[3] With his most prestigious accolades coming at 86 kilograms, Taylor was most notably the 2020 Summer Olympic gold medalist, a World champion in 2018, 2022 and 2023, and held one of the biggest rivalries in the sport's history against Hassan Yazdani.

[4] One of the most accomplished Nittany Lions in the history of the Penn State program, Taylor was twice the NCAA Division I National champion at 165 pounds, and earned the Dan Hodge Trophy two times during his collegiate years.

[12] In 2013, Taylor claimed runner-up honors at the US Open in April, defeating Nick Marable to reach the finals and then being downed by the defending Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs.

[15] At the '13 US World Team Trials Challenge of June, Taylor went 4–1 with a lone loss to four-time NCAA Division I National Kyle Dake to claim third-place.

[17] In 2014, last year's US Open results were repeated when Taylor fell to Jordan Burroughs, this rematch being much closer and forcing the now defending World Champion to come from behind to get the last minute comeback.

[22] In his fourth attempt to make the US World Team, Taylor was once again overpowered by Kyle Dake in the challenge tournament, but he came back and claimed the third place when he beat veteran Andrew Howe.

[23] Taylor then claimed Grand Prix of Spain and Stepan Sargsyan Cup gold medals in July,[24][25] before making the decision to bulk up to the 86 kilogram division on September.

[30] He then claimed his second Spain Grand Prix title on July,[31] and competed again at the World Clubs Cup of December, where he went 3-1 and helped TMWC reach the first-place, while also defeating the accomplished Alireza Karimi.

[37] After a quick win at Beat the Streets,[38] Taylor made the World Team Trials finals when he ran through '16 US OTT Greco-Roman champion Joe Rau and '12 Junior World Championship runner-up Pat Downey, and defeated three-time NCAA Division I All-American Nick Heflin to make the best-of-three, where he faced returning Olympic Bronze medalist J'den Cox.

[42] To start off the year, Taylor became only the 12th American to claim a gold medal at the Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix, considered the toughest open tournament in the world.

[55] In the finals, he dismantled Fatih Erdin from Turkey, overwhelming his opposition with 12 points to two, to claim the World Championship and help Team USA reach third place.

[60] On May, he competed at the annual Beat the Streets for charity, against Drew Foster, where he suffered a severe knee injury which led him to forfeit out of the match, and ultimately, forced him to stay inactive during the whole year, missing the opportunity to make his second US World Team (forfeiting it to Pat Downey instead, whom he had tech'd twice), to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games or to defend his title at the World Championships.

[71] However, it was announced on January 8 that Taylor was unable to travel to Austin, Texas due to COVID-19 restrictions and the bout was subsequently postponed for four days later and changed its location for Lincoln, Nebraska, thus moving to a different card also named FloWrestling: Burroughs vs.

[73] Taylor was also scheduled to compete at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane on January 16,[74] but was not able to travel due to the postponement of his match against Burroughs.

[76] After cleaning out All–American Brett Pfarr in the quarterfinal round,[77] Taylor flawlessly knocked off reigning US National champion Gabe Dean in a rematch from their match at the NLWC III, advancing to the best–of–three finals.

[78] In the finale, Taylor faced reigning U23 World Champion and Penn State legend Bo Nickal, whom he is close with as a friend and teammate at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

[82] On August 4, Taylor competed in the first date of men's freestyle 86 kg of the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he looked dominant enough to score technical falls over all of his three opponents on his way to the finals; four-time World Championship medalist Ali Shabanau from Belarus, '20 European Championship runner-up Myles Amine from San Marino and defending World silver medalist Deepak Punia from India.

[83] On the other side of the finale awaited rival and reigning Olympic and World Champion Hassan Yazdani from Iran, Taylor meeting him in a rubber match on August 5 after downing him twice earlier in his career.

[94] After notorious wins on the first day over NCAA champion Michael Macchiavello and All-Americans Trent Hidlay and Marcus Coleman, Taylor made the best-of-three finals, where he faced returning World medalist Zahid Valencia.

[100] In May, a month after a runner-up finish at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, it was announced that Taylor would become the head coach at Oklahoma State University, following John Smith's retirement.