Penn State Wrestling is sending three of its former athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games, but how have previous Nittany Lions fared on the world’s highest stage?
Between Monday, August 5th, and Sunday, August 11th, Roman Bravo-Young, Zain Retherford, and Aaron Brooks will be put to the test in Paris as they’re slated to face the very best of the best wrestlers in the world. Well, to be clear, it’s the best of the best minus the Russians.
Anyway …
But before we try any prognostication on these three guys, let’s take a look at how Penn State wrestlers have done previously in the Olympics. Not surprisingly, there’s quite a rich history there as well.
And to clarify, I’m going to include guys who either wrestled for Penn State or who threw weights for Penn State. Yes, you did read that last part correctly.
A look back at former Penn State Wrestling Standouts in Olympic Wrestling
1908 – Lee Talbott
London, England
Leander James “Lee” Talbott was the first Nittany Lion to ever compete in Olympic wrestling. And interestingly enough, he wasn’t officially on the Penn State Wrestling team as he was a weight thrower on the track and field team.
Along with wrestling, Talbott competed on the track and field team and tug of war teams for the US. He is the only athlete to compete in three sports at one Olympic Games celebration.
Standing at 6-6 and weighing 220 lbs, Lee was certainly an athlete who stood out. He ultimately finished fifth in the hammer throw competition, sixth in the discus throw event, and eighth in the shot put competition.
However, success for Talbott did not translate to the wrestling mat. Lee dropped his first-round bout to the eventual gold medalist, Con O’Kelly.
As a member of the American tug-of-war team, Talbott’s time on the tug-of-war pitch (field? dirt patch? warring grass?) was short lived as well. Following a loss in the opening pull, the US team refused to participate any further against the Liverpool Police team. The US team protested that the footwear worn by the Great Britain team gave them an unfair advantage. The protest was dismissed and the US team withdrew in anger.
On a side note, tug of war absolutely needs to be brought back to the Olympics.
1924 – Katsutoshi Naito
Paris, France
Katsutoshi, originally from Hiroshima, was the first member of the Penn State Wrestling team to compete at the Olympics.
Naito was formally trained in the Kodokan discipline of judo before joining the Penn State team. And it didn’t take long for everyone to realize just how good he was. Given the nickname “Tiger Naito”, Katsutoshi rose all of the way to captain of the team.
Unfortunately for him, the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 meant that he would be unable to represent Team Japan in any international competitions. Penn State provost then petitioned the Japanese ambassador in Washington DC to see if Katsutoshi could be an exception to the new rule.
The petition proved to be successful and even though Naito injured his fingers during the boat ride from the US to France, he ended up finishing in third in freestyle wrestling. The bronze medal was the one and only medal won by Japan at the 1924 Olympic games.
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1988 – Ken Chertow
Seoul, South Korea
During his time in Happy Valley, Ken Chertow racked up an overall record of 115-35-3, won two conference titles, and finished his Nittany Lion career as a three-time All-American (3rd 1987, 3rd 1988, & 6th 1989).
Chertow spun a gold medal at the 1986 Pan American Championships and back-to-back third-place finishes in the NCAA Championships into earning a spot on the 1988 Team USA Wrestling squad.
However, his immense success both in college and on the international stage didn’t transfer over to the mat in the 1988 games. Chertow ended up not placing in his bracket and his wrestling career was over shortly after.
Ken then into a career in coaching both at Penn State and on the local level. Chertow’s camp system earned him recognition as a Gold Medal Training Camp. From 1988-2010, students from his camps won a staggering 500+ State Championships, while many other younger students won national awards and accolades.
1992 – Greg Elinsky
Barcelona, Spain
On the long list of talented Penn State wrestlers to never win a national title, Greg Elinsky sits alone at the top.
And by no means is this a knock on the guy. Winning a national title in anything is insanely hard. But for Elinsky, he got oh so close multiple times.
Greg ended his Nittany Lion career with a record of 138-16-4, he brought home three conference titles, and between 1984-1987 was a four-time All-American. This included back-to-back runner-up finishes in the 1985 and 1986 NCAA Championships.
And just like with Ken Chertow, Elinsky also did not place in the 1992 Olympic games. News flash, wrestling is hard. Even for some of the most gifted athletes.
1996 – Sanshiro Abe
Atlanta, United State
Sanshiro Abe is the first Nittany Lion in this article to appear in my latest Penn State Wrestling Dream Team article. And for good reason.
Abe was a four-time All-American, he racked up a 125-15 record, won three conference titles, and snagged an individual title at the 1996 NCAA Championships.
Being the second Japanese native to represent both Penn State in college and Japan at the Olympics, Sanshiro ended up finishing ninth in Atlanta. At the time, this was the highest finish of any Penn State wrestler at the Olympics.
2000 – Cary Kolat & Kerry McCoy
Sydney, Australia
While Cary Kolat didn’t finish his career at Penn State, he was still a member of the Nittany Lions for his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Kolat held a 60-6 record, he won a conference title in 1994, and he twice finished as an All-American (2nd 1993 & 3rd 1994).
After transferring to Lock Haven, Cary won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1996 and 1997. Arguably one of the best high school wrestlers in Pennsylvania history, Kolat went on to win gold medals at the 1999 and 2000 Pan American Championships. He also won silver at the 1997 World Championships and a bronze at the 1998 World Championships.
But the broken-record continued as Kolat finished ninth at the 2000 Olympic Games.
Fellow Nittany Lion Kerry McCoy was also competing in Sydney.
At the time, McCoy was widely considered one of the best wrestler’s in Penn State history. He won 150 collegiate matches, collected three conference titles, finished as an All-American three times, and won two NCAA titles in 1994 and 1997.
His 1997 season was one for the ages as McCoy was also the recipient of the Dan Hodge Trophy.
Kerry qualified for the 2000 Olympic squad by taking down 1999 World Champion Stephen Neal in back-to-back matches. After punching his ticket to Australia, McCoy brought home the best finish (5th) of any Penn State wrestler at the Olympics.
2004 – Kerry McCoy
Athens, Greece
Prior to also qualifying for Team USA in 2004, McCoy won a gold at the 2003 Pan American Games and he won silver at the 2003 World Championships in New York.
However, he wasn’t able to improve on his fifth-place finish in 2000. McCoy ended up finishing seventh in the 2004 Olympic games. And to this day, he is the only Nittany Lion wrestler to appear in more than one Olympic Games.
2016 – Frank Molinaro
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Molinaro was an instrumental part of bringing home Penn State’s first wrestling national championship (2011) since 1953. His second-place finish in the 2011 NCAAs was his third All-American finish and he was able to secure his first B1G title that year as well.
Frank finally climbed to the top of the collegiate wrestling world in 2012 by winning his second straight conference title and winning his first NCAA title by going a perfect 33-0.
Then on the international wrestling stage, Molinaro won bronze at the 2014 Pan American Games and then gold at the 2016 Pan Am Games. Following this success on the mat, Frank then qualified for the 2016 Olympics. But it wasn’t an easy rode.
Molinaro originally failed to qualify after a loss to Borislav Novachkov. But due to other Olympic wrestlers being disqualified for doping offenses, Frank was officially in.
And he made the most of the opportunity by winning several matches and taking home fifth place to tie McCoy for the highest finish for any Nittany Lion in the Olympics.
2020 – David Taylor
Tokyo, Japan
There are very few wrestlers who are decorated as David Taylor.
He finished his Penn State career with a record of 134-3, he won four conference titles, was a four-time All-American, won two NCAA titles, finished no lower than runner-up, and won two Hodge Trophies.
And yet, he’s made even more of an impact on the world stage following college. Taylor won gold in the Pan Am Games in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Then at the World Championships, David won silver in 2021 and won gold in 2018, 2022, and 2023.
At the 2020 Olympic games in Japan, David Taylor tech fall’ed his way to the final to face arguably one of the best wrestlers on the planet, Hassan Yazdani. And in a thrilling match for the ages it was David Taylor who triumphed 4-3 over Yazdani.
The gold medal was the first ever in Nittany Lion history. Furthermore, it looked like Taylor was going to try to make it back-to-back gold medals for his illustrious career. But someone named Aaron Brooks proved to be a massive roadblock.
2024 – Roman Bravo-Young, Zain Retherford, and Aaron Brooks
Paris, France
Who knows???
Don’t worry. We’ll have more on these guys later.
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.