Aaron Brooks (wrestler)

Brooks was born in Hagerstown, Maryland and attended North Hagerstown High School.[2] As a freshman (14'-15'), he won his first MPSSAA title and also won the NHSCA Freshman National championship, both at 126 pounds.[3][4] 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.[5][6] As a junior (16'-17'), he once again bulked up now to 152 pounds and became a three-time state and national champion.[7] 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.[8][9] He compiled an overall record of 163 wins and just two losses (45-1, 43-1, 46-0 and 22-0).[2]

In early February 2018, Brooks committed to Cael Sanderson and the Penn State Nittany Lions as the number one recruit in the country.[10] After focusing on the freestyle during the 2018-19 season, Brooks arrived to the Pennsylvania State University.[11]

Freshman: 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.[12][13] 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.[2][14] 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.[15] Brooks was then scheduled to compete at the 2020 NCAA Championships,[16] however, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] 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.[18][19]

Freshman: In October of 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short, this led to Brooks retaining his eligibility as a freshman.[20]

Brooks excelled in freestyle at the cadet level, winning his first Fargo National title in 2016, as well as the Greco-Roman one.[21] 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.[22] In between, he once again won Fargo but now in the junior level,[23] At the World Championships, Brooks outscored his opponents by a total of 57 points to 14 and claimed the World title.[22]

In 2018, Brooks competed at the US Open (junior level) in April.[24] He outscored his five opponents 53 points to 7 and claimed the championship.[25] In May, he won the best-of-three for the World Team Trials.[26] At the World Championships, he reached the finals of the tournament with victories by tech fall, points and disqualification. He lost the finale to Hayato Ishiguro in a back-and-forth 10-11 match, claiming the silver medal.[27]

After graduating in 17'-18', Brooks spent the hole 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.[28] Despite high expectations, Brooks went out early in the opening round as he fell 3-5 to Abubakr Abakerov.[29]

During his time at the OTC, Brooks made his senior level debut on January, at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. He completely dominated both of his matches, pinning Stacey Davis and teching Nate Jackson, a class of 17' collegiate graduate and former two-time NCAA Division I All-American, 13 points to 0.[30]

Brooks came back in December at the US Senior Nationals. After reaching the semifinals of the tournament, he was downed by two-time NCAA Division I champion and eventual winner of the championship Zahid Valencia, 0 points to 6. He then lost his match at the consolation semifinals to graduated Gopher and two-time DI All-American Brett Pfarr. In the fifth place match, he got teched by Samuel Brooks, whom he had defeated earlier in the tournament, placing sixth.[31] He was one place away from qualifying for the US Olympic Trials.[32]

Brooks was scheduled to come back into the freestyle scene against Brett Pfarr on October 20, at the NLWC II.[33] However, Brooks was dropped out of the card of undisclosed reasons and replaced by Jaime Espinal.[34]

