David Morris Taylor III (born December 5, 1990) is an American former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competed in the 74, 86, and 92-kilogram categories. He is the current head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

With his most prestigious accolades coming at 86 kilograms, Taylor was most notably the 2020 Summer Olympic gold medalist, a World champion in 2018, 2022 and 2023, and held one of the biggest rivalries in the sport's history against Hassan Yazdani.

One of the most accomplished Nittany Lions in the history of the Penn State program, Taylor was twice the NCAA Division I National champion at 165 pounds, and earned the Dan Hodge Trophy two times during his collegiate years.

Early life and education Taylor was born in Reno, Nevada, on December 5, 1990. His family moved to Wyoming before he was five.David Taylor: College wrestling stats, titles, history. NCAA.com. Retrieved June 14, 2025. His mother saw an ad in the newspaper for youth wrestling at Evanston High School in Evanston, Wyoming, where Taylor started wrestling. Although initially not having much success his first year, Taylor developed a passion to keep improving and eventually started winning local and national tournaments as a youth wrestler.

At age nine, he attended the Jeff Jordan State Champ Camp in Ohio, and kept coming back to attend the camp each fall. By the time he was in sixth grade, his family moved to Ohio.Cooper, Michael. (August 5, 2021). Looking back: Graham’s Taylor captures fourth state wrestling title in 2009. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved June 14, 2025. Taylor attended Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio, where he wrestled for coach Jeff Jordan. As a high schooler, Taylor became a four-time OHSAA state champion with an outstanding 180–2 record and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He received the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 2009 as the nation's top high school wrestler.

During his time at Penn State from 2009 to 2014, Taylor was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion (four-time finalist), a four-time Big Ten Conference champion, and two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner. After a perfect freshman year to that point, Taylor was pinned by Arizona State's Bubba Jenkins at the NCAA finals. As a sophomore, he moved up from to , winning the NCAA title and being named the best college wrestler in the US as the Dan Hodge Trophy winner with a 70–1 overall record.

As a junior, he faced Kyle Dake from Cornell in the NCAA finals, who moved up to attempt to become the third four-time NCAA champion and the first to win titles at four different weight classes in the history of the NCAA. After a back-and-forth battle, Taylor was defeated 5–4. As a senior, he once again had an undefeated campaign, claimed his second NCAA title, helped clinch the team title for the Nittany Lions, and became the third multiple-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner in history. Taylor graduated with 134 wins and three losses, 50 pins, 42 technical falls, and 29 major decisions.

Career 2010–2012 Taylor made his freestyle debut in April 2010, when he claimed a university U.S. national title. In 2012, he competed at the US Olympic Team Trials, where he went 3–2.

2013–2014 In 2013, Taylor claimed runner-up honors at the U.S. Open in April, defeating Nick Marable to reach the finals and then being downed by defending Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs. After pinning 2012 junior world champion Magomed Kurbanaliev from Russia at Beat the Streets, Taylor became a two-time U.S. university national champion and made the US University World Team on May. At the 2013 US World Team Trials Challenge in June, Taylor went 4–1 with a lone loss to four-time NCAA Division I national champion Kyle Dake to claim third place. At the 2013 Summer Universiade, he claimed a bronze medal for the United States.

In 2014, the prior year's U.S. Open result was repeated when Taylor fell to Jordan Burroughs, this rematch being closer and forcing the now defending world champion to come from behind for a last-minute comeback. After dominating the eventual 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and then-two-time world bronze medalist and two-time European champion Jabrayil Hasanov at Beat the Streets, Taylor made the U.S. World Team Trials final, but was defeated twice in a row by Burroughs.

2015–2016 Now focusing on freestyle full time after graduating from college, Taylor opened 2015 with a fifth-place finish at the Yasar Dogu, where he went 3–2. He then claimed his first US Open National title in May, followed up by a technical fall over Cuba's Liván López at Beat the Streets. In his fourth attempt to make the US World Team, Taylor was once again overpowered by Kyle Dake in the challenge tournament, but he came back and claimed the third place when he beat veteran Andrew Howe. Taylor then claimed Grand Prix of Spain and Stepan Sargsyan Cup gold medals in July, before making the decision to bulk up to the 86 kilogram division on September. Taylor took fifth-place at the Golden Grand Prix of November, and seemed overpowered in his first tournament at a new weight class. In December, Taylor competed at the US Senior Nationals, and after running through '14 US World Team member and teammate Ed Ruth, Taylor was defeated by long-time rival Kyle Dake.

In 2016, Taylor was unable to make the US Olympic Team, as he was defeated by Dake for the fifth time in the senior level, forcing Taylor to battle for the bronze medal, which he comfortably earned. He then claimed his second Spain Grand Prix title on July, and competed again at the World Clubs Cup of December, where he went 3-1 and helped TMWC reach the first-place, while also defeating the accomplished Alireza Karimi.

