Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M a one-point award on the freestyle cir- cuit. Brooks' mat presence is similar. And Taylor on defense has heavy hips and a split-second ability to create of- fense from defense. Brooks has thrived on that en route to becoming one of just seven four-time NCAA gold medalists and became even more proficient at it this past season. With a breakdown of styles that was virtually equal and an age advantage of 10 years — Brooks' 23 to Taylor's 33 — Brooks was able to prove that it was his turn to take control of the 86-kilo- gram (189-pound) weight class for USA Wrestling. His 4-1 and 3-1 victories over Taylor secured a spot for Brooks on the United States Olympic team in Paris in early August. A Tough Go Nothing about the two-day event was easy for Brooks, and there was some thought that he wouldn't be able to com- pete because he was flagged during a blood test at the U-23 World Champion- ships in October 2023 for a substance not on the World Anti-Doping Agency list. The substance was Adderall, a class of drugs known as stimulants to help in- crease one's ability to pay attention and stay focused on activity. Brooks had a pre- scription for the drug but said on Justin Basch's "Basch-A-Mania" podcast on May 10 that he failed to take the actual doctor's prescription with him. Once Brooks' doctor explained to WADA what had happened, USA Wres- tling cleared Brooks to compete in the 2024 Olympic Trials. Brooks said on the podcast that he expected to be cleared of the entire matter during the week of May 13 and proceed as normal with training for the Olympics. Brooks had a tough go on the first day of the trials. You can count on one hand the number of takedowns he gave up in his Penn State career, but he yielded the opening takedown to incoming Penn State recruit Connor Mirasola in his first match before establishing control in an 11-5 victory. He gave up another takedown and two points for exposure to former Oklahoma State star Alex Dieringer but stormed back in the final three minutes for an 8-4 win to qualify for the challenge tournament finals. The end result of his third bout of the day — this one against two-time Arizona State NCAA champion Zahid Valencia — was so bizarre that ripple effects from that bout turned the college wrestling world upside down just two weeks later. Valencia led 6-3 very late in the bout. Brooks scored a takedown with 21 sec- onds left to make it 6-5 He tied it at 6-6 with 11 seconds remaining on a point for a pushout, but Valencia still led on cri- teria and would have won the bout. But, with just seven seconds to go, Valencia was penalized for pulling Brooks' singlet, and Brooks' 7-6 win propelled him to the finals against Taylor. Had Valencia won, Taylor would have been a rather heavy favorite, having Penn State, NLWC To Be Represented At 2024 Olympic Games Four wrestlers with Penn State connections are part of the U.S. men's Olympic freestyle team this year. Headlining that quartet is the recently graduated Aaron Brooks, who went 2-0 in his best-of-three final against 2020 Olympic gold medalist David Taylor, claiming the 86-kilogram championship at the trials April 19-20 in State College. Two Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members also earned spots on the Olympic team. Four-time Cor- nell national champion Kyle Dake defeated Penn State alum and three-time national champ Jason Nolf, 4-1 and 3-1, in the final at 74 kg, while Kyle Snyder, a three-time national champ at Ohio State and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, cruised to the title at 97 kg with 5-0 and 4-0 shutouts over NC State junior Isaac Trumble. At 65 kg, Zain Retherford battled fellow Penn State alum Nick Lee in the final. Retherford, a three- time national champion at PSU and the 2023 world champion at 70 kg, defeated Lee, 2-1 and 5-0, but still had one more step to take in order to reach the Olympic Games. In mid-May, he traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, for the Last Chance Qualifier tournament. Retherford won his first two matches before falling, 7-2, to Tulga Tumur-Ochir of Mongolia in the round of 16. Tumur-Ochir advanced to the finals, qualifying the wrestlers he beat for the repechage round. Retherford won three consecutive matches to finish in a tie for third place, with the top four in each weight class earning spots in Paris. In other news, former Nittany Lion assistant and current NLWC coach Jake Varner was named the USA Wrestling Men's Freestyle Coach of the Year at the U.S. Olympic Trials. — Greg Pickel Zain Retherford defeated fellow Penn State alum Nick Lee, 2-1 and 5-0, in the best-of-three finals at the Olympic Trials in April. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS