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David Taylor, also known as the 'Magic Man', has transformed wrestling at Stillwater in 12 months since joining as the head coach. Taylor has put his spell on the program, transforming it into a new, evolved one, with Oklahoma restoring its status among the top elites.
Taylor has been an NCAA Champion, a world champion, and an Olympic gold medalist. He accepted the head coach position for Stillwater in May 2024 and has since transformed the program. After over 20 years of experience as a wrestler, Taylor has found his place among the Stillwater wrestlers.
David Taylor recently won the NCAA Division 1 Coach of the Year award. The well-deserved award comes to him after a season of mega transformations that he has done for Stillwater. From Dean Hamiti's NCAA Championship win at 174 to Wyatt Hendrickson's defeat of Gable Steveson in the biggest upset of the NCAA Championship, Taylor has delivered as the coach.
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Recruiting talented wrestlers like Jax Forrest, Dreshaun Ross, and Jayden Raney, to getting former Penn State wrestlers like Alex Facundo, Gary Steen, and Zack Ryder in the transfers, Taylor is putting in work to make Stillwater the best among the best.
The recent hire of former OSU wrestler Kevin Ward as the assistant head coach tells us about the transformational shifts in Stillwater under David Taylor's guidance.
David Taylor's Cowboy RTC Wrestlers won big at the US Open
Wyatt Hendrickson, Zahid Valencia, Joey McKenna, and Jax Forrest are the four Cowboy RTC wrestlers who won big at the 2025 Claw U.S Open Championships and secured a spot at Final X this June at Prudential Centre in Newark. The four wrestlers need to win a best-of-three series at the Final X, and they will be representing the USA at the 2025 Senior World Championship in Croatia. Taylor's Cowboy RTC shared in an Instagram post that was captioned:
"OUR COWBOY RTC U.S. OPEN CHAMPS! 🤠"
Wyatt Hendrickson has already shaken up the wrestling stage with his underdog win at the NCAA Championship before winning the Dan Hodge Trophy. Hendrickson's margin of victory was 45-7 as three of his matches concluded in a technical fall. Zahid Valencia caused the tournament's biggest upset, defeating four-time world champion Kyle Dake 4-8. Meanwhile, Joey McKenna had a smooth, dominating run and concluded his campaign with a 3-2 win over Jesse Mendes. Jax Forrest beat former NCAA Champion and World Team member, Seth Gross, 19-8.
The program has seen a significant rise and transformation under the guidance of David Taylor, bringing in his champion attitude and a formidable work ethic. Stillwater is in for a win in the coming competition seasons.
