Aaron Brooks

North Hagerstown High School

Hagerstown,

Maryland

Impact Statement

“When you’re in front of a big crowd, you gotta realize they are here to see you, so let’s go out and put on a show.” -Aaron Brooks

Biography

Brooks capped off a brilliant scholastic career by becoming only the seventh wrestler to ever capture four NHSCA championships at the 29 th annual NHSCA High School Nationals in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Brooks, who will attend Penn State for the 2019-20 season after training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado this coming year, also became just the seventh Maryland wrestler to win four state championships. He finished his career at North Hagerstown with a 163-2 record.

At the Senior Nationals in March, Brooks finished a perfect 6-0, pinning three-time Utah state champ Cole Moody in 1:23 in the 170-pound final. He won the Jeff Reese Memorial Award as the Senior Nationals’ Outstanding Wrestler. Brooks also won the Craig Wesner Memorial Award for recording the most pins in the least amount of time.

Brooks spent a year training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs as part of the Elite Accelerator Program before enrolling at Penn State. In his true freshman season, Brooks capped off a 15-1 record with his only loss coming half way through the season. He was the Big-10 Champion at 184. Due to Covid, the NCAA’s were canceled. Brooks was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a First Team All-American.

As a sophomore, Brooks continued his domination and finished with a 14-0 record. He was the NCAA Champion at 184 and claimed his second Big-10 title. He was a finalist for the coveted Hodge Trophy. In 2022, Brooks won another NCAA title for the Nittany Lions.