“Coaching and competing are two different things.” These were the words of NLWC head coach Cael Sanderson when asked about David Taylor’s move to coaching. While this wasn’t a direct dig at his former student, Sanderson wasn’t ready to give out advice on how to deal with coaching challenges, especially to competition. Since then, wrestling fans have sensed a budding rivalry between Penn State wrestling and Oklahoma State. The offseason has been an eventful one with Taylor managing to whisk away a few Nittany Lions players to his program and Sanderson edging closer to landing a body blow with his eyes set on a coaching coup from OSU.

The Cowboys finished the 2025 NCAA D1 Championships in third place, with two wrestlers taking home individual national titles. But   Taylor’s alma mater bagged its fourth consecutive national team title to establish their dominance. Naturally, the pressure is weighing down on Taylor’s shoulders to challenge NLWC as the country’s top wrestling program. With that in mind, the “Magic Man” is set to join hands with an overseas talent to make his next season even better.

The official Cowboys Regional Training Center social media handle posted on Instagram on April 8 to share news of its newest addition to the fold. “Congratulations coach Zo on being formally named Developmental Coach of the Cowboy RTC!” reads the sonorous announcement as it reveals that French wrestler Zoheir El Ouarraqe will be collaborating with David Taylor to train the Cowboys. This is a major addition to Taylor’s coaching staff, given what El Ouarraqe brings to the table.

He has made a name for himself in the international wrestling circuit with a gold medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games and a bronze at the 2018 European Wrestling Championships. The 33-year-old wrestler isn’t new to Stillwater either. What began in 2015 as a training camp under the then-coach John Smith turned into a lasting and fruitful relationship with the Cowboys. In 2019, he helped Daton Fix become the youngest OSU Wrestler since Smith to make the Senior World Team at 57kg—an achievement that brought him the opportunity to closely observe U.S. National Team coaches Bill Zadick and Joe Russell.

“My goal is to have 10 Daton Fixes or 20 of them. We have great wrestlers, a great program, and a lot of people love wrestling here. I want to help make Oklahoma State great again,” El Ouarraqe said a few years ago. And that’s exactly the mentality that David Taylor needs to take the fight to Penn State.

Naturally, Cowboys fans can look ahead to the new season with excitement as Taylor continues to strengthen his program for the new season. He has already made some notable additions to Oklahoma from Penn State in the offseason.

Taylor grabbed attention when he landed two Nittany Lions who had been squeezed out of potential starting roles: Gary Steen (125/133) and Alex Facundo (157/165/174). But the biggest splash of the offseason came at 174/184 pounds.

Sanderson secured a major pickup in Rocco Welsh, the 2024 NCAA runner-up from Ohio State. With Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) expected to return in 2026, the plan seemed to be a showdown between Welsh and former top-10 recruit Zack Ryder for the 184-pound spot. However, shortly after Welsh’s commitment, Ryder entered the portal himself and quickly announced his transfer to Oklahoma State, a move influenced by his strong connection to David Taylor from their time at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

While Oklahoma will undoubtedly benefit from these additions, including that of Zoheir El Ouarraqe, Taylor may need to make sacrifices on other fronts, with Penn State adding another twist to their growing rivalry with the Cowboys.

Taylor set to lose key asset to Penn State

Former NLWC wrestler and Olympian Thomas Gilman followed in David Taylor’s footsteps to become part of OSU’s coaching staff last year. The move, like Taylor’s, made a lot of noise. While that only fueled the fires between the rivalry between two of the country’s most revered wrestling programs, it looks like Gilman could be on his way back to where it all started for him.

The 2020 Olympic bronze medalist is reported to be going back to Happy Valley to aid Cael Sanderson in his coaching duties, after only one year in Stillwater. While we await official confirmation, it’s easy to understand why the move could make David Taylor squeamish in his stomach. Maybe it was the possibility of Gilman’s departure that prompted the OSU head coach to give someone like Zoheir, who specializes in the 57kg weight bracket, the formal position of developmental coach.

He spent the last season coaching the lightweights for the Cowboys and his pedigree speaks for itself. However, it’s not all bleak for the OSU head coach, as his mere presence seems to be attracting talent from all over the country and beyond to Oklahoma.

In February this year, two-time Big Ten champ Joey McKenna arrived at the Cowboy RTC. News of the 3x All-American wrestler’s move to work with Taylor created quite a storm across social media, but ultimately, the hype couldn’t ensure OSU’s dominance at this year’s NCAA Championships.

But do you think the future looks brighter for David Taylor & Co. with El Ouarraqe now officially thrown into the mix? How do you think this will push Cael Sanderson to go back to the drawing boards? Tell us your thoughts in a comment!