UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Oct. 21, 2018 – Former Penn State wrestling great David Taylor roared through the world's best to win the 2018 World Championship at 86 kg. The four-time All-American, four-time NCAA finalist and two-time NCAA Champion went 5-0 in a two-day run in Budapest, Hungary, to win his first world championship.
Taylor began his title run by going 4-0 on day one of the event. The former Nittany Lion opened up one of the tournament's toughest draws by downing former World and Olympic Champion Hassan Yazdanicharti of Iran 11-6. He then rolled to a 10-0 technical fall over Hajy Rajabau of Belarus. Taylor posted an 8-0 decision over Cuba's Yurieski Torreblanca in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Taylor met Russia's Dauren Kuruglieve and, after taking a kick to the head in the first period, fell behind 5-1. But in typical Taylor fashion, the former Lion roared back in the second period, reeling off six straight unanswered points to post a 7-5 victory and advance to Sunday's World Championship bout.
Taylor, the tournament's No. 2 seed, met No. 1 seed Fatih Erdin of Turkey in the championship match. Taylor left no doubt to his dominance by bolting out to a quick 4-0 lead and rolling to a 12-2 technical fall over his Turkish opponent.
The 2018-19 Penn State wrestling season is sponsored by The Family Clothesline. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
