For those of you out there who follow the sport of Wrestling, you certainly know the name “David Taylor” or you may know him as “The Magic Man”. In some states, over the years he may or may not have been known as “The Boogey Man”, or the guy you call to in fact take care of The Boogey Man. Basically what I am trying to convey is, David Taylor is a bad bad man!
I had the privilege of growing up in Ohio Wrestling during the same time as David. Let me tell you, it was quite an honor to watch him work. Most summers David along with all of us other Team Ohio members were training for Freestyle and Greco Nationals and it was always nice having David in the room to pick his brain or to just watch and maybe learn a thing or five from him. I distinctly remember being in 7th grade and on the Schoolboy Duals Ohio Team. David was in fact giving a clinic at the duals to coaches. Yes, coaches from other national teams were coming over to the side of the mats to watch a 12/13-year-old show them the right way to hit a certain technique. David was so advanced for such a young age. Sure there were other great Ohio wrestlers at the same time, but not like David. I was blown away by the fact that this young kid was showing grown men, coaches that I thought knew so much more than us kids and here is this kid on my team giving pointers to adults/coaches from all over. Being a member of Team Ohio for me was my goal since I was a little boy and started wrestling. Being able to be on the same team as David Taylor was just as cool because I knew from a young age that one day this young man was going to be an Olympian, if not a World and Olympic Champion multiple times!
I am pretty certain that David was born a savage. I think once he was born it was like his second week of life before he was out hunting for food for the family. Joking aside, that is pretty much the case. David grew up out west, so the only time I would see this kid wrestle was at events like Tulsa Nationals or Reno and other large events outside of Ohio. David’s family moved to Ohio to have him attend St.Paris Graham High School. They moved from the state of Wyoming to Ohio and the rest is history here.
The state of Ohio has arguably the toughest Junior High State Tournament in the country. It is possibly even tougher than the OHSAA High School State Tournament because it is only one division. Every stud in the state comes into a 48 man bracket from all over and battles it out to see who places in the top 8. If you win a Junior High State Title in the OAC chances are and history says that you are more than likely to win one if not multiple High School State Titles. That’s just how it is and has been over the years. The OAC puts together the best venue as well. David entered his first-ever OAC Junior High State Championships in 2003 at 78 pounds. If you go back and look at the weight you will see that the majority of these placers in this weight went on to become High School State Champions. Brackets Here https://oacstate.com/2wEVRfv. David’s first match was a bye. So going into his second match he wrestled a young man by the name of Shawn Fayette. David won this match with ease by tech fall (15 points). I believe the only points Shawn had scored were from David letting him out to get another takedown. In David’s third match, he wrestled a tougher opponent in Jase Hall. Jase ended up being a High School State Finalist in High School and a Fargo All-American as well, but David went out and pinned him quickly. In fact, Jase was in 8th grade this year and David was in the 6th grade! A 6th grader pinning an 8th grader is very unheard of. At this point in life 8th graders are maturing much more than a 6th grader. How was it that a young 6th grader of 78 pounds comes into a tournament and pins an 8th grader with such ease, let alone a tough 8th grader who was known around Ohio as a “Top Guy” to watch for. In the semi-finals David went up against another Ohio stud Zack Pope. Pope was also well known around the state as one of the top guys to watch for every year. David made this one look just as easy, winning by pin yet again and sending into the finals of the Junior High State Tournament for the first time of what would be 3. It was the finals where afterward people realized Ohio truly had someone special on their hands with this David Taylor. David went into the finals and dominated just like he did in the earlier rounds, he tech falled a 7th grader named Danny Genetin. Danny was also another Ohio guy that was known as being super tough and also a grade ahead of David. This was the talk of the summer. How did a 6th grader who just moved here from out of state come in and literally own everybody he stepped on the mat against. Out of the top 8 placers in this weight class, David would end up wrestling several of these guys in high school later on. Multiple-time state champions placed below David in this weight. Many of these guys went on to even wrestle in college and also became NCAA All-Americans.
Entering the 2004 Junior High State Tournament, David Taylor was truly a household talked about name amongst every parent and wrestler within the state and possibly the country. He was now a year older and absolutely even that much better than the year prior. In 2004 David was now up a weight class, up at 84 pounds. Again, another tough bracket and yet David was going to come in and own it. David opened up the tournament with a bye and then wrestled his second match against a kid by the name of Daniel Juzwiak, the match was won 20-5 (Tech Fall) and 5 points due to let ups/kick outs from David just wanting more points and total domination. The third match David wrestled was against a wrestler that if you are from Ohio you will recognize. Nick Sulzer was David’s 3rd match. Nick was a multiple-time NCAA All-American for Virginia in College, as well as a multiple-time OHSAA Finalist and Champion later in his career. Per usual, you can infer what David did. He tech falled Nick Sulzer 16-1. Nick is seriously one of the best wrestlers I ever even wrestled and here David just made it look too easy, and that isn’t even true. Sulzer is a tough dude, David was just that good at this young of an age! The semi-final match for David was against a wrestler by the name Pierce Harger. Pierce also became an OHSAA State Champion later in his career and yet David goes out there and also tech’s Pierce. Literally making it look so easy, as if it was like getting up in the morning and pouring your cereal (Quite an easy task). David was once again in the Junior High State Finals in the OAC. He went up against another well-known Ohio wrestler named Zac Hancock. Hancock went on also to have a super successful high school career within Ohio. David manhandled Zac in the finals winning by a score of 17-2 , yet another tech fall. In fact, I remember watching this match because I was warming up for 5th and 6th place that year. I remember watching David get takedown after takedown and not even letting Zac up. He chose to get the takedown and then use his expertise on top and tilting and turning Zac as if it was nothing. He made the kid look like he had never wrestled. David was so good he made some of Ohio’s best look like they had 0 clue as to what wrestling even was. When you are making good wrestlers look really bad, there isn’t much or anyone out there that is going to give you a close match other than Cael Sanderson or John Smith. It truly was amazing watching this live.
