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Penn State's Aaron Brooks Reaches Olympics Wrestling Semifinals

Brooks, the four-time NCAA champion, won his first two bouts at the Paris Olympics.

Mark Wogenrich

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

Aaron Brooks, the former Penn State wrestler who achieved one of the great seasons in Nittany Lions wrestling history, began his first Olympics as a seed underdog. Now, he's headed to the semifinals of the 86 kg men's freestyle wrestling tournament at the Paris Olympics.

Brooks, the four-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner, will meet fifth-seeded Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria in the semifinals, which are scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m. ET. With a win, Brooks would secure at least a silver medal. The Olympics wrestling competition is being streamed live on Peacock (subscription required).

Brooks began the tournament with two wins Thursday, including one against the overall top seed. Brooks defeated top-seeded Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan 4-3 in the first round of competition. He scored the match's only takedown in defeating the 2024 Asian champion and two-time World bronze medalist.

In a quick turnaround for the quarterfinal, Brooks dominated No. 8 seed Hayato Ishiguro of Japan in an 11-1 technical fall. Brooks scored five second-period takedowns for the win. He did not allow a takedown in the first two bouts of competition.

Roman Bravo-Young, Brooks' former teammate at Penn State and a two-time NCAA champion, was eliminated after falling 4-1 in his opening 57 kg freestyle match against No. 2 seed Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia. Bravo-Young competed for Mexico 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.

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.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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