Aaron Brooks, top, controls David Taylor in Saturday night’s 86 kilogram final at the U.S. Olympics wrestling trials. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)
STATE COLLEGE, Penn., April 20, 2024 – It’s natural for youngsters to look up to their athletic heroes. Sometimes, those youngsters beat their idols.
Penn State’s Aaron Brooks beat three-time world champion and 2021 Olympic gold medalist David Taylor to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team at 86 kilograms (kg) Saturday night at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State.
In the women’s freestyle, Kennedy Blades (76 kg) earned her first berth on the U.S. Olympic team with a victory over Adeline Gray, a six-time world champion and a silver medalist at the 2021 Olympics in Toyko.
Twelve wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman earned spots on the U.S. team at the trials with six women earning spots in freestyle. Two men’s freestyle members and three Greco-Roman members still have to finish in the top three of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Turkey in May to earn a spot in the Olympic tournaments in Paris.
Some idols retained their spots in the U.S. Olympic team. Helen Maroulis became the first woman to earn three Olympic berths with her victory at 57 kg. Kyle Snyder became the 11th wrestler in American history to earn a third Olympic berth with his victory at 97 kg.
A heartbroken Kyle Dake, a four-time world champion, earned his second Olympic berth with his victory at 74 kg, a week after his father, Douglas, passed away on April 11.
Youngsters also made their way onto the team. Amit Elor, the 20-year-old from California, who has already won two world championships and a pair of world U23 titles, earned her first Olympic berth. Kayla Miracle and Sarah Hildebrandt each qualified for their second consecutive Olympic Games.
In March, Brooks won his fourth NCAA championship. This weekend, he had a pair of come-from-behind victories to earn a spot in the best-of-3 championship final against Taylor, a former Penn State wrestler who won a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 and three world championships.
Brooks scored eight unanswered points to beat Alex Dieringer, 8-4, in the semifinals of the Challenge Tournament scored four unanswered points in the Challenge Tournament in the final 21 seconds to earn a 7-6 win over Zahid Valenica and a date with Taylor. Brooks and Taylor are members of the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club.
Aaron Brooks, left, takes a moment after beating David Taylor in the finals of the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials Saturday night. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)
Brooks swept a pair of matches from Taylor, 33, by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. When it was over, Taylor was on his knees. Brooks quickly joined him and put his hands on his shoulder in a tender moment between two warriors who had been battling hard for six minutes.
“I told him that I loved him and he was one of the first guys who made this program what it is,” Brooks said. “It has been a blessing being around him. He’s definitely changed my wrestling.”
Blades, 20, beat Gray for the first time on Saturday with a pair of victories, 11-6 and 8-3.
“We’re going to get a gold medal at 76 kilos. Kennedy is an amazing competitor and she proved that today after going through a gauntlet of a tournament toughest weight class by far and she has a lot of explosive talent and very few holes,” said Gray, who was carrying her two 20-month-old twins to a post-match media session.
The second match was tied at 3-3 in the second period but Kennedy scored a pair of takedowns and scored the final five points of the match to secure the Olympic berth.
Kennedy Blades, top, drives into Adeline Gray in Saturday night’s U.S. Olympic trials at Penn State. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)
Another 20-year-old earned an Olympic berth. Amit Elor (68 kg) swept Forrest Molinari, 6-0 and 2-1 to secure a bid. Elor has already won two world championships.
Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg) swept young Audrey Jimenez twice by 10-0 scores to earn her second consecutive Olympic berth. Kayla Miracle (62 kg) also secured her second straight Olympic trip, erasing a 4-1 deficit in Saturday’s first match against Macey Kilty to win, 8-5. In the second match, Miracle scored a key two-point exposure to counter a Kilty shot in a 4-1 victory.
At 57 kg, Helen Maroulis became the first American women to become a three-time Olympian, sweeping Jacarra Winchester, a 2020 Olympian, with a pin and a 6-0 victory in the best-of-3 finals.
Dominique Parrish (53 kg) eliminated 2012 Olympian Haley Augello to become a first-time Olympian. In match one, Parrish scored a takedown late in the first period for a 2-1 victory. In the second match, she had takedowns in both periods for a 5-2 win.
Dake, a four-time world champion, earned his second consecutive Olympic berth with a 4-1 and 3-1 win over Nittany Lion WC teammate Jason Nolf, who bounced Jordan Burroughs in the Challenge Tournament final on Friday.
Dake’s father, Donald, an All-American wrestler at Kent State University, was 62.
“This is hard. This is the first time that I have had to do this without. I just really miss him and wish he was here. I want to do him proud,” an emotional Dake said. “It’s hard to find the words to explain how much he means to me.”
Snyder (97 kg) continues to build on his own impressive legacy at the age of 28. He swept Isaac Trumble, 5-0 and 4-0, to secure his third trip to the Olympics.
At 125 kg, Mason Parris had a pair of 7-0 victories to sweep Hayden Zillmer and earn his first Olympic team berth.
Dominique Parrish, left, drives Haley Augello into the mat during the 53 kg final at the U.S. Olympic wrestling trials at Penn State. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)
In a battle of former Iowa wrestlers, Spencer Lee swept the championship series from Thomas Gilman to win the Olympic trials at 57 kg. In a match of former Penn State wrestlers, Zain Retherford swept a pair from Nick Lee to win at 65 kg.
