Thomas Gilman makes feelings clear about leaving David Taylor's Oklahoma State wrestling to return to Penn State

Thomas Gilman recently announced his decision to leave David Taylor's Oklahoma Wrestling program and return to Penn State. The Olympic medalist and former world champion announced his decision to return to Penn State in a coaching role.

The 2021 Olympic bronze medalist took his first full-time coaching role under head coach Taylor last year. On the Baschamania podcast, Gilman stated that the decision to join Oklahoma was too quick and highlighted the issues with staff. Although he did not specifically blame any particular individual, Gilman stated that despite making several attempts to make it work, the issues weren't addressed.

"There's a lot. I mean obviously kind of addressed it in the beginning, the decision in the first place I'm not saying it was the wrong decision. 'I'm just saying the state of mind I was in when making the decision was probably wasn't a good headspace. It was fast so that's probably the genesis of everything."

"Right when we got down here, it seemed like there was issues. Were they with me? Were they with the staff? I think that everybody's at fault. I'm not gonna point fingers. I'll put the blame on me for the most part, but also I'll make people take accountability for their actions. So I think that it was mutual," Gilman added.

Gilman represented Iowa at the collegiate level and started training at the Lions program after that, leading to a gold and silver medal at the World Championships in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

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David Taylor opens up on Oklahoma State's approach after winning the Big 12 Championships

David Taylor during the NCAA Division 1 wrestling national championship in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo via Getty Images

Following Oklahoma State's recent Big 12 Championships victory, head coach David Taylor stated that the victory was a team effort, where every individual performance and point mattered.

"It's the sports such a combination you know you have an individual you have a team um and it all makes up, you know what their product is you know they took team effort. We talk about every Point mattering, we talk about the bonus points that we can support the team, and sure we made every single point today you know. So, um, there a lot of good experiences that we can take from this national tournament."

David Taylor won the team title in his first season as head coach, joining coach Cael Sanderson who claimed the victory with Iowa State in 2007. The feat was Oklahoma State's 56th overall conference championship and its first since 2021.