Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor explains the biggest difference between him and Cael Sanderson

Cael Sanderson And David Taylor will forever be associated as two of the most important figures in Penn State wrestling history.

Sanderson coached Penn State to 11 national titles in his 14 seasons, and Taylor was an integral part of the first four.

In addition to helping Penn State reach unprecedented heights collectively and individually,He has won two national titles, competed in two more national title fights, and is one of six men in history to win two Dan Hodge Trophies (Heisman in wrestling).

After college, Taylor remained in Happy Valley as a member of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and built a successful freestyle career, winning three world titles and an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The similarities between Sanderson and Taylor would be remarkable even if the former had never coached the latter and the latter had not idolized the former so much that he Sanderson’s former employer, Iowa State, has withdrawn its commitment, to wrestle for the legend at Penn State.

Both were four-time state champions in high school.

Both won the Hodge title multiple times in college and both have won Olympic gold.

Now both are head coaches, with Taylor succeeding the great John Smith at Oklahoma State earlier this month.

Yes, the similarities are obvious. But how is Cael Sanderson different from David Taylor?

“He’s a much better fisherman than I am,” Taylor joked in an exclusive interview with NSN.

For Taylor, the biggest difference is in their personality and behavior.

“I find, from a competitor’s perspectiveapparently, we are both very competitive,” said Taylor. “I think the way we think is similar. But I Only think… you know, I’ve always been a bit probably braver in my personality. Coach Cael is apparently very reserved. I would say that is probably the biggest difference.

“But your personality doesn’t always match the way you compete. I think I had a bold personality and competed very boldly. He was a little more reserved but competed very boldly.”

Taylor thanked Sanderson for his development as a wrestler.

Sanderson has successfully passed this on to his wrestlers at Penn State, and Taylor hopes to do the same at Oklahoma State.

“I adopted his competitive style and wanted to compete that way, and he adopted that and passed it on to his team. Of course, I want to be able to pass on a similar mentality.