Aaron Brooks is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes internationally at 86 kilograms and collegiately at 184 pounds. In freestyle, he is a Cadet World Champion and Junior World Championship silver medalist. As a collegiate wrestler, Brooks is a three-time NCAA champion and a three-time B1G Conference champion out of the Pennsylvania State University. As of May 25, 2022, Brooks is the top-ranked 184-pound NCAA wrestler in the country as per Intermat.
Folkstyle career
High school
Brooks was born in Hagerstown, Maryland and attended North Hagerstown High School. As a freshman ('14-'15), he won his first MPSSAA title and also won the NHSCA Freshman National championship, both at 126 pounds. As a sophomore (15'-16'), he bumped up to 138 pounds and repeated last year's results as he became a two-time Maryland state champion and won the NHSCA Sophomore National championship. As a junior (16'-17'), he once again bulked up now to 152 pounds and became a three-time state and national champion. As a senior (17'-18'), he became just the seventh wrestler to ever win four NHSCA National championships and also the seventh wrestler to win four MPSSAA titles. He compiled an overall record of 163 wins and just two losses (45–1, 43–1, 46–0 and 22–0).
College
In early February 2018, Brooks committed to Cael Sanderson and the Penn State Nittany Lions as the number one recruit in the country. After focusing on freestyle during the 2018–19 season, Brooks arrived to Pennsylvania State University.
2019–20
Brooks started the season as a redshirt athlete at 184 pounds and compiled 3 wins and no losses during a Mat-Town Open title run before getting his redshirt pulled in December and becoming the starter of the team. After getting four more convincing victories in different dual meets, Brooks was downed by Nebraska's Taylor Venz in his first and only setback of the season, as he continued to get his hand raised in five more meetings before the regular season's end. In the post-season, he competed at the Big Ten Conference championships, where he major'd the Gopher Owen Webster in the opening round and avenged his only collegiate loss to date with a fall over Venz in the next round. In the tournament's final, Brooks took out Michigan State's Cameron Caffey with a 3-2 decision to claim the Conference championship. Brooks was then scheduled to compete at the 2020 NCAA Championships, however, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the season, he earned All-American honors due to his performance through the year and was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
2020–21
In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short. Competing as a sophomore, Brooks compiled an undefeated 6–0 record during regular season. To start the post-season, Brooks claimed his second straight Big Ten Conference title, defeating Nelson Brands from Iowa, John Poznanski from Rutgers and Taylor Venz from Nebraska. On March 20, Brooks claimed the NCAA title for the Nittany Lions after going 5–0 at the tournament.
Freestyle career
Cadet & Junior level
Brooks excelled in freestyle at the cadet level, winning his first Fargo National title in 2016, as well as the Greco-Roman one. In 2017, he went on to compete at the UWW Cadet Nationals, a qualifier for the Cadet World Championships. After making the finals, Brooks was downed twice by Travis Wittlake, ending as an alternate for the World Team. However, it was then reported that Wittlake had suffered an injury and Brooks replaced him. In between, he once again won Fargo but now in the junior level, At the World Championships, Brooks outscored his opponents by a total of 57 points to 14 and claimed the World title.
In 2018, Brooks competed at the US Open (junior level) in April. He outscored his five opponents 53 points to 7 and claimed the championship. In May, he won the best-of-three for the World Team Trials. At the World Championships, he reached the finals of the tournament with victories by technical fall, points and disqualification. He lost the finale to Hayato Ishiguro in a back-and-forth 10–11 match, claiming the silver medal.
After graduating in 17'-18', Brooks spent the entire 18'-19' season at the US Olympic Training Center, sharpening his freestyle abilities. During 2019, he made his third age-group World Team, winning the US Open and then the WTT, just like last year. Despite high expectations, Brooks went out early in the opening round as he fell 3–5 to Abubakr Abakerov.