Blue White Illustrated

is BWI's Coach of the Year. "The most important thing, anytime something happens like this, you have to pick up and keep going," Glon said. "We under- stood, whatever happened, we have a mis- sion to fulfill. We had to pull together." Glon knows motivation. A six-time Pol- ish national champion in saber and 1979 bronze medalist at the World Champi- onships, he followed a stel- lar fencing career with a move into coaching, com- ing to Happy Valley in 1985. Over the years, he has coached numerous U.S. junior and senior national teams, all while helping Kaidanov build a collegiate dy- nasty in the White Building basement. When he took over last August, there was no question he knew how to mold winners on the fencing strip. The bigger challenge was finding time for the mun- dane administrative tasks that he'd never before had to worry about. "I had to learn all the procedures, all the paperwork," Glon said. "It took time, but I had no choice. I had to adjust." Adapting took "about a month," said Nicole Glon, a senior co-captain and saber standout last season who is also Glon's daughter. "He was by Coach Kaidanov's hey worked their way through the shock, anger and confu- sion, all those expected emo- tions, and then the members of the Penn State fencing team began the process of moving on. This was last August, just as the fall se- mester was starting and mere days after the dismissal of longtime coach Emmanuil Kaidanov. With more than three decades in charge of the program and 12 NCAA championships on his resume, Kaidanov was a Penn State fixture and unheralded coaching legend; few people on campus paid attention to fencing, but when they did, it was usually because Kaidanov's team had brought home another national title. And then, suddenly, he was gone, fired over a disciplinary issue that was never fully explained. Staggered and upset, his fencers did their best to focus on school and practice, the things they could control. The rest they left up to Wes Glon, Kaidanov's longtime as- sistant, who was named interim head coach for the season. There was no one better prepared to take over, but even Glon wasn't quite ready for some of the challenges he would face. The result was an uncertain start, and a season that threatened to unravel. Instead, it ended with another national championship. Glon was one of three Penn State coaches to lead a team to NCAA glory in 2013-14, but neither Russ Rose nor Cael Sanderson had to clear such a daunting hurdle before their seasons even began. In a banner year for Nittany Lion athletics, it was an ac- complishment too impressive to ignore; it seems only fitting that the man who at press time still carried an "interim" title think this happiness is going to go away for at least a couple days," he says. "Maybe a couple weeks." APRIL 1, 2014 For the second time in his career, Taylor is presented with the Hodge Trophy. He becomes only the third wrestler ever to win the award more than once. "If everyone competed like David Taylor, wrestling would be one of the most popular sports in Amer- ica," says Mike Chapman, founder of the trophy. APRIL 2, 2014 Sanderson announces via Twitter that Taylor and teammate Ed Ruth will stay in State College to train as paid resident athletes with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club "as they attack their world and Olympic goals." APRIL 14, 2014 Taylor signs a deal with FlipWrestling for a signature line of socks, T-shirts and headphones. "David Taylor represents everything that we admire – excellence, passion, and a down-to-earth personality that is contagious," says FlipsWrestling's Don Beshada. Taylor also announces an endorsement deal with adidas Wrestling. APRIL 21, 2014 Taylor falls to Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs in the

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