10th in the 2023-24 season with no NCAA titles – the glory days were way past the Cowboys. For a turnaround, they needed an able mentor, someone with links to Penn State, which Cael Sanderson has turned into the holy pilgrimage of collegiate wrestling. By a stroke of luck and a heartbreaking misfortune (losing in the 2024 Olympic Trials), 2021 Olympic Champion and Penn State icon David Taylor would make the surprising decision to become head coach of the Cowboys wrestling program.

Was it a gamble taken by the Oklahoma State athletic director, Chad Weiberg? Of course, at least a bit. No prior experience and just recently deciding to give coaching a try is not the profile that evokes confidence. Still in May 2024, the 3-time World Champion became the head coach of the Cowboys wrestling program. Fast forward a little more than a year later, that gamble seems to have paid off.

Now, the Cowboys wrestling program has become a powerhouse again. With a flurry of Golds, and top prospects choosing Oklahoma State, they seem to have just conquered the world. It all came together on Sunday, September 14, on Day 2 of the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb. Saturday Night Lights shared the huge news on their X handle: “Zahid Valencia dominates Ishiguro (Japan) 12-0 in the 86 kg World Finals to claim gold at the 2025 World Championships.”

What seemingly transpired was a full circle moment. The very same Taylor who couldn’t get ahold of a medal as a contender, now has won his first international gold as Coach David Taylor. Zahid Valencia has been in a blazing form in the last few months, claiming the US Open Championships, the Pan American Championships, and the Final X. And now, he has gone all the way in the World Championships. And in what fashion, mind you. In the 5 matches in the Worlds, he secured 5 techs with a 49-0 score. Talk about absolute dominance on the mat!

In the final, he dismantled Hayato Ishiguro like a surgeon, precisely incising at every little leeway that the Japanese left. And it was a milestone for the Cowboys RTC wrestler, too. After his bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, he claimed his first gold, making it a big day for the Cowboys wrestling. And David Taylor obviously had a role in it, in helping Valencia become a winner, as the 28-year-old previously shared.

The Cowboys head coach keeps on delivering the results, just like he promised on the first day.

David Taylor is keeping his promise as a coach

The athletic director of OSU, Weiberg, was explicit about his vision. “What we have to do is position our program as a destination for the best wrestlers to come and be a part of,” he said, according to the NY Times in March 2025. “Whether that is high school wrestlers that are coming up to wrestle collegiately, or whether that’s through the Regional Training Center, or obviously a combination of the two, and those two things do matter together.”

David Taylor was the final cog in the wheel to help Weiberg in his vision. For Taylor, it was the less abstract and more tangible commitments that would make things easier to gauge. “We want to win national championships at Oklahoma State. We want a team championship at Oklahoma State,” said Taylor in his very first presser. “We want to stay and win gold medals at Oklahoma State.”

And he, along with his Stilly boys, has been delivering just that. In March, they secured their first Big 12 Championship since 2021. He became only the 2nd head coach in Big 12 history to achieve it in his first season. If you’re curious about the 1st one, it’s, drumroll, Cael Sanderson. Then came the NCAA turnaround – 3rd in the team rankings in 2024-25, and two individual titles, notably Wyatt Hendrickson’s victory over Olympic Champion Gable Steveson in the 125 Kg final.

Freshman Dean Hamiti Jr. was the other NCAA title winner. And they have just kept at it. Hendrickson and Valencia clinched gold at the US Open Championships in Las Vegas. And they were joined by Joey McKenna in the 65 kg class. The Final X that followed came with its own stakes – a place on the World Team, without which Zahid Valencia and David Taylor wouldn’t have their gold on September 14.

In short, over the last 16 months, the Cowboys have consistently shown themselves to be medal contenders, with the David Taylor project adding one accolade after another to his name as a coach, and to Oklahoma State.