Lee and Retherford need to finish in the top three of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Turkey in May to earn a spot for the Americans in the Olympic tournament in Paris.
In the Greco-Roman division, Joe Rau (97 kg) finally secured an Olympic bid by winning the best-of-3 championship series over Alan Vera, 2-1. Rau lost the opening match of the championship series but won two straight matches, 6-0 and 8-0 to secure his Olympic invitation.
Payton Jacobson (87 kg) was the No. 7 seed in the Challenge Tournament and he beat 2020 Olympian John Stefanowicz and No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. Jacobson swept Spencer Woods, 2-1 to earn a spot in the Olympic tournament.
Adam Coon (130 kg) beat Cohlton Schultz in the finals, 2-1 to qualify for the Olympics by winning the second and third match of the finals.
Dalton Roberts (60 kg), Ellis Coleman (67 kg) and Kamal Bey (77 kg) won their respective weight classes but need to qualify the U.S. in Turkey in May to wrestle in Paris.
Photos from the tournament weekend
2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
At State College, Pa.
Brackets and results (TrackWrestling.com)
Best-of-three championship series
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg (125½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Spencer Lee (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 6-3
Rnd. 2: Lee pin Gilman, 5:48. Lee won series, 2-0
65 kg (143½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Nick Lee (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 2-1
Rnd. 2: Retherford dec. Lee, 5-0. Retherford wins series, 2-0
74 kg (163 lbs)
Rnd. 1: Kyle Dake (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 4-1
Rnd. 2: Dake dec. Nolf, 3-1. Dake wins series, 2-0
86 kg (189 lbs)
Rnd. 1: Aaron Brooks (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. David Taylor (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 4-1
Rnd. 2: Brooks def. Taylor, 3-1. Brooks wins series, 2-0
97 kg (213½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Kyle Snyder (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Isaac Trumble (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-0
Rnd. 2: Snyder dec. Trumbull, 4-0; Snyder wins series, 2-0
125 kg (275½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Mason Parris (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC), 7-0
Rnd. 2: Parris dec. Zillmer, 7-0. Parris wins series, 2-0
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg (110½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Sarah Hildebrandt (New York AC) tech. fall Audrey Jimenez (Sunkist Kids WC), 10-0
Rnd. 2: Hildebrandt tech. fall Jimenez, 10-0, Sarah Hildebrandt wins series, 2-0
53 kg (116½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Dominique Parrish (Beaver Dam RTC/Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Haley Augello (Izzy Style/New York AC), 2-1
Rnd. 2:Parrish dec. Augello, 5-2, Dominique Parrish wins series, 2-0
57 kg (125½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Helen Maroulis (Sunkist Kids WC) fall Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC), 2:41
Rnd. 2:Maroulis dec. Winchester, 6-0, Helen Maroulis wins series, 2-0
62 kg (136½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Macey Kilty (Sunkist Kids WC), 8-5
Rnd. 2: Miracle dec. Kilty, 4-1, Kayla Miracle wins series, 2-0
68 kg (149½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Amit Elor (NYC RTC/Titan Mercury) dec. Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids WC), 6-0
Rnd. 2: Elor def. Molinari, 2-1, Amit Elor wins series, 2-0
76 kg (167½ lbs)
Rnd. 1: Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Adeline Gray (New York AC), 11-6
Rnd. 2: Blades dec. Gray, 8-3. Kennedy Blades wins series, 2-0
Greco-Roman
60 kg (132 lbs)
Rnd 1: Dalton Roberts (U.S. Army WCAP) dec. Ildar Hafizov (U.S. Army WCAP), 2-0
Rnd 2: Hafizov tech. fall Roberts, 10-1
Rnd 3: Roberts dec. Hafizov, 3-2. Roberts wins series, 2-1
67 kg (147½ lbs)
Rnd 1: Alejandro Sancho (U.S. Army WCAP) dec. Ellis Coleman (U.S. Army WCAP), 1-1
Rnd 2: Coleman dec. Sancho, 2-0
Rnd 3: Coleman dec. Sancho, 3-2. Coleman wins series, 2-1
77 kg (169½ lbs)
Rnd 1: Kamal Bey (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Aliaksandr Kikinou (New York AC), 9-1
Rnd 2: Bey de. Kikinou, 6-0. Bey wins series, 2-0
87 kg (191½ lbs)
Rnd 1: Payton Jacobson (Northern Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Spencer Woods (U.S. Army WCAP), 8-1
Rnd 2: Woods dec. Jacobson, 5-2
Rnd 3: Jacobson dec. Woods, 3-1. Jacobson wins series, 2-1
97 kg (213½ lbs)
Rnd 1: Alan Vera (New York AC) dec. Josef Rau (Titan Mercury WC), 7-1
Rnd 2: Rau dec. Vera, 6-0
Rnd 3: Rau tech fall Vera, 8-0. Rau wins series, 2-1
130 kg (286½ lbs)
Rnd 1: Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kid WC) dec. Adam Coon (Cliff Keen WC/New York AC), 3-1
Rnd 2: Coon dec. Schultz, 1-1, criteria
Rnd 3: Coon dec. Schultz, 6-1. Coon wins series, 2-1
