University Park– Three Penn State wrestling/Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members are going to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The names are Kyle Dake, Kyle Snyder and, most dramatically, Aaron Brooks.
Dake, who wrestled at Cornell but is a member of Penn State’s Olympic wrestling club, is going to his third Olympics at 74KG and will look to improve upon his bronze finish at the 2020 games in Tokyo.
Snyder, who wrestled at Ohio State but, like Dake, joined NLWC after college, is also going to his third Olympics and is looking for his second Gold Medel, with the first coming in 2016 at the Rio Games.
Brooks was the one who perhaps stole the show most of all. Less than a month from competing in his last college match, Brooks beat 2016 Gold Medalist and fellow Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor 3-1.
Here’s how it all happened.
74 KG (Best of 3)
Jason Nolf (NLWC) vs. Kyle Dake (NLWC) (Dake leads 1-0)
The men wrestle to a stalemate through the first two minutes. Dake gets the first point due to Nolf’s inactivity. Nolf gets hurt with seven seconds left, but the bout resumes after a pause. Dake gets a second point due to passivity from Nolf and goes up 3-0 on a step out. Nolf ends up getting a point of his own on a step-out, but that’s all he gets. Dake is going to the Olympics.
Dake 3, Nolf 1
97 KG
Kyle Snyder (NLWC) vs. Isaac Trumble
Snyder gets two takedowns to go ahead 4-0. That’s how the bout would stay. He’s going back to the Olympics.
Snyder 4, Trumble 0
86 KG
David Taylor (NLWC) vs. Aaron Brooks (NLWC) (Brooks leads 1-0)
The two wrestle to a scoreless first minute. Brooks draws first blood via push-out. With a little more than a minute left, Brooks gets a takedown to make it 3-0. He keeps that lead into the second period. Taylor then gets a point due to inactivity from Brooks. But that’s all he gets.
Aaron Brooks is going to the 2024 Olympics.
