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Penn State Wrestling: Did we learn anything from the Big Ten Championships?

By Chris Snyder

Penn State's Brady Berge, center, has his hand raised after winning in sudden victory against Iowa's Kaleb Young at 157 pounds during the third session of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, Sunday, March 6, 2022, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.220306 Big Ten Wr 033 Jpg
Penn State's Brady Berge, center, has his hand raised after winning in sudden victory against Iowa's Kaleb Young at 157 pounds during the third session of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, Sunday, March 6, 2022, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.220306 Big Ten Wr 033 Jpg /
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Penn State’s Aaron Brooks (Image via Getty Images) /

Is this going to be Aaron Brooks’ toughest year?

I posed this very question back in early November before the wrestling season really kicked into gear.

Aaron Brooks was coming off his second straight Big Ten title and he was the reigning champion at 184. Great wrestlers improve every year and they push themselves to get better each match.

And early in the season, Brooks wasn’t tested much outside of a decision win over Northern Iowa’s No. 4 Parker Keckeisen. But then came the constant onslaught of top 10 wrestlers at 184 in the Big Ten.

But, as always Brooks was up for the challenge when he faced the following matches in a row:
W over No. 21 John Poznanski 10-2 major decision
W over No. 1 Myles Amine 3-1 decision
W over Layne Malczewski 4-0 decision
W over No. 19 Abe Assad 8-3 decision
W over Rocky Jordan fall
W over No. 11 Taylor Venz 7-2 decision

Outside of his match with Amine, Brooks was rarely tested.

Then came the Big Ten Championships where Brooks continued to mow down the competition by pinning Cochran and crushing Venz once again. And Myles Amine was there waiting for him in the finals.

We all know how that turned out so I don’t want to rehash it for anyone.

But the bottom line is this, Aaron Brooks has potentially met his match in Amine. Also, programs outside of the Big Ten currently occupy the No. 3 – No. 7 ranked grapplers at 184. So if Brooks wants another crack at the title, he’ll have to go through them to get to Amine.

Is this going to be Aaron Brooks’ toughest year?
Answer: Yes

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