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Aaron Hodges Biography & Facts

Aaron Marquel Brooks (born June 15, 2000) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he is qualified to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics, is a U23 World champion and US National champion, and was a U20 World silver medalist and U17 World champion. In collegiate wrestling, Brooks is a four-time NCAA champion and a four-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the Pennsylvania State University. 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 a 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 three-time Olympic and 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. Freestyle record NCAA record Stats References External links Aaron Brooks at the International Wrestling Database. 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