David Taylor means business in his latest profession! The Olympic champion is thoroughly looking to build the momentum on the Oklahoma State Wrestling camp. And as far as his newly accepted coaching book is concerned, he is ready to make unpleasant decisions. One such has come recently with moving Christian Carroll to the transfer portal.
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The true freshman may have seen it coming after he could not finish top at the U23 Nationals recently. Furthermore, Christian Carroll’s personal relationship has come under the scanner several times recently. The Elkhart native did not show his emotion when the Oklahoma State University had roped David Taylor for the coaching seat in the wrestling camp. Later, Christian Carroll celebrated Tyler Caldwell’s stay in the Cowboys’ camp by resharing the update. Not just that, in May, Carroll put a tweet with a snap where Caldwell could be seen extending relief to him during the break in a tense match. The caption of the post may have irked David Taylor and his newly appointed assistant, Thomas Gilman. The caption remains, “MY COACH! Loyal and true! Homegrown!” It fuelled the debate regarding the background of the coaches.
Both David Taylor and Thomas Gilman come from Penn State NLWC backgrounds. But Caldwell has been the homeboy for the OSU Cowboys. So, allegedly, Christian Carroll preferred the latter when counting someone standing for him. Now, such facts have come to the fore after Christian Carroll entered the transfer portal. But Caroll’s change of weight categories can’t be ignored, becoming his reason to face the exit gate from the camp.
Recently, after participating in the 97 kg weight category in Olympic trials, Christian Carroll had been showing interest in moving to the 92 kg category (203lbs). That could have been a hint of landing in the 197-pound weight category for the next season. However, David Taylor’s squad witnesses a jam-packed situation in the concerned weight group.
Currently, it holds phenoms like Trevor Dopps and Kyle Haas, who are waiting for their redshirt junior stint. Apart from them, Luke Surber, the senior, has impressed the nation with his performances in the last several seasons in the same weight group. So, to cut into the final squad, one should come with a top resume, and David Taylor’s mentality proves that he is not going to settle for anything less than the best. His statement after changing the coat has backed that part.
David Taylor chases John Smith’s legacy in a new role
David Taylor knows how to mitigate challenges. In his fabled wrestling rivalry with Hassan Yazdani, the 33-year-old never gave a loose point to the Iranian wrestler to grapple him in the ring. The veteran remains the same when it comes to playing the role from the other side of the platform. He backed his mentality with a short yet powerful message when Larry Reece gave him the authority to coach the Cowboys.
The defiant message read, “I’m interested in the right situation with the right resources at a place that can win.” Therefore, the mindset is ‘either you fall in line or you have to back away’. His predecessor, John Smith, gave 33 individual NCAA champions and 23 conference titles in his 33-year tenure for the Cowboys. Now, David Taylor is eyeing straight to the national championships. He has support from none other than the wrestling prodigy Bo Bassett and his father. Now the recent change shows that David Taylor is taking charge with full command.
