One of the greatest in Penn State wrestling history and an Olympic Bronze Medalist has been suspended from competition for two years.
Pat Mineo of the Wrestling Room reported during the summer that Aaron Brooks was “allegedly facing a 1-2 year suspension” due to a failed drug test.
Wednesday evening, Christian Pyles of FloWrestling confirmed through Brooks’ father, John, that Brooks had been suspended for two years and will be allowed to compete starting in June 2027.
The good news is, since the Olympic Trials will be held in the spring of 2028, Brooks will have time to compete for his Olympic spot at 86 KG.
Per the United States Anti Doping Agency, what caused Brooks’ positive test was the use of dehydroepiandrosterone. Per Harvard Health, DHEA is “a hormone produced mainly by your adrenal glands, which are located just above the kidneys.”
The USADA prohibits the use of this substance.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Brooks’ positive test took place April 21 of last year and was the test was not related to competition. Brooks appealed to an independent arbitrator in November and claimed that his use of the banned substance took place following him being hospitalized with double pneumonia for two days.
Although Brooks claims he did research the supplement before taking it, he didn’t find out it was banned until he had been taking it for two weeks.
“Was a tough moment,” Brooks said per the hearing report. The bottle literally says DHEA, and I go to the [Prohibited] List, and it says DHEA, so I knew right away what it was.”
Brooks is one of the best to ever do it, not just at Penn State, but in college wrestling. He and teammate Carter Starocci became the first two Penn State wrestlers to win four national championships in 2024, and Brooks followed that up with a Bronze Medal in Paris five months later.
