Taylor Shines on Broadway

Tony Rotundo

David Taylor is so good that he is remembered by his losses. When you think of David Taylor it's quick to think of getting caught by Bubba Jenkins as a freshman, falling short of being able to knock of Kyle Dake, and the great matches with Jordan Burroughs. He is so dominant that those matches are what you think of, because he has made winning look so easy. Now just over a year after he ended his historic college career he has won the US Open and at the Beat the Streets event in Times Square he tech'd the Cuban World Medalist 18-7 in impressive, dominant fashion. It's good to see Taylor winning big matches, and remembering how damn good he is. Of course, the weight class doesn't get any easier with Dake & Burroughs but David Taylor may end up our best guy headed to Rio. 

Kyle Snyder is making a habit of knocking off World medalists these days beating the Cuban Lacerra 4-0. Snyder is so young and has all the talent, but there is a list of talented guys in the US that have ability as well. 

Is it possible to score on Alex Dieringer? The special match with undefeated 3-time D2 champ Joey Davis was one-sided ending up 9-0. Davis was unable to find any openings. Should Dieringer get the wild card for the World Team trials? I think so despite him not wrestling any freestyle this summer up to this point. Who doesn't want to see Dieringer wrestle Taylor, Dake, Howe, and potentially the best wrestler on the planet? I don't think he would win, but he has made college wrestling look so easy over the last two seasons it'd be interesting to see where he stands with the best. 

On a less positive note, Jake Herbert fell to Salas 8-4. Salas caught Herbert standing on the train tracks for a beautiful 4-point double leg less than a minute in to the match. The 4-0 deficit is a lot to overcome against a talented and very good defensive world medalist like Salas. 

It was a fun night of wrestling in Times Square. Maybe more events like this will happen with USA Wrestling in various spots throughout the country. We have the stars so we might as well use them. 

BEAT THE STREETS “SALSA IN THE SQUARE”
USA 9, CUBA 4
Women’s freestyle
69 kg/152 lbs. – Randi Miller (USA) tech. fall Yudari Sanchez Rodriguez (Cuba), 11-0
60 kg/132 lbs. – Yekelin Stornell Elastigue (Cuba) tech. fall Rosemary Flores (USA), 11-0
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Clarissa Chun (USA) dec. Yusneylis Guzman Lopez (Cuba), 8-2
55 kg/121 lbs. – Helen Maroulis (USA) tech. fall Yamilka del Valle Alvarez (Cuba), 10-0
Greco-Roman
75 kg/165 lbs. – Andy Bisek (USA) dec. Yurisandi Hernandez Rios (Cuba), 4-1
59 kg/130 lbs. –Maykel Anache Lamout (Cuba) dec. Spenser Mango (USA), 6-4
Men’s freestyle
125 kg/275 lbs. – Tervel Dlagnev (USA) tech. fall Andres Ramos Dinza (Cuba), 10-0
57 kg/125.5 lbs. – Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (Cuba) tech. fall Tony Ramos (USA), 14-1
97 kg/213 lbs. – Kyle Snyder (USA) dec. Javier Cortina Lacerra (Cuba), 4-0
65 kg/143 lbs. – Brent Metcalf (USA) dec. Franklin Maren Castillo (Cuba), 8-5
74 kg/163 lbs. – David Taylor (USA) tech. fall Livan Lopez Azcuy (Cuba), 18-7
86 kg/189 lbs. – Reineris Salas Perez (Cuba) dec. Jake Herbert (USA), 8-4
74 kg/163 lbs. – Jordan Burroughs (USA) pin Luis Esteban Quintana Martinez (Cuba), 4:50
Special Challenge Match
NCAA Div. I champion Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) dec. NCAA Div. II champion Joey Davis (Notre Dame College), 9-0