Blue White Illustrated

PSU's motivated 165-pounder relishes his first national title DAVID TAYLOR ing run-n-gun or dodgeball games and yelling like a banshee while fling- ing playground balls at his team- mates. "He's always the most competitive," said his father, Dave. "I wouldn't say he's the best athlete in other sports. I wouldn't say he was the best student. But if his friend got an A, he wanted an A. If his friend was winning, even playing dodgeball, he wanted to win." Taylor did have to rise to a different challenge this season. Through most of his freshman year, he won by repeat- edly taking down opponents, then letting them up, scoring again almost immediately, and periodically holding them down for back points. "I felt like he was more dominant his freshman year," his father said. "Be- cause a lot of people actually thought they could beat him last year, and he could score a lot more points a lot quicker." Taylor's matches didn't unfold that way as often this season. He pinned more frequently, for one thing. But he also found himself in closer-than- usual matches, defeating Hatchett only 8-5 in November, topping Mike Evans of Iowa only 9-4. That's what happens, his dad told him, in dual meets – opponents figure their best bet is to keep it close and give up fewer team points. Said his father, "I told him all year – remember that when you get to the na- tional tournament, the guy you're wrestling has to win." Taylor was dominant from his first match in a Penn State singlet. But now he's beginning to let his personality show on the mat, engaging with fans with a smile or a yell or a raised fin- ger. (And engaging with others on Twitter, via his handle @magicman_psu, a tribute to one of his favorite movies, "Talladega Nights.") "I just enjoy what I'm doing," Taylor said. "I feel like if you spend so much time wrestling, spend so much time do- ing anything, why not enjoy it when you're out there? Why not live in the moment? You might never be there again." In the next breath, he added, "I ex- pect to be there a lot more times." In two seasons at Penn State, Tay- lor's record is 70-1. He's won two- thirds of his matches by either pin (23) or technical fall (24). He wrapped up this season by winning the Out- standing Wrestler at the NCAA tour- nament, the Hodge Award (wrestling's Heisman) and cementing his status as the NCAA's most dominant wrestler. But next year is already shaping up as a doozy. Cornell's Kyle Dake, who won national titles at 141, 149 (over Penn State's Frank Molinaro) and 157 the past three years, is expected to move up to 165. Oklahoma's Andrew Howe, who took a redshirt last season and fin- ished second at the Olympic trials, will be at 165 also. And Tyler Caldwell, the 2011 NCAA runner-up at 165, who sat out last season while transferring to Oklahoma State, will return as well. HONOR ROLL TIM FRAZIER BASKETBALL The new-look Nittany Lions took their lumps, as expected, in Patrick Chambers' first season as head coach. But they took a lot fewer than they might otherwise have tak- en, thanks to their junior point guard. The Houston native finished second in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.8 points a game and also was first in assists at 6.2. The latter sta- tistic is particularly impressive given that Penn State finished 11th in the league in scoring. The Nittany Lions didn't muster a lot of offense, but what they did muster came almost entirely from the sure hands of Fra- zier. FRANK MOLINARO WRESTLING Molinaro was shouldering a lot of self-imposed pressure going into the last NCAA tournament appearance of his career. He was a three-time All-American but had yet to win a national championship. But all that W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M pressure evaporated when the Barnegat, N.J., native defeated Min- nesota's Dylan Ness, 4-1, in the 149-pound final to complete an un- defeated season. "I've put my heart and soul into this for five years," Molinaro said afterward. "I'm just excited to be a part of such elite company." SCOTT ROSENTHAL GYMNASTICS The junior from Clearfield, Pa., contributed to an outstanding team finish in which the Nittany Lions earned eight All-America citations, the most by the squad since the 1969 season. Rosenthal's score of 15.250 in the still rings was good for second place and was only .5 of a point from the top spot. He either won or was runner-up in the still rings in every meet this past sea- son. ED RUTH WRESTLING Ruth's freshman season ended with an injury default against Stan- ford's Nick Amuchastegui in the NCAA quarterfinals. This year? Same wrestlers, different story. Top- seeded and undefeated at 174 pounds, Ruth was dominant in the rematch, prevailing, 13-2, to claim his first career NCAA championship. The victory completed an outstand- ing tournament in which the Harris- burg, Pa., native finished with two pins, a technical fall and a major decision. DEVON STILL FOOTBALL Slowed by injuries and inconsis- tency earlier in his career, Still pledged to be more forceful and ag- gressive during his final season. Boy, did he deliver. Anchoring the Big Ten's least-scored-upon defense from his defensive tackle spot, he finished with 17 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks and won the Big Ten's De- fensive Player of the Year award. Still went on to become a second- round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals. – M.H. A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 23 Taylor lost to both Dake (by pin) and Howe in April at the Olympic trials; he said he was "embarrassed, more than anything" by his performance there. But he said freestyle wrestling is "a dif- ferent beast" than collegiate wrestling, and he's certainly not worrying about the competition. "Whoever wins that weight class will be remembered for a really long time," Taylor said. "That competition is something every good wrestler should look forward to, something I definitely look forward to. It'll be a fun season."

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