UNIVERSITY PARK — It was only a matter of time before Penn State’s influence on collegiate wrestling permeated the United States men’s freestyle national and Olympic teams.
That influence was on full display Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, at the Bryce Jordan Center during the 2024 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team trials.
Nearly 30% — 20 of 69 — of the competitors in men’s freestyle either train with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club/Penn State Regional Training Center, were Nittany Lions or will be. And eight of 12 — 67% — men’s freestyle finalists represented the NLWC.
Out of those stunning statistics rose one name, one storyline above all of the others. Sure, there were some great stories, some genuine upsets among the 18 winners that were determined in men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman on Saturday night.
But one person stole the headlines — Aaron Brooks.
The Nittany Lion legend capped a historical four-week stretch by claiming the 86kg weight for the U.S. for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. He dethroned reigning gold medalist David Taylor, himself a program legend, to accomplish that. His Olympic berth comes on the heels of winning the Hodge Trophy on Monday, April 1, and capturing his fourth NCAA wrestling championship on Saturday, March 23, only the seventh wrestler in NCAA history to accomplish that.
Brooks’ talent was on display, but he was also blessed with good fortune as he won the challenger tournament and met Taylor in the best-of-three final. To get there, he edged Zahid Valencia 7-6 in the challenger tournament final; the winning point came on a technical violation in the waning seconds as Valencia was called for pulling Brooks’ singlet, giving the Nittany Lion the deciding point.
Brooks notched 4-1 and 3-1 wins over Taylor. It was the first time since 2017 that Taylor had been defeated by an American wrestler.
As the final seconds ticked away in the second bout, Taylor sank to his knees in defeat and Brooks dropped to his knees as well, leaning in and speaking animatedly to Taylor. The two have forged a tight bond, so close that Taylor took him to Tokyo as a training partner for the 2020 Olympic Games, where Taylor won gold.
“First off, starting with what was said? I told him I love him. He’s one of the first guys to make this program what it is, him and a couple other guys,” Brooks said. “It’s been a blessing being around him, watching what he does.”
Taylor had defeated Brooks 6-0 and 5-4 at Final X last June. Brooks said that it was during those matches that he came to a realization.
“I remember after we wrestled at Final X, I was like ‘I don’t have to underhook him to beat him.’ I think I kind of got caught up in I’ve got to underhook him, because that’s how he lost before,” Brooks said.
“God blessed me with a lot of skills, so just mixing them in there. Last year in the second match I was like, ‘Man, I’ve just got to wrestle.’ And it was a lot closer.”
Three other members of the NLWC also won: Zain Retherford (65kg), Kyle Dake (74kg) and Kyle Snyder (97kg).
Fittingly, Nittany Lion Wrestling Club coach Jake Varner was named USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year.
Snyder qualified for his third Olympics after sweeping Isaac Trumble in two straight matches, 5-0 and 4-0 at 97 kilos. Snyder won gold as a teenager at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and a silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021, delayed a year by the COVID pandemic.
“The first time you do it, you’re real happy and now it’s almost like an expectation of myself. Then the real fun starts when you make the team and you’re competing for the gold medal,” Snyder said.
Dake beat NLWC teammate Jason Nolf for the 74kg slot. Dake and Nolf have met eight times in freestyle and Dake has won all eight. On Saturday, Dake notched 4-1 and 3-1 wins, using his patented impenetrable baseline defense and opportunistic offense to stymie the usually freewheeling Nolf, who had defeated Olympic gold medal winner Jordan Burroughs 3-0 to win the challenger tournament.
Dake was in tears as he addressed the media afterward, talking about the recent death of his father.
Retherford won a battle of former Nittany Lions and current NLWC members to claim the 65kg title, defeating Nick Lee 2-1 and 5-0.
“I wasn’t going to compete because I wasn’t sure my body could handle the weight cut effectively, but it did and I’m very blessed with that,” Retherford said.
Retherford also had to deal with wrestling a close friend.
“It is tough. Nick Lee is a brother to me. We were roommates on his freshman year. He’s been my training partner when I wrestled Jordan Oliver a few years back. Just a great human being,” he said.
“An unfortunate part of having six weight classes is we’re going to butt heads. We literally butted heads. Nothing but love for Nick Lee. He’ll always be a brother to me.”
Since the United States hasn’t yet qualified 65kg for the Olympics, Retherford will have to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, from Thursday, May 9, to Sunday, May 12, for the Wrestling World Qualification Tournament. The top three finishers at the tournament earn a spot in the Paris Olympics for their country.
Former Iowa standout Spencer Lee defeated NLWC member and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman in two straight matches for the 57kg spot.
Other placers with Penn State connections included Mitchell Mesenbrink (third at 74kg) and Greg Kerkvliet (fifth at 125kg).