Check it out here with Brian Brakeman on the call https://youtu.be/HvL3x8HD2wo
Witnessing one of America’s best to ever do it and at such a young age and now here we are days away from David wrestling in his first Olympic Games and seeking gold! He has worked at this sport his entire life and this week all of that hard work, the blood, sweat and tears he has endured through injuries or losses in NCAA finals in college. It all is going to pay off! The top 8 in this weight in 2004 are as follows. In fact one of the placers ended up on the same high school team at St.Paris Graham with David.
Full Results Here https://oacstate.com/2004OACJH
As we get into David’s 8th-grade year at OAC Junior High State Tournament, let’s take a second to take into fact that over two years at the State Tournament David has hardly even wrestled a total of 8 minutes, maybe in fact much less. In 2005 at the OAC Junior High State Tournament, David was at 90 pounds. In the opening round match David went up against a wrestler by the name of Clay Wenger (Current Head Coach of Wadsworth). David would finish the first-round match with a tech fall of 17-2. Another match in the books, another quick one finished. Into the second match at the 2005 State Tournament, David would wrestle a tough Randy Manrique and again would finish a quick one by tech fall. The third match against Justin Guerra also the same exact result, tech fall. How can one guy that looks like such an innocent baby face be such a ferocious demon slayer. The babyfaced assassin was no joke. In David’s fourth match he went up against a tough Jacob Garringer. Garringer did not get tech falled, in fact, he lasted all of 1:03. Not sure if that’s an accomplishment. In a way it kind of is I suppose. That would be David’s only pin of the State Tournament and that lasted all of just over one minute. Imagine that, a State Semi-Finals Match and it lasts just barely over one minute. It is truly just unheard of. So dominant. So finely tuned and just aware of everything on the mat. It is just like Bruce Lee once said “Be like water”. David was like water and a wrestling guru at a very young age. Come to the final match of David’s Junior High Career he went up against Jerome Robinson. Jerome became an OHSAA State Champion later on in his career too. I try to tell you the finalist and other wrestler’s accomplishments later in their career so you can take into consideration just how good David truly was. He was dominating super solid wrestlers in Ohio. David would finish his 8th grade run with a 16-0 onslaught over Jerome Robinson. Jerome didn’t even score one point on the Magic Man. Granted the other wrestlers scored, but those points were given to them from David. David wasn’t allowing any points scored in the finals. That wrapped up David’s Junior High years in the OAC.
Check out the State Finals match here https://youtu.be/Wr3zT7NCpxY
The top 8 finishers were as follows.
Full Results Here. https://oacstate.com/3dUza6K
In all three years at the OAC Junior High State Tournament, I think it is quite possible that David wrestled a total of fewer than 10 minutes. 10 Minutes! That is literally insane to think about. In three years at the toughest tournament in the state, one division this guy wrestled less than 10 minutes over a three-year period and 15 matches. In fact, the summer of 2005 David and myself were on the same Ohio National Team squad that went to Fargo for Nationals in the Fargo Dome. We both were on the Greco and Freestyle teams. David would make the finals on the big stage in both styles. He was leading 9-0 in the Greco Finals when all of a sudden a young man from his former state of Wyoming hit a solid Head and Arm catching and getting the fall. The Fargo Dome went silent because they just witnessed a young man who they have never before seen get defeated. I myself was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. Then in Freestyle, I frankly felt sorry for anyone that David wrestled. He man-handled every single person on the freestyle side. An 8th grader going into 9th grade comes into the Fargo Dome and just destroys the competition. He frankly should have won both styles but things happen. That is why we wrestle because of just that. Anything can happen, any great wrestler can be outwrestled or caught and pinned on any given day! That’s the true beauty of this sport.
As we got older I literally just anticipated the time when it would come that David finally made an Olympic Team. That year and time are finally here. For someone my age to watch someone you grew up wrestling with and competing against for years. It truly is a sight to see. You want nothing but the best for them. I finished my career when I was just shy of 22. My knees had enough. They were done. In all honesty, the fact that these men are still out there sacrificing their bodies each and every match and every practice is a feat itself. Wrestling is such a grueling sport. It is so physically demanding but even more so mental. Men like David Taylor are a rare breed. We may never get the chance to see such a pure wrestler like David ever again. Sure we have amazing great wrestlers here in this country but the amount of knowledge that is in the brain library of David Magic Man Taylor is like a computer. He knows every little trick in the book. David has given us years of memories and magic on the mat. From his NCAA finals matches and titles. To recently his World Championship performances. He has given his life and body to this sport. The OAC and the great state of Ohio has been blessed by having one of the world’s greatest wrestlers come through their organizations and venues. David always has been a great example for our sport, for our youth and younger wrestlers. He always gives back when he can. Let’s all send our good vibes and sit back and watch David go to work this week as he wrestles for his chance to bring home an Olympic Gold Medal. We wish you nothing but the best of luck. The OAC and the whole state of Ohio are proud to call you one of ours! Go out there and take care of business David, we know what you do, and you do it oh so well!
Best of Luck & Bring Home The Gold David Taylor ! #MagicMan
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