Aaron Brooks

Aaron Marquel Brooks (born June 15, 2000) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. He earned a bronze medal while representing the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and is also a U23 World champion and US National champion.

In collegiate wrestling, Brooks was the seventh four-time NCAA Division I national champion in history, and was also a four-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the Pennsylvania State University.

Brooks is currently serving a two-year ban set to expire in June 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation.

Career

High school Brooks was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and attended North Hagerstown High School. During his high school years, Brooks was a four-time NHSCA National champion and a four-time MPSSAA state champion, with a 163–2 record in the state of Maryland. In freestyle, Brooks became a U17 World champion before his senior year. The top-recruit at 182 pounds, Brooks committed to wrestle for the Penn State Nittany Lions in early 2018.

After his senior year, Brooks decided to spend a grayshirt year at the US Olympic Training Center.

In August 2018, Brooks earned a silver medal from the U20 World Championships. In January 2019, he claimed the Dave Schultz Memorial International title, making his senior level debut. In August 2019, after making the US World Team, Brooks was eliminated in the first-round at the U20 World Championships by eventual World medalist Abubakr Abakarov.

The Pennsylvania State University 2019–2020 Brooks wore a redshirt for his first appearance, the Mat Town Open, which he won. However, his redshirt was then burned for him to rack up a 9–1 dual meet record during regular season.

In December, Brooks briefly switched to freestyle to compete at the US National Championships, placing sixth though failing to qualify for the US Olympic Team Trials.

Back to folkstyle, Brooks won his first Big Ten Conference title, avenging his lone season loss to Taylor Venz from Nebraska in the semifinals. The third seed for the NCAA tournament, Brooks was unable to compete as the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the season, he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

2020–2021 After a 6–0 dual meet stint during his sophomore campaign, Brooks became a two-time Big Ten Conference champion in the post-season. At the NCAA tournament, Brooks became an NCAA Division I National champion after wins over fourth-seeded Parker Keckeisen and second-seeded Trent Hidlay in the semifinals and finals, respectively. This result qualified Brooks for the US Olympic Team Trials, which took place a month after, in April.

At the US Olympic Trials, Brooks defeated two-time All-Americans Nate Jackson and Sammy Brooks, but fell to two-time NCAA champion Zahid Valencia and US National champion Pat Downey.

2021–2022 Entering his junior year, Brooks amassed an undefeated 14–0 dual meet record during regular season. After making his third-straight Big Ten Conference final, Brooks suffered an upset loss to Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine, whom he had defeated during regular season. At the NCAA tournament, Brooks cruised to the finals after defeating his 2021 NCAA finals foe Trent Hidlay in the semifinals, and was then able to pull off the rubber-match win over Amine in the finals to defend his title and become a two-time NCAA national champion.

2022–2023 Entering his senior year, Brooks compiled a 9–1 dual meet record during regular season, suffering a lone setback to Iowa State's Marcus Coleman. At the Big Ten tournament, Brooks made his fourth finale and claimed his third title with three wins, all of them including bonus points. Brooks, the third seed, was able to claim his third NCAA National championship, with yet another semifinal win over second-seeded Trent Hidlay and top-seeded Parker Keckeisen in the finals.

Fresh as a three-time NCAA champion, Brooks switched to freestyle to compete at the US Open National Championships in April. After cruising to the semifinals, he defeated US National champion and two-time U20 World champion Mark Hall on points to make the finals, where he avenged losses from 2019 and 2021 to US National champion and two-time NCAA champion Zahid Valencia to claim the championship and earn a berth for Final X.

In June, Brooks competed against teammate and three-time Olympic and World champion David Taylor for the US World Team spot at Final X Newark, where he lost two matches to none in a best-of-three format to claim runner-up honors. As a result, Brooks earned the right to represent the United States at the U23 World Championships in October.

In October, Brooks became the U23 World champion at 86 kilograms, facing competition such as defending U23 World champion Tatsuya Shirai from Japan, U20 European champion Arslan Bagaev from Russia, returning U23 World medalist Ivan Ichizli from Moldova and U20 World medalist İsmail Küçüksolak from Turkey.

2023–2024 Brooks then opted to return to Penn State for a fifth and final season, as the NCAA offered an extra year of eligibility to any student athlete rostered during the COVID-19 shortened 2020–2021 season and was again a National Champion at 197 lbs. Now up at 197 pounds, Brooks added a Journeymen Classic title to his resume and racked up an 11–0 dual meet record during regular season.

