The first match of Penn State wrestling legend Aaron Brooks first senior freestyle tournament won’t be an easy one.
The 86 kg bracket came out Wednesday morning, and Brooks, who’s un-seeded, will take on No. 1 Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan.
Olympic Brackets are set for Spencer Lee, Aaron Brooks, and Helen Maroulis ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/i2z1CWhADJ
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Dauletbekov, 30, has twice been a bronze medalist at the World Championships.
He’s also a five-time medalist at the Asian championships, with three of those being Gold, all at 86 kg.
Brooks, 24, has already had maybe the best year of any Penn State wrestler ever. He won his fourth national title in March, was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner in April and qualified for the Olympics weeks later, upsetting fellow Penn State wrestling legend and 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist David Taylor in two straight matches of a best-of-three series.
Although Dauletbekov is the top seed, he isn’t the favorite.
The favorite is Hassan Yazdani, a three-time world champion, seven-time world medalist and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist.
For Taylor— who went 5-1 against Yazdani for his career, the most notable win being in the final match in Tokyo— starting fast will be key for AB.
“I think for Aaron, he’s just going to have to be ready early,” Taylor told NSN in an exclusive interview earlier this month. “Yazdani… he wrestlers really hard. He wrestlers really hard the whole time, especially early, he comes in pretty hot.
Taylor also doesn’t see the fellow Penn State wrestling great winning a low-scoring match.
“So, I think, he has to be ready early, and he’s going to have to score multiple times, he said. “Aaron has those abilities for sure. Those two guys I think are the best two guys in the weight class.”
The prelims and quarters for 86 kg are scheduled to begin bright and early at 5 a.m. eastern time. If Brooks makes it to the semis, that will start at 12:15. The finals are scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9 at 12:15.
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