The U23 World Wrestling Championship kicks off in a couple of days on 23rd October 2023. The qualifying candidates from various universities are preparing themselves for a great tournament in Tirana, Albania. In the midst of several wrestlers, aiming for the top, a celebrated US wrestler will be highlighting the 86kg weight class.

Aaron Brooks is a 3x NCAA champion from Penn State University. A recent social media upload projected Brooks for the upcoming U23 Championship as one of the biggest title contenders. In fact, it took a mighty Olympics and 3x World Champion to put Brooks down in a wrestling match.

The top wrestling juggernaut in the 86kg weight class

Aaron Brooks is on a flamboyant NCAA title streak and hasn’t been bested by any other collegiate wrestler since 2021. He also has three Big Ten Championships gold medals and is also the 2017 Cadet champ. A recent post on Instagram made by his wrestling club, the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC), highlighted him for the U23 World Wrestling Championship. 

The post carried the caption, “@aaron_mbrooks ready for all the action at #wrestletirana. The 2023 @teamusa U23 World Team member at MFS 86kg looks to earn his 3rd age-group world medal after winning Cadet gold medal in 2017 and Junior world silver in 2018.” The post by TMWC garnered support for the Penn State Nittany Lion for the U23 Championship. 

Interestingly, the post also said that Brooks finished second at the Final X. In fact, the person who managed to beat Brooks to claim the spot for the World Wrestling Championship was the reigning Olympic Champion David Taylor.

It takes a 3x World Champion to beat Brooks

Taylor is a 3x World Wrestling champ and the reigning Olympic gold medalist. Aaron Brooks and David Taylor faced off against each other at the Final X selection campaign for the 86kg slot for Belgrade. While Taylor had an automatic berth for the match, Brooks won the gold medal at the US Open to claim his spot. The 3x NCAA champ put up a good fight, but couldn’t beat the Magic Man of Penn State University. 

Taylor won against Brooks 2-0 in a best-of-three match. But, while Taylor won a clean first set with 6-0 on the board, he almost lost the second set with a score of 5-4. This showcases that Brooks has both wrestling techniques as well as resilience for the U23 tournament. TMWC has eight other candidates for the tournament, with strong profiles and winning chances, including 2x World Champion Amit Elor. Will Aaron Brooks be able to redeem his missed shot at Belgrade in Tirana?

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