Blue White Illustrated

BY LORI SHONTZ BLUE WHITE CONTRIBUTOR nique or his all-out approach to a match. But he didn't forget it. And David H Taylor's loss in the 2011 NCAA finals – by pin, of all ways, against former teammate Bubba Jenkins, of all peo- ple – delivered, a year later, a power- ful result. "I've always been a really self-moti- vated kid," Taylor said, "but there's nothing that motivated me more than not wanting to have that feeling again this year." So Taylor left nothing to chance during his sophomore season. He went undefeated in the regular season. (Again.) Entered nationals tied for the top spot as the nation's most dominant wrestler, as calculated by the NCAA in a new statistical model. And in the tournament, he got even better. Taylor nearly became the first THE YEAR IN REVIEW MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR wrestler since 1980 – and only the ninth ever – to pin his way through the entire NCAA tourna- ment. He spent only 8 minutes, 46 seconds on the mat as he won his first four matches by fall. Then, in the 165-pound against final Lehigh's Brandon Hatchett, he put on one of his patented takedown clinics, racking up a 22-7 technical fall in 5:55. "It was the greatest feeling of my life," Taylor said. "But it was a year too late. … "The only thing that's different is that instead of being a two-time national champion, I'm a one-time national champion. Instead of being a four- timer, I have to settle for winning three." And, yes, he genuinely means "set- Steve Manuel GRAND FINALE Taylor exults after completing a dominant season with a technical fall over Lehigh's Brandon Hatchett in the NCAA final. 22 A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 tle." Taylor is relentless, whether it's on the mat, where he's looking to score on every move, or in the practice room, where he's the guy orchestrat- W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M e didn't watch it. Dodged questions about it. Refused to let it change anything, he stressed, about his tech-

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