David Taylor means business! After taking up the head wrestling coach job at Oklahoma State, the reigning Olympic champion has handpicked his deputies and wrestlers for the upcoming seasons. A prominent example is the inclusion of Thomas Gilman. The 29-year-old holds the pride of coming from the Penn State NLWC background, like David Taylor. Also, he boasts of having a Summer Olympic medal in wrestling. In the new roster of the century-old OSU wrestling camp, Gilman has come in as David Taylor’s assistant. Now, showing his Midas touch in wrestling mentorship, the 33-year-old has surprised with the new build-up in the camp. 

As the transfer season draws closer to the end, the OSU camp can take pride in roping big names into the squad. As the X handle, The Low Single has described, the Cowboys included four big names in the band: they are Cameron Amine, Wyatt Hendrickson, Caleb Fish, and Dean Hamiti. The four names are revered in the NCAA wrestling and are expected to continue their firebrand wrestling in the new camp as well. 

Among the recruits, Cameron Amine will join David Taylor’s lineup in the 165 category. The Michigan standout holds the record of multiple Academic All-Big Ten with his tag of NCAA All-American in the 2022-23 season. In the same weight bracket, have come Caleb Fish and Dean Hamiti. Fish garners a lot of hope in the OSU Cowboys with an 83-37 record from last season. On the other hand, Hamiti pulls the needle back with his runner-up title in the conference contest from the past season.

In the OSU camp, the fresh recruit Wyatt Hendrickson brings in leadership experience. The Air Force Falcon attendee has played a valuable part as the team captain in both senior and junior stints for the Falcons in the past. Furthermore, he might feature in the 285-weight category for the Cowboys. So, with such recruitment, David Taylor is looking forward to following his predecessor, John Smith’s, footsteps in the coaching role. But will it be, for him, like a strolling in the park? 

David Taylor is in front of an upheaval task 

After announcing retirement from professional wrestling, David Taylor didn’t have much time to go through the coaching manual to have a rough idea of the profession. Moreover, he had to replace arguably the greatest American wrestler from his coaching post. So the job was not easy for the 33-year-old veteran. But the introductory lines from Larry Reece, OSU’s Senior Associate, did a fine job for Taylor. 

In his lines of the press conference that witnessed David Taylor take the reins from John Smith, Reece said, “David Taylor is your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler…If John Smith is the face of American wrestling, David Taylor is the current torch-bearer.” In bearing the torch, the former world champion tried to put in his part with reformations. 

The need for those reformations ultimately led him to say, “I’m interested in the right situation with the right resources at a place that can win.” So he retained the seasoned campaigner or home guys like Tyler Caldwell in the assistant coaching position. But additionally, Jimmy Kennedy and Thomas Gilman’s entry in the same role has maintained Taylor’s upper hand. So, now as the resources are concerned, the PSU legend has looked to have his arsenal ready with backups. But to get the result, a few more weeks will have to pass.