» PHOTOS: David Taylor through the years
Taylor defeated Ali Shabanau, of Belarus, 11-0 in his first match. He then beat another American wrestler, Myles Nazem Amine, who’s competing for San Marino at the Olympics, 12-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Taylor beat Deepak Punia, of India, 10-0.
Taylor will wrestle the defending Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani, of Iran, for the championship. Taylor is 2-0 in his career against Yazdani.
The medal matches start around 6:30 a.m. (EST) Thursday. Graham Local Schools will host a watch party at the middle school. Doors open at 6 a.m. People can enter through the front doors of the school. For more information, contact Don Burley, director of operations, at burleyd@grahamlocalschools.org.
Taylor, a four-time state champion in high school and a two-time NCAA champion at Penn State, qualified for the Olympics in April by winning the freestyle title at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials. He defeated Bo Nickal in the best-of-three final series 4-0 and 6-0.
Check out David Taylor's 🇺🇸 footwork on this double leg. He enters w/ ankle pick mechanics, brings back knee forward as he reaches for other leg, drives again (off front leg this time) to get hips in, then steps w/ left foot to change angle + bring his hips even closer. Masterful pic.twitter.com/9o4lZ0Nhyq
— Dan Sweeney (@DPSBreakdowns) August 4, 2021
David Taylor dominates Deepak Punia in the semis! He'll wrestle for Gold tomorrow against Hassan Yazdani.
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) August 4, 2021
📸: Kadir Caliskan pic.twitter.com/mdJUYUVNsd
That's a quick 10-0 tech for @magicman_psu , his third tech in a row and David Taylor will wrestle for the Gold Medal!#PSUwr pic.twitter.com/El9nWE5xYp
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) August 4, 2021
David Taylor with the 11-0 win over Shabanov of Belarus! Taylor into the quarters later! #PSUwr pic.twitter.com/oAsIMbY36h
— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) August 4, 2021
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