When Aaron Brooks defeated David Taylor in April, it was the latter’s first defeat to an American in seven years. After consecutive wins over Taylor at the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials, Brooks claimed his spot on the Paris Olympics roster.

The sensational win propelled the Penn State wrestler to the top of the wrestling world. After all, it’s not every day that you beat the defending Olympic champion in your weight class. However, Brooks will soon change his NLWC jersey to Team USA’s colors. And with that, the wrestler also revealed what he said to Taylor after their bout.

“You know I told him I love him… He’s the one of the first guys to make this program what it is. You know, him and a couple of guys … So it’s been a blessing being around him, watching what he does, and he definitely changed, made history in wrestling,” Aaron Brooks said in an exclusive from USA Wrestling.

Taylor, who was the favorite to win the U.S. Trails, was the 24-year-old’s predecessor in more ways than one. The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist shared the same head coach, Cael Sanderson, at Penn State’s Nittany Lions Wrestling Club.

Although not a passing-of-the-torch moment, the significance of Brooks’ victory becomes clear when looking back at Taylor’s career. The Magic Man dominated the 86 kg category from 2018 to 2023. During this time, Taylor’s only loss in 66 matches came against Iran’s Hassan Yazdani. Taylor snatched Olympic gold from the nine-time gold medalist in 2020.

The only time the 9x consecutive world and Olympic champ didn’t win gold in six years was against Taylor at the trials. So, when Aaron Brook credited David Taylor with making Penn State wrestling the force it is today, he didn’t exaggerate.

However, the 33-year-old decided to call it a career after losing to the Maryland native. Aaron Brooks was happy for Taylor, but he also added, “I hope he actually took the time to think about it.” 

Meanwhile, for Aaron Brooks, defeating David Taylor brought all eyes on him as he is going to make his Olympics debut in Paris. And he will have some tough competition. Let’s take a look at where he stands.

Aaron Brooks will have tough international competition in Paris!

Aaron Brooks is one of the youngest and unseeded competitors in his bracket. The top seed, Kazakhstan’s Azamat Dauletbekov, is coming off consecutive gold medals at the Senior Asian Championships. The bracket’s top portion also includes Hassan Yazdani, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, who has had a long rivalry with 2020 gold medalist David Taylor.

Other strong contenders include No. 3-seeded Myles Amine, who won a bronze in Tokyo; and Uzbekistan’s Javrail Shapiev with multiple world medals. Meanwhile, unseeded wrestlers like Azerbaijan’s Osman Nurmagomedov and Bulgaria’s Magomed Ramazanov could also challenge for gold.

However, despite this being his Olympic debut, Brooks has the talent to bring home gold with some favorable matchups. And to accomplish this, he knows he needs to have the right mindset. “You need to approach things with a simple mindset … The bigger you make it, you’re kind of doing yourself a disservice. There are always big matches at whatever level you’re at in your life. In high school, it’s the state championships. Then it’s the nationals. It’s always a big moment, but it’s just wrestling. It’s a different stage, but it’s just wrestling,” he shared earlier this month.

Unseeded wrestlers will be randomly drawn into the bracket one day before the competition begins. What does this mean? Well, Brooks might potentially face a top-seeded wrestler in an early round.

As the 86-kilogram bracket unfolds from August 8-9, share your thoughts on whether he can live up to his historic 2024 campaign.