2017

In his first competition of the year, Taylor dominated the Grand Prix of Paris in January, and despite being initially banned by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he competed at the World Cup in February in Iran. At the World Cup, he defeated four top-level opponents: '12 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time European Champion Dato Marsagishvili in the first round (8-3), that year's World Championship bronze medalist Vladislav Valiev (TF 14–4), '12 Olympic Gold medalist Sharif Sharifov (TF 12–2), and '16 Olympic Gold medalist Hassan Yazdani (fall).

Taylor claimed his second US national title in April, with an overall score of 40–4 against five opponents. After a quick win at Beat the Streets, Taylor made the World Team Trials finals when he ran through '16 US OTT Greco-Roman champion Joe Rau and '12 Junior World Championship runner-up Pat Downey, and defeated three-time NCAA Division I All-American Nick Heflin to make the best-of-three, where he faced returning Olympic Bronze medalist J'den Cox. In the first match, Taylor rallied comfortably with a 9–3 win, but was closely defeated in the second match 4–3, leading to a controversial third bout due to Cox's sweat and alleged passivity, which caused Taylor to kick the challenge cube and his cornerman Cael Sanderson to throw items at the official and a chair onto the mat after losing 5–3.

He came back to competition at the World Clubs Cup on December, where he helped the TMWC to second place with notable victories over Alireza Karimi and Pawan Kumar.

2018 To start off the year, Taylor became only the 12th American to claim a gold medal at the Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix, considered the toughest open tournament in the world. He opened with a win over two-time (and defending) Pan American champion Yurieski Torreblanca, followed by Selim Yaşar on points and a fall over '17 Junior World Champion Artur Naifonov to make the finals. In the finals, he got another fall, this time over Fatih Erdin, to claim the gold medal. On April, he claimed his second consecutive World Cup championship, recording four technical falls to help secure the gold medal for the United States. He also clinched his third US National title, with four victories over fellow Americans.

On May, he claimed his first Pan American title, with notable wins over Yurieski Torreblanca, Pool Ambrocio and Eduardo Gajardo. On his seventh attempt to make the US World/Olympic Team, Taylor finally and dominantly was able to punch tickets to the World Championships, when he defeated '18 Bill Farrell Memorial medalist Nick Reenan twice via technical fall on May, at Final X: State College. He then warmed up at the Yasar Dogu of July, with four dominant pins over foreigners.

At the World Championships, Taylor had a tough start, as he faced his biggest threat of the tournament in the first round, '16 Olympic Gold medalist and defending World champion Hassan Yazdani from Iran. After being down two points to six at the end of the first period, Taylor was able to overcome adversity and put on nine points on his side, finishing the legendary match 11–6. In the next round, he tech'd '18 Alexander Medved champion Hajy Rajabau from Belarus, to advance to the quarterfinals. Next, he picked apart the accomplished Cuban Yurieski Torreblanca, to pick up an 8–0 victory. In the semifinals, he had it harder, as he went to the distance against the '17 European Champion and Russia's best Dauren Kurugliev, but was able to score the comeback win 7–5. During the match, Taylor got briefly knocked out after Kurugliev accidentally wheel kicked him on the chin when escaping a single leg attempt by Taylor. In the finals, he dismantled Fatih Erdin from Turkey, overwhelming his opposition with 12 points to two, to claim the World Championship and help Team USA reach third place.

After the year was over, Taylor was named the UWW International Freestyle wrestler of the Year, and was awarded the John Smith Award winner as USA's Freestyle wrestler of the Year.

2019–2020 After time off competition, the returning World Champion came back in April 2019, when he claimed his second straight Pan American title, tournament in where he scored 34 points to none against his four opponents and Team USA claimed all ten medals in freestyle. On May, he competed at the annual Beat the Streets for charity, against Drew Foster, where he suffered a severe knee injury which led him to forfeit out of the match, and ultimately, forced him to stay inactive during the whole year, missing the opportunity to make his second US World Team (forfeiting it to Pat Downey instead, whom he had tech'd twice), to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games or to defend his title at the World Championships.

After almost a full year of no competition, Taylor came back to wrestle in March 2020, at the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament. He comfortably got three wins to win the bracket and internationally qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Taylor was then scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania, where he was a heavy favorite. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.

Taylor was unable to compete for a couple of months due to the pandemic, but was scheduled to wrestle Pat Downey (whom he was unable to wrestle at the '19 US World Trials) on July 25, at FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo. After Downey pulled out of the bout due to problems with the organization, Taylor wrestled and tech'd the accomplished Myles Martin. After more months of inactiveness, Taylor defeated two-time NCAA champion Gabe Dean by points on November 24, at the NLWC III.

2021