In the postseason, Brooks repeated his 2023 Big Ten title run, handling his three opponents bonus-points losses to claim the championship. Following the tournament, he was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Brooks then swept through the NCAA Tournament field, posting two technical falls and two falls before defeating Trent Hidlay 6–1 in the NCAA Final. With his victory, Brooks became just the seventh wrestler to win four NCAA titles and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. On April 1, 2024, Brooks was awarded the Hodge Trophy as the nation's top collegiate wrestler.

Post-collegiate career

2024 In April, Brooks competed at the US Olympic Team Trials, where after defeating multiple-time NCAA champions Alex Dieringer and Zahid Valencia, as well as Connor Mirasola, he advanced to the best-of-three finals, where he would rematch teammate and Olympic and two-time World champion David Taylor. He knocked off Taylor two times in a row to upset him and earn the right to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics in August, as a US Olympic Team Member.

In August, Brooks made his Olympic debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. On the first day, Brooks defeated two-time World medalist Azamat Dauletbekov from Kazakhstan and U20 World champion Hayato Ishiguro from Japan to make the semifinals, where he fell to eventual gold medalist Magomed Ramazanov from Bulgaria, after losing his lead in the closing seconds of the bout. The next day, Brooks contested the bronze-medal match, defeating Javrail Shapiev from Uzbekistan to earn bronze.

In February 2026, Brooks was issued with a two-year ban backdated to June 2025 for an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for unintentional use of DHEA. DHEA is an over-the-counter supplement but is banned by USADA. Brooks purchased it and began taking it five days after being released from hospital with double pneumonia, discovering roughly two weeks later that it was a prohibited substance.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Win 25–8

Paris, France Loss 24–8

Win 24–7

Win 23–7

Win 22–7

State College, Pennsylvania Win 21–7

Win 20–7

Win 19–7

Win 18–7

Win 17–7

Tirana, Albania Win 16–7

Win 15–7

Win 14–7

Win 13–7

Loss 12–7

Newark, New Jersey Loss 12–6

Win 12–5

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 11–5

Win 10–5

Win 9–5

Win 8–5

Loss 7–5

Win 7–4

Loss 6–4

Win 6–3

Loss 5–3

Fort Worth, Texas Loss 5–2

Loss 5–1

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Colorado Springs, Colorado Win 1–0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Win 89–3

Win 88-3

Win 87–3

Win 86–3

Win 85–3

Win 84–3

Win 83-3

Win 82–3

Win 81–3

Win 80–3

Win 79–3

Win 78–3

Win 77–3

Win 76–3

Win 75–3

Win 74–3

Win 73–3

Win 72–3

Win 71–3

Win 70–3

Win 69-3

Win 68–3

Win 67–3

Win 66-3

Win 65-3

Win 64-3

Win 63-3

Win 62-3

Win 61-3

Win 60–3

Win 59–3 Brian Soldano

Win 58–3 Kalem Romero

Win 57–3 Drake Rhodes

Win 56–3 Matt Finesilver

Win 55–3 Tyler Dow

Loss 54–3 Marcus Coleman

Win 54–2 Gavin Kane

Win 53–2 Ben Cushman

Win 52–2 Tate Samuelson

Win 51–2 Colin Fegley

Win 50–2

Win 49–2

Win 48–2

Win 47–2

Win 46–2

Loss 45–2

Win 45–1

Win 44–1

Win 43–1

Win 42–1

Win 41–1

Win 40–1

Win 39–1

Win 38–1

Win 37–1

Win 36–1

Win 35–1

Win 34–1

Win 33–1

Win 32–1

Win 31–1

Win 30–1

Win 29–1

Win 28–1

Win 27–1

Win 26–1

Win 25–1

Win 24–1

Win 23–1

Win 22–1

Win 21–1

Win 20–1

Win 19–1

Win 18–1

Win 17–1

Win 16–1

Win 15–1

Win 14–1

Win 13–1

Win 12–1

Win 11–1

Win 10–1

Win 9–1

Win 8–1

Loss 7–1

Win 7–0

Win 6–0

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2024 5th Year Senior

1 197 22-0 100.00% 90.91% 2023 Senior 3

17-1 94.4% 66.66% 2022 Junior 1 21-1 95.45% 63.64% 2021 Sophomore 1 14–0 100.00% 50.00% 2020 Freshman 3 (Cancelled COVID-19) 15–1 93.75% 43.75%

Personal life Brooks is Christian.