After the U.S. Olympic Trials, David Taylor, aka The Magic Man’s name, was on everyone’s lips. And when Taylor followed up his loss by stepping into the role of head coach at Oklahoma State University (OSU), rumors of retirement were in the air. Surely he was planning on hanging up his wrestling singlet, right? Wrong! In an unexpected plot twist that the world was rooting for, Taylor was far from done.

David Taylor was back on the mat to take another shot. And this time, at the 2024 U.S. Senior World Team Trials. And guess what? Taylor didn’t just show up; he won it! But amidst all the glory, two questions uncomfortably still linger in the air. One, will Taylor be able to balance his head coach commitments with his own training? Two, what was OSU’s reaction to their new head coach pulling double duty?

Taylor caught the wrestling bug once again, and OSU was surprisingly chill about it. “But they were obviously supportive… as time went on and when I did share with them that I was thinking about going… they were like, well, man, if you want to do it, you should definitely do it,” he said in a recent interview. Seamless, isn’t it? In true David Taylor style, no grand announcements, no fuss. Just him stepping back to the mat and winning it like it was the most natural thing in the world!

“I just assured them, like, hey, nothing’s going to change,” Taylor said about juggling coaching duties while competing. And nothing changed. Despite the demands of his own training, Taylor remains committed to making OSU’s program stronger. “I fulfilled all my obligations to the best of my ability… this was just a secondary thing,” he added.

And the atmosphere at OSU? Pure excitement. “The team… when I talked to them about it, I just said, ‘Hey, you tell me right now… I’m thinking about wrestling.’ And everybody was like, ‘Man, that’s exciting, that’s inspiring,’” Taylor said. In fact, Taylor’s return lit a fire under the Cowboys, and as he put it, “It brought another level out for them, brought a little more level out for me… really elevated the room and the program.” And why wouldn’t it? Taylor’s comeback was a challenge in itself.

David Taylor won despite a make-or-break move

David Taylor did not waltz back into wrestling the same old way! The magic man instead decided to pull his best trick yet, and a challenging one at that. Taylor made a shift in weight class, moving up from 86 kg to the 92 kg division. A make-or-break move for sure, but if history says anything about Taylor, it is that he thrives on high stakes. And thrive he did! Taylor dominated the competition. With three of his four victories ending before the second period even began! His closest match was against Trent Hidlay. Taylor dominated regardless, with a 6-0 lead before holding off a late surge. This was followed by his showdown against Zahid Valencia, the 2023 World bronze medalist.

This is where the match got exciting for David Taylor. In their first bout, Valencia took an early 3-1 lead. The lead did not last long; Taylor fought back. He built an 8-0 lead and pinned Valencia before the break. And with that brilliant win, Taylor won his golden ticket to the Senior World Championships in Albania this October. Regardless of what is to come, one thing is for sure. David Taylor’s return promises to be an exciting chapter for both the world and Oklahoma State’s wrestling program. So, will this next chapter be Taylor’s greatest win yet? We’re about to find out!