In the dazzling arena of the Olympic Games, where legends are made and dreams are shattered, Aaron Brooks stepped onto the mat with a nation’s hopes on his shoulders. Known for his stellar high school and collegiate wrestling career, Brooks had already captivated the wrestling world by defeating Tokyo Olympics gold medalist David Taylor in the Olympic trials. This victory had fans dreaming of gold in Paris.

Brooks’ Olympic journey was a rollercoaster. Despite his brilliant performance, a tough semifinal match against Magomed Ramazanov, who would go on to win gold, dashed his golden dreams. Yet, Brooks showed resilience. In the bronze medal match against Uzbekistan’s Javrail Shapiev, he fought fiercely, ensuring he didn’t return home empty-handed.

Most of his performances, except the semis, were very promising, making fans optimistic about his future. What they aren’t aware of is that to achieve this success, Brooks had brought a familiar face to his camp. Donovan Ball, his main training partner during his college days at Penn State, accompanied him to Paris. This was to ensure a familiar face who could train with him and keep the values that the university had instilled in him. Brooks and Ball have been tight knit since they first met. He was one of his first friends in college.

Aaron Brooks’ Friendship with Donovan Ball

After Aaron Brook’s highly successful high school career, he enrolled in Penn State for his collegiate career. This was after he decided to spend a year at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Initially, he struggled in university and struggled to make new acquaintances. He had been told by his grandfather to hang around with people who he thought would make him better. He said, ” I needed to surround myself with people that wanted to be better. ” Brooks shared a room with three wrestlers: Baylor Skunk, Paul Felt, and Donovan Ball.

Slowly, he would establish friendships and have a support system by his side. “Just being present at a meal with family or friends. Those are my best days.” Said Brooks, who is very close with his family too. During the sharing of the room was when he was long-term friendship with Ball blossomed. Brooks was once asked about the partner he liked to practice with the most. Without any hesitation, he said “Donovan Ball.” Whenever his presence has been needed, Ball has always been there for Brooks. He was constantly ready to train with him and help him make weight. Both of them are very close to each other.

This is why when Brooks qualified for the Olympics, he knew he had to take Ball with him in Paris. He is the perfect man to make him prepare for the tournament. While Ball himself has had a mediocre career at best, his impact on Brook’s life makes him special. But he wasn’t the only one who impacted the US wrestler. The university as a whole did.

Penn State University’s impact on Aaron Brooks

Aaron Brooks had a highly successful collegiate career at Penn State University. He won all four NCAA Championships during his time there, creating history. This was a scary achievement and many athletes would struggle to conceive of the thought of replicating this. A lot of the credit for this should go to the university and his coach, Cael Sanderson. Not just as a wrestler, Sanderson has played a huge part in building the person Brooks is today.

Every practice session by Sanderson is commenced by reading a Bible verse or an analogy. He shapes the athlete’s mindset through these tools. Sanderson’s analysis of the fights is so brilliant that his athletes very rarely lose to the same opponent twice. Despite his title achievements, Brooks considers his biggest takeaway from Penn State University was the act of finding God. He now believes that he was given the gift of wrestling to help spread god’s words. His devotion to Christianity has been quite solid since then. This mixture of creativity and devotion provided to be a potent mix for nurturing the talent of someone like Brooks and established him as a successful Olympic medallist.