Junior level

Junior freestyle results
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2019 World Championships 17th at 79kg
Loss	30-3	Abubakar Abakarov	3-5	August 12–18, 2019	2019 Junior World Wrestling Championships	Tallinn, Estonia
2019 US World Team Trials at 79kg
Win	30-2	Parker Keckeisen	10-1	May 17–19, 2019	2019 Junior US World Team Trials	Raleigh, North Carolina
Win	29-2	Parker Keckeisen	TF 10-0
2019 US Open at 79kg
Win	28-2	Shane Griffith	TF 10-0	April 24–27, 2019	2019 Junior US Open Wrestling Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	27-2	Parker Keckeisen	TF 10-0
Win	26-2	Michael O`Malley	8-2
Win	25-2	Tate Battani	TF 11-0
Win	24-2	Luke Clark	TF 10-0
Win	23-2	Harlan Steffensmeier	TF 14-2
2018 World Championships at 79kg
Loss	22-2	Hayato Ishiguro	10-11	September 17–23, 2018	2018 Junior World Wrestling Championships	Trnava, Slovakia
Win	22-1	Orkhan Abasov	DQ
Win	21-1	Andrian Grosul	9-4
Win	20-1	Daniyar Meldebek	TF 12-1
2018 US World Team Trials at 79kg
Win	19-1	Michael Labriola	3-3	May 18–20, 2018	2018 Junior US World Team Trials	Rochester, Minnesota
Win	18-1	Michael Labriola	14-10
2018 US Open at 79kg
Win	17-1	Michael Labriola	TF 14-3	April 24–28, 2018	2018 Junior US Open Wrestling Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	16-1	Beau Breske	6-2
Win	15-1	Joseph Grello	TF 10-0
Win	14-1	Jake Lanning	TF 12-2
Win	13-1	Jesse Shearer	TF 11-0
2017 USAW Nationals at 170lbs
Win	12-1	Trent Hidlay	TF 13-3	July 15–22, 2017	2017 USAW Junior Men's Nationals	Fargo, North Dakota
Win	11-1	Andrew Berreyesa	TF 11-1
Win	10-1	Jeremiah Kent	8-6
Win	9-1	Jesse Shearer	TF 14-4
Win	8-1	Parker Keckeisen	8-7
Win	7-1	Tyler Jorgensen Wilson	TF 10-0
2016 MSWA Path to Fargo at 166lbs
Win	6-1	Salaam Banish	3-1	May 7, 2016	2016 MSWA Path to Fargo Tourney	Thurmont, Maryland
Win	5-1	Jake Nielson	TF 10-0
Win	4-1	Alwyn Taylor	Fall
Win	3-1	Salaam Banish	9-4
2015 MSWA Path to Fargo at 143lbs
Loss	2-1	Ethan Krause	2-7	May 9, 2015	2015 MSWA Path to Fargo Tourney	Thurmont, Maryland
Win	2-0	Alexander Brown	TF 14-3
Win	1-0	Cody Matthews	TF 18-5

Cadet level

Cadet freestyle results
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2017 World Championships at 76kg
Win	27-5	Arsamag Khostikoev	13-8	September 4–10, 2017	2017 Cadet World Wrestling Championships	Athens, Greece
Win	26-5	Meysam Enayatollah Zaree	TF 12-1
Win	25-5	Oleksandr Vyshniak	9-3
Win	24-5	Alex Hoerner	TF 11-0
Win	23-5	Lasha Bairamovi	TF 12-2
2017 UWW Nationals at 76kg
Loss	22-5	Travis Wittlake	TF 0-10	June 2–4, 2017	2017 UWW Cadet Freestyle Nationals	Akron, Ohio
Loss	22-4	Travis Wittlake	2-4
Win	22-3	Michael O`Malley	7-2
Win	21-3	Zachary Braunagel	4-4
Win	20-3	Ryan Hurd	Fall
Win	19-3	Donald Cuomo	10-8
2016 USAW Nationals at 160lbs
Win	18-3	Julian Ramirez	6-2	July 20–22, 2016	2016 USAW Cadet Men's Nationals	Fargo, North Dakota
Win	17-3	Jake Hendricks	5-5
Win	16-3	Parker Keckeisen	8-5
Win	15-3	Blake Hopson	TF 10-0
Win	14-3	Josiah Ramirez	TF 10-0
Win	13-3	Justin Flores	TF 12-1
2016 MSWA State Championships at 160lbs
Win	12-3	Seamus Selmi	TF 10-0	May 15, 2016	2016 MSWA State Championships	Owings Mills, Maryland
Win	11-3	Anthony Zancan	TF 10-0
2015 USAW Nationals at 138lbs
Loss	10-3	Ethan Krause	7-8	July 22–24, 2015	2015 USAW Cadet Men's Nationals	Fargo, North Dakota
Win	10-2	Zac Musselman	Fall
Win	9-2	Jonathan McGowan	TF 17-6
Loss	8-2	Shane Griffith	Fall
Win	8-1	Trevor Elfvin	14-7
2015 MSWA State Championships at 138lbs
Loss	7-1	Ethan Krause	4-4	May 17, 2015	2015 MSWA State Championships	Owings Mills, Maryland
Win	7-0	Andrew Shiman	TF 15-4
Win	6-0	Josh Paige	TF 10-0
Win	5-0	Marcelo Motta	TF 10-0
2014 MSWA Path to Fargo at 132lbs
Win	4-0	Chase Pennell	Fall	May 4, 2014	2014 MSWA Path to Fargo Tourney	Thurmont, Maryland
Win	3-0	Tyler Whitlock	Fall
Win	2-0	Marcelo Motta	TF 10-0
Win	1-0	Matt Hardmon	TF 11-0