Sebastian Rivera, the 65 kg bronze medalist from Paris, secured his win in a last-minute turn of fate. The former Rutgers star was on the verge of losing 9-8 when his coaches, Jeff Buxton and Donny Pritzlaff, raised a challenge. Once it was confirmed that Rivera had forced his opponent’s knee to touch the ground, the victory was his. While he couldn’t have anticipated such a close battle in his medal match, Rivera is now making predictions about Penn State’s future while also supporting David Taylor’s move to Oklahoma.

n May 2024, shortly after Aaron Brooks missed his chance to defend his Olympic title in Paris, David Taylor announced his move to Oklahoma State University (OSU). Taylor, a two-time NCAA Champion at the NLWC and an Olympic gold medalist, chose to leave his former side to become the new head coach at OSU. Now, Sebastian Rivera has openly voiced his support for this decision.

Sebastian Rivera extends his support to David Taylor

Appearing on the Champ and The Tramp show, when asked, “What do you think about David Taylor going to Oklahoma state,” Sebastian Rivera opened up on what he thinks about David Taylor’s move to OSU. He said, “I think it’s the best thing for college wrestling,” voicing his out-and-out support.

The hosts further asked Rivera to lay down his rationale behind this. “Why so? To take some power away from Penn State?” they asked. To which, the Puerto Rico wrestler replied, “100 percent. I think they’re going to be one of the teams, I mean like obviously Penn State’s light years ahead of everybody but it’s going to change really fast, everybody’s leaving.”

Although Penn State has been dominating the mats, the impact of several major exits this year cannot be overlooked. After David Taylor’s departure, Thomas Gilman and Jimmy Kennedy quickly followed, joining the Cowboys as their new assistant coach and associate head coach, respectively. Wrestler Terrell Barraclough also left to join Utah. However, it’s not just Penn State dealing with the setbacks of departures. Sebastian Rivera and his coach, Donny Pritzlaff, are also leaving Rutgers to join a new side.

Not just Taylor, but Rivera swaps camps too

While Rivera is now extending his support to David Taylor, his situation seems quite similar. A five-time All-American, Rivera decided to wrestle for Rutgers after a successful stint at Northwestern University. While pursuing his graduate degree at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, he simultaneously competed for the team, spending two seasons with them from 2020-21 to 2021-22. During this time, he was coached by Donny Pritzlaff. Now, both the former Rutgers star and his coach have made a major decision to move on.

And now, as revealed by Rivera on Frankie Edgar’s podcast, he is joining Columbia University as a coach with Pritzlaff, who is set to fill Andrew F. Berth’s spot as the Head Coach. The latter spent 10 years as the associate wrestling coach at Rutgers University, while the former is the University’s alumnus. While this is a major call, Rivera sounded quite firm in his decision, as the two vacate coach Scott Goodale’s tent. Rivera said, “I don’t know if they handled the situation the best way they could have, nothing against him, he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.” And now he approves of David Taylor’s decision. What do you think of this? Let us know below.