This could be the stuff fables are made of. After David Taylor’s alma mater became the insurmountable obstacle in Taylor’s quest to defend his wrestling Olympic gold, fans were left heartbroken. Moreover, with his new job at OSU, the 33-year-old seemed to cope with his loss from April pretty well. Almost everyone was certain that Taylor would now fondly look back on his illustrious career from the sideline. But he’s proving them wrong!

Taylor is standing on the brink of carrying the USA’s flag on his shoulders on an international stage once again. At the ongoing Non-Olympic Wrestling World Team Trials, Taylor has so far thwarted all attempts at making his decision to come out of retirement look immature. And now, he’s just one step away from booking his flight to Albania.

A post on X by the official USA Wrestling account has revealed who stands in the way of Tylor as the last hurdle. The post from September 14 is captioned, “Best-of-3 championship series men’s freestyle lineup for tomorrow,” and it looks like David will have to bring his A-game on the mat. In the 92kg bracket, Taylor will be facing off against Zahid Valencia in a best-of-three series. Valencia is a force to be reckoned with in his own right and with two NCAA gold medals to his name, Taylor will need to dig deep to claim his victory.

The 2023 World Championships medalist Valencia has also won all matches at the trials so far and will be locking horns with the 2020 Olympic gold medalist in the 92kg final tomorrow inside the CHI Health Center. However, Valencia will have to reach deep into his hat if he wishes to keep his winning streak going against the more experienced and decorated Taylor.

Now, Taylor will once again have the chance to not only get the Star Spangled Banner playing loudly for him in Tirana, Albania, but the team trials can end up as the stage where he shuts down jeers from his critics as well.

A consolation for Davis Taylor’s lost Parisian ambition

David was easily the favorite to win the 86kg weight class in April’s Olympic Team Trials. Hosted by Penn State, fans were confident that Magic Man would show his mettle once again and go on to defend his golden Olympic hardware in Paris. But the dream shattered when Penn State’s very own Aaron Brooks defeated his collegiate senior in the final match of the weight bracket. Subsequently, the ex-NLWC wrestler took up the role of the new head coach at OSU. As the Cowboys hoped to collaborate with one of the most decorated male wrestlers from the country to bring back their NCAA glory days, Taylor also did his best to rope in as much help as possible toward his new camp. However, the people from Penn State couldn’t help but warn their former colleague that the latter would need to accept Cael Sanderson’s dominance in the collegiate wrestling circuit.

If Taylor can defeat Valencia tomorrow, he will silence those who believed the Olympian’s wrestling career was over. But Taylor’s foe isn’t one to back down either. In February, Taylor declared on Instagram that he wouldn’t stop pushing himself until his legacy as the greatest wrestler was solidified. With his Olympic dream having faltered, Taylor now sees the upcoming October event as the stage to prove his worth to a global audience. Will he rise to the occasion? We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.