals. His answer was telling. "I think anytime you're talking about the greats of college wrestling, his name is going to be mentioned, no question about that," Sanderson said. "I'm not a historian or anything like that, but I wouldn't take anybody else on my team in the history of college wrestling over David Taylor." Taylor wrapped up his Lion ca- reer with a 134-3 record. He :n- were beaten. NCAA o:cials had set up the 7nal round so that David Taylor's 165- pound bout would be the 7nal match of the evening, anticipating the team trophy coming down to the last bout. But since Minneosta's Tony Nelson (285) and Dylan Ness (157) had both lost, Penn State had it clinched before Taylor ever took the mat. "When Minnesota lost it," Taylor said, "it just came down to going out and getting my hand raised." When the Gophers took the lead before that 7nal round, they seemed so well- positioned to squash Penn State's four- peat that there was an order form 8oating around for uno:cial national champi- onship T-shirts. But no such thing happened. For the Nittany Lions, it proved to be just another case of temporary defeat and eventual success. Ruth knows the concept. The 7

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