Fans Doubt Aaron Brooks Even After Sweep Against Defending Olympic Champion David Taylor at US Wrestling Trials

Aaron Brooks pulled off a feat at the Bryce Jordan Center last weekend that can surely be his first step toward wrestling immortality. Trouncing defending Olympic gold medalist David Taylor’s claim to be in the national team for the 86kg weight class, Brooks looks to be en route to a pedestal finish at Paris later this year. However, fans aren’t putting all their eggs in one basket just yet.

Brooks has been a steady performer throughout the entire season. The four-time NCAA champion took two back-to-back matches to oust Taylor from the competition, who got a bye thanks to his 2023 World Championships exploits. However, the former Penn State star didn’t look much like a match before Cael Sanderson’s current student. And yet, fans sound skeptical when considering Brooks’ chances to come out on top at the 2024 Olympics.

Internet in splits over Aaron Brooks’ chances in Paris

In the subreddit r/Wrestling, Redditor BitterTechnology6 called for an open discussion to fathom the general consensus as to what fans think are the USA’s chances at the Paris Games. Captioned “USA official Olympic team! Predictions for how we will do at the Olympics!” the post makes a general breakdown of all the qualified wrestlers who will represent the country at the Olympics.

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“Aaron Brooks has looked really good this year and I think he is gonna be a front runner this year,” notes the post, but also highlights opponents like Kamran Ghasempour of Iran who can cause serious trouble to the Penn State wrestler’s high hopes.

After some delving into the matter, the post surmises that Brooks is poised to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. But not everyone is thinking in such linear lines!

Fans ponder over the possibilities

While the original post assigns a gold medal to Brooks, others aren’t all that sure of the outcome. One fan reminds the others that “transitive property” doesn’t always come true. “If there’s anything I’ve learned about wrestling it’s that the transitive property doesn’t apply most of the time. You’d think since Brooks just beat Taylor for the spot and Taylor has beaten up on Yazdani many times, Brooks should easily handle Yazdani. However, that may not necessarily be the case, but I still like Brooks’s chances to medal at the Olympics,” commented nohobal.

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Another Reddit user, onepanchan, also thinks Brooks will have a run for his money, but is open to alternate results at the Olympics as well.

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MADBuc49 thinks all Aaron needs to do now is keep his head in the game. “I think Brooks can make the finals, even win it, and the US already being qualified means he needs to focus on the Olympics itself,” stated the wrestling fan.

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Junior_Key4244 is still skeptical: they believe Brooks cannot hold a candle when it comes to the big boys. “He does not wrestle a hard enough pace to break Yazdani like DT has,” reads the comment.

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Amid the debate, it is only a few months before fans really know whether Aaron will be able to strike gold at Paris.