Aaron Brooks reacts after defeating Alex Dieringer 8-4 at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials. Andy Mason/Herald-Mail / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State's Aaron Brooks Opens Olympics Wrestling Vs. Top Seed

Originally posted on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI
By Mark Wogenrich | Last updated Aug 7, 2024 12:12 PM ET

Aaron Brooks, the former Penn State wrestler who achieved one of the great seasons in Nittany Lions wrestling history, begins his first Olympics as a seed underdog. The four-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner will wrestle his first bout of the 86 kg men's freestyle wrestling tournament as an unseeded competitor against the No. 1 overall seed.

Brooks will meet top seed Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan on Thursday in his opening match of the Paris Olympics. Dauletbekov is the 2024 Asian champion and a two-time World bronze medalist. Brooks and Dauletbekov will wrestle during Thursday's first session, which begins at 5 a.m. ET. The session includes competition in the men's 57 kg and 86 kg freestyle weight classes and the women's 57 kg class. The matches will be streamed on Peacock.

Roman Bravo-Young, Brooks' former teammate at Penn State and a two-time NCAA champion, will begin his 57 kg freestyle event against No. 2 seed Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia. Bravo-Young is competing for Puerto Rico at the Paris Olympics.

Despite winning two age-group world titles and defeating David Taylor at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials, Brooks went unseeded in the Olympics since he has little senior experience at the international level. Dauletbekov lost to Taylor 11-0 in the semifinals of the 2022 World Championships. The Olympics seed eight of 16 wrestlers in each weight class.

The Olympic Games get started tomorrow for Aaron Brooks! In the first round, he will face the #1 seed, Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan. pic.twitter.com/VdnktLPZmM
— NLWC (@NittanyLionWC) August 7, 2024

Over the past year, Brooks has compiled a spectacular body of work in NCAA and freestyle wrestling. The Hagerstown, Maryland, native won a U23 world title in 2023 before embarking on one of the great seasons in Penn State wrestling history. Brooks went 22-0 on the year with six pins, 11 technical falls and three major decisions. He won 20 of his 22 bouts with bonus points, helping Penn State to Big Ten and NCAA team titles.

At the 2024 NCAA Championships, Brooks went 5-0 with four bonus-point victories to win his fourth national championship and first at 197 pounds. Brooks was named the most dominant wrestler at the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments and won the Hodge Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college wrestler.

Only a few weeks after winning the NCAA title, Brooks swept Taylor in a best-of-three final to win the 86 kg freestyle weight class at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in State College. Taylor was a three-time world champion in the weight class and the defending Olympic champion. Brooks defeated Taylor 3-1 in the clinching bout of the Olympic Trials, a tour that included a breathtaking late rally against Zahid Valencia.

Zain Retherford, a three-time NCAA champ at Penn State who nearly retired from the sport last year, joins Brooks and Bravo-Young as Nittany Lion alumni in Paris. Retherford begins his competition Friday.

This article first appeared on Penn State Nittany Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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