David Taylor will compete for U.S. World Team spot at Final X on June 10

The 2020 Olympic champion and two-time World champion will compete in his seventh Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit event.

2020 Olympic champion and two-time World champion David Taylor (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC) has officially accepted his berth in Final X. He will battle for the 86 kg spot on the 2023 U.S. World Team in men’s freestyle wrestling in Final X, presented by Tezos, on Saturday, June 10 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Final X will determine the 2023 U.S. Senior World Teams in all three Olympic disciplines: men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. There will be 30 weight classes contested, 10 in each Olympic discipline. The top two U.S. athletes in each weight class will compete in a best-of-three series in Final X to determine who will wrestle at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Taylor won an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. He was also a 2018 World champion in Budapest, Hungary and 2022 World champion in Belgrade, Serbia. Taylor was named United World Wrestling Freestyle Wrestler of the Year in 2018. He has also won a 2021 World silver medal. A three-time U.S. Open champion, Taylor was also a 2018 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix champion in Russia. He was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time NCAA finalist for Penn State. He was a two-time winner of the Dan Hodge Trophy (2012, 2014) as the nation’s best college wrestler. Taylor won a bronze medal at the 2013 World University Games. A native of St. Paris, Ohio, Taylor won four Ohio state titles for Graham High School.

It is the second straight year Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit. This year’s event will be the 13th BTSNY Annual Benefit. These unique and electrifying annual events help BTSNY raise more than $1 million each year to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party will follow the conclusion of Final X.

Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages (Final X plus exclusive after-party celebration access), that also provide the best wrestling-event seats, are available at give.btsny.org/beatthestreetsbenefit2023. For more information on ticket packages, email Katrin Pokalyukhin at katrin@btsny.org.

Proceeds from Benefit tickets and sponsorship packages will directly help BTSNY, which provides a safe, positive atmosphere for student-athletes to learn the essential life lessons of discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility and a strong work ethic through wrestling.

Event-only tickets for Final X without access to the BTSNY after-party celebration are available on Ticketmaster.

This will be the seventh time Taylor has competed in a BTSNY Annual Benefit event. His most recent BTSNY match was in the 2022 Final X New York, where he beat Zahid Valencia in two straight matches, 4-2 and 10-0 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The team selection procedures for the U.S. World Teams in each style allows for 2022 Senior World medalists to advance directly to Final X at a specified weight class. Diakomihalis has met this requirement and accepted his qualification.

The Final X opponent for Taylor will be determined at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, Nev., April 26-30. The champion in men’s freestyle at 86 kg at the U.S. Open will qualify to face Taylor in Final X.

FloWrestling will serve as the host broadcasting partner for Final X, presented by Tezos.

*Please note if Prudential Center's tenant, New Jersey Devils, hosts a Stanley Cup Final game on June 10 the contingency date for Final X would be Friday, June 9.

Final X, presented by Tezos

At Prudential Center, Newark, N.J., Saturday, June 10

Declared Qualifiers to date

Men’s Freestyle 86 kg - David Taylor (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC)

Women’s Freestyle 72 kg - Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/New York City RTC)

Men’s Freestyle 70 kg - Zain Retherford (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC)

Women’s Freestyle 62 kg – Kayla Miracle (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)

Men’s Freestyle 65 kg – Yianni Diakomihalis (Rochester, N.Y./Titan Mercury WC/Spartan Combat RTC)

Women’s Freestyle 50 kg – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/USOPTC)

Men’s Freestyle 74 kg – Kyle Dake (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC)

Men’s Freestyle 97 kg - Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Titan Mercury WC/Nittany Lion WC)

Women’s Freestyle 57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)

Men’s Freestyle 79 kg – Jordan Burroughs (Philadelphia, Pa./Sunkist Kids/Pennsylvania RTC)

DAVID TAYLOR

Residence: State College, Pa.

Club: Titan Mercury WC

Regional Training Center: Nittany Lion WC

College: Penn State

High School: St. Paris, Ohio (Graham)

Born: Dec. 5, 1990

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

· 2020 Olympic champion

· 2018 and 2022 World champion

· 2021 World silver medalist

· Three-time U.S. Open champion (2015, 2017, 2018)

· 2017 and 2018 World Cup champion

· 2018 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix champion (Russia)

· Three-time Pan American Championships champion (2018, 2019, 2021)

· Two-time U.S. World Team Trials runner-up (2014, 2017)

· Third in 2013 World University Games

· Two-time NCAA champion for Penn State (2012, 2014)

· Two-time Dan Hodge Trophy recipient, as nation’s best college wrestler (2012, 2014)

· 2018 United World Wrestling Freestyle Wrestler of the Year

Taylor's BTSNY Annual Benefit History (6-1 record)

2013: Magomed Kurbanaliev (Russia), WIN fall 7-2, 0:16

2014: Jabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan), WIN 6-0

2015: Livan Lopez (Cuba), WIN tech. fall, 18-7

2017: Takahiro Murayama (Japan), WIN fall 1:19

2019: Drew Foster (USA), LOSS injury default, 0:31

2022: Zahid Valencia (USA), match one, WIN. 4-2

2022: Zahid Valencia (USA), match two, WIN, tech fall 10-0