Penn State Wrestling Has a New Rival at Oklahoma State, Coached by an Old Friend

Only a year ago, David Taylor was recruiting for Penn State wrestling. Before the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in State College, Taylor pitched Penn State as the place to build successful careers in college and freestyle wrestling.

"Now we’re saying, 'Hey if you want to be the best in the world, you come to Penn State, you stay afterwards and you train with the Nittany Lion Wresting Club,'" Taylor said before Penn State hosted the Trials. "We just have a collective group of people who want to get better every single day and we’re pushing each other every single day."

How things have changed in a year. Today, Taylor and Penn State are building a rivalry that could be the future of college and freestyle wrestling. In his first year as Oklahoma State's wrestling coach, Taylor led the Cowboys to a third-place finish, and two individual titles, at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Since NCAAs, where Penn State set a new scoring record, Oklahoma State has poached three wrestlers from the Nittany Lions' roster. Among them is freshman Zack Ryder, one of the nation's most promising wrestlers at 184 pounds.

Penn State coach Cael Sanderson hasn't commented publicly yet on the roster changes, though Penn State did poach a coach from Oklahoma State. Or more specifically, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club did.

Thomas Gilman, who spent one season on Taylor's coaching staff at Oklahoma State, is returning to State College to reunite with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Gilmam represented the NLWC at the 2024 Olympic Trials and will return to the program as a coach. He announced his decision on the BaschAMania podcast.

Gilman told podcast host Justin Basch that there were issues on the Oklahoma State staff, saying that "everybody is at fault." He detailed his departure from the Oklahoma State staff following the NCAA Tournament and his decision to return to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

"No hard feelings really, I don't think, on either side," Gilman said on the podcast. "You can have a disagreement and move on and still be fine."

Gilman, a 2021 world freestyle champion, said he is returning to the NLWC primarily to serve on the coaching staff. He was unsure about competing again but added that the "fire never goes away." Gilman said that Sanderson and his brother Cody, who lead the NLWC coaching staff as well as Penn State's, gave him room to decide whether he wants to compete as well as coach.

"I've had those conversations with coach Cody and coach Cael, and they're open and supportive to anything," Gilman said on the podcast. "... They're supportive and grateful to have me back at whatever capacity."

Gilman is not coaching with the Penn State wrestling team, which is a separate entity from the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, though they clearly cross-train. The NLWC trains wrestlers of all ages but focuses on Olympic development and operates the Regional Training Center in State College.

Still, Gilman's return to Penn State is a substantial development, since he can work with Penn State's roster of young talent, which includes NCAA All-Americans Luke Lilledhal (125) and Braeden Davis (133) and incoming Japanese world champion Masanosuke Ono.

"That door opened back up, and [I] wasn't sure if it was ever going to," Gilman said. "You leave Penn State, and it's hard to go back, I'd imagine. But they opened that door back up, and I'm not going to let them down again."

The new Penn State-Oklahoma State rivalry could go head-to-head next season, if Penn State chooses. The Nittany Lions have until April 15 to commit to the $1 million National Duals Invitational, a 16-team event scheduled for November in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Cowboys have committed, along with Ohio State and North Carolina State? Will Penn State. Stay tuned. In the meantime, watch Gilman's appearance on the Justin Basch podcast here.