Penn State dominated the 2025 NCAA Championships once again, but it was Oklahoma State’s jump from 10th to 3rd place that took everyone by surprise. And this performance was definitely influenced by David Taylor, no doubt. The Olympic Gold medalist became the head coach of the Cowboys in May 2024. And a year later, they finished the Championships with 2 individual titles and a whole lot of promise for the upcoming seasons.

The experience and expertise of an Olympian have worked wonders for the Cowboys program. And we cannot say if the Hawkeyes Wrestling Academy is trying to follow the same blueprint, but the former have added a new member to the coaching ranks, who incidentally also has an Olympics connection. What’s this all about? Well, let’s get right into it!

As per Instagram’s May 7 post, the Hawkeye Wrestling Academy (HWA) is adding 23-year-old Iowa graduate wrestler Macey Kilty to the Coaching Staff. Exciting news, right? The 2023 Final X champion has decided to take up a supplementary role at the academy going forward. “Macey is excited to be apart of something bigger than herself!”— the Instagram post read.

In what will be a new kind of challenge, Kilty will be working with youth, middle school, and high school wrestlers, learning the ropes from head coach Alex Marinelli, who had nothing but praise for Kilty. “Macey Kilty, her accolades speak for themselves. Her energy and character is what we need to impact our youth wrestlers on and off the mat. She will be a pillar of the Hawkeye Wrestling Academy,” he said after the announcement. For Kilty, it is a way of getting the perspective of how it is from the other side. And maybe, down the line, she can even take up a mainstream coaching job, just like David Taylor.

HWA’s Instagram post further read, “She has the spirit of a champion and will lead the youth to victory while still competing and training for an Olympic gold medal with the @iowawwc !” Her experience and journey as a 2024 World Championships bronze medalist will help the young, budding wrestlers to get an idea of what it takes to become a winner. What’s more? Her own experience as Iowa wrestler is only going to help them understand the Hawkeyes’ culture better.

Her journey to becoming an NCWWC champion with Iowa, however, had an interesting beginning. Choosing to pursue her Olympic goals individually, Kilty did not take head coach Clarissa Chun up on her offer when the latter had asked her to consider joining the Hawkeyes. In fact, it wasn’t until a couple of years later at a summer training camp that Kilty asked Chun if she still had eligibility. Chun, of course, couldn’t be happier, and Kilty’s 7-2 (decision) triumph over North Carolina’s Bella Mir that clinched the NCWWC team title for the Hawkeyes proved that she had her eyes on the right candidate.

As for her Olympic journey, she has been in the circuit for a while. But in both the 2021 and the 2024 Olympic Trials, she has fallen to Kayla Miracle. Nonetheless, her Olympic journey continues. In fact, she signed for the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club around a fortnight ago, making her the first athlete to sign with the club.

She announced it on Instagram on April 20, expressing how key Iowa WWC has been for her. “It’s humbling to be apart of an organization that has spent the last two years working tirelessly to support athletes like myself.” She further added, “IWWC feels like the perfect home for me to continue to chase my goals of winning world and Olympic medals.”

And while being unveiled by the Iowa WWC on April 20, she shared why she would end up taking the next step in her career. “Beyond my personal goals, I’m excited to give back to the college program, and be an active part in growing this club while inspiring the next generation of Hawkeyes!”

And the Hawkeye academy will benefit from her expertise, vice versa, Kilty being a seasoned globe-trotter and multiple World Championship medalist. In fact, the Hawkeyes are counting on that, and hoping Kilty can replicate the success that David Taylor has brought to Oklahoma State.

David Taylor took the reins, and the Cowboys became a powerhouse

The 2004 Olympic Gold medalist is an accomplished wrestling juggernaut, although people questioned how good a coach he would be. Those people included Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson. Well, a year down, and Taylor is proving most wrong, isn’t he? He has transformed a fumbling, mediocre group into NCAA Championship material.

In 2025, the Cowboys finished 3rd with 102.5 points, it’s best finish since 2021. Moreover, the 102.5 points were their highest point tally since 2017. Talking to the official Cowboys spokesperson in March 2025, David Taylor said, “Finishing in third place, that’s pretty special because it’s not an individual thing. It’s everybody. Individually, obviously those guys help you win, but you need everybody.”

True that. To finish 3rd, you need an all-round performance. But to transform a program that finished 18th in 2023, and 14th in 2022, it needs astute planning and know-how. Not to mention being able to recognize talent. And overall, David Taylor’s pull has helped Oklahoma score some great recruits lately, the biggest name of them being Zack Ryder. Ryder will be joining Taylor as the Cowboys push for 2nd and then try to upstage Penn State. Yes, it’s a tall order, but David Taylor has got the Cowboy fans believing.

After all, that Wyatt Hendrickson win over Olympic Medalist and favorite Gable Steveson showed why it’s time to take David Taylor’s boys seriously.