Taylor making mark in NCAA Division I wrestling world
NCAA Wrestling
Published Sunday, January 2, 2005 at 1:00 am
by Steve Zimmerman
When Edinboro University of Pennsylvania wrestling coach Tim Flynn met Boca Raton’s J.T. Taylor at a Police Athletic League Wrestling Clinic, it was instant like between the two. Taylor was a sophomore in high school at the time of the chance meeting.
That meeting led Taylor to accept a scholarship to Edinboro where he is beginning to make a mark on the wrestling program as a sophomore.
“I was really impressed with J. T.,” Flynn said. “I was impressed with him both athletically and as a person. He is doing pretty good as this is his first year competing. They sky is the limit with him.”
Edinboro has been in the top 25 in the U.S. for the past seven years and has won the Eastern Wrestling League championship six of the last seven years.
Taylor, a sophomore wrestling at 141 pounds, is excited to be getting the opportunity to wrestle at Edinboro.
“Coming off last year where I took the year off, I have been getting myself back to where I am getting back into the swing of things,” he said. “We have been training since the first of September and I can see a whole different change in what I am doing.”
Taylor said this season has been like starting school all over again.
“I have been getting back to basics,” he said. “I have changed some things in my wrestling like focusing on the basics, the single leg and double leg and not having to go to the big moves like I did in high school.”
Flynn said getting Taylor’s confidence level up has been the first task for his coaching staff.
“The bottom line is you are going to take some lumps out there,” he said. “But the first thing is to keep their confidence up. Technically, he is a very explosive wrestler. And we are trying to keep him a little more solid. To use a football term, he throws the bomb every play and what we are trying to do is a couple of handoffs to get a few yards here and there. He has all the skills.”
Taylor, while living in Boca Raton, wrestled and attended Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. He chose Edinboro because of Coach Flynn.
“He is a wonderful guy and does everything by the book,” he said. “Most coaches would have tried to get me right then and there when we first met. But he knew the rules and knew what needed to be done. Plus Edinboro being a small school and a Division I school could provide me with the same things and even better things as could Oklahoma and Iowa State could. Here it is a personal one-on-one basis with everyone.”
Taylor, who had an 8-7 record heading into the Christmas break, has some things to work on as he continues his journey with the Scots, according to Flynn.
“The first thing and the most important thing is to tell him how good he really is,” he said. “I think some of these kids think, ‘I am young.’ You don’t have to take a beating because you are young. We try to instill that in all our kids.”
As for the competition, the level of wrestlers he faces at a collegiate level does not surprise Taylor.
“I realized that was going to be a big factor when I was going to enter a Division I program,” he said. “I think it is more me wrestling and knowing what I know and doing what I know how to do. The big thing is for me to wrestle like I know how to.
“The conditioning is at a high level and that is something I had to push myself in. It is you who needs to determine your success. Coach always tells us they can give us the workouts but if you don’t put anything into it, you are not going to get anything out of it.”
He added that he is going to stay at 141 pounds for the next couple of years.
“Right now, I can make 141 with no problem,” he said. “I wrestled 125 and 130 for two years. I get to 141 pretty naturally.”
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