Penn State wrestling: Aaron Brooks suffers last second upset in Olympic semifinals

Former Penn State wrestling star Aaron Brooks entered the 2024 Summer Olympics as one of the favorites to reach the finals at 86 kg and potentially win a Gold Medal. After a dominant first session that saw the ex-Nittany Lion pull off 4-3 and 11-1 victories, Brooks’ run ended in the semifinals with a late 4-3 upset loss to Magomed Ramzanov of Bulgaria in the semifinal round on Thursday.

Brooks will have an opportunity to wrestle for the Bronze Medal on Friday.

How it happened

Aaron Brooks came out in typical fashion, pestering Ramzanov with lots of hand-fighting and a relentless offensive attack. It resulted in Ramazanov getting hit with a one-point penalty for inactivity. Brooks then extended his lead to 3-0 with a double-leg takedown in the final 15 seconds of the first period.

It looked like Aaron Brooks would extend his lead early in the second period, but he could not get any points due to Ramzanov’s great defense. His inability to finish the takedown would ultimately come back to bite the former Nittany Lion.

Ramzanov got on the board with a takedown at the under-two-minute mark in the match. With under 30 seconds remaining, Brooks got the foot of the Bulgarian and was holding on before Ramzanov turned him with under two seconds remaining. Brooks fell 4-3 as time expired.

Penn State wrestling star’s quest for Gold comes up short

© Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

The upset shocked the wrestling world. There was some debate as to whether Aaron Brooks was tired following his first two matches of the day, which saw him take down the No. 1 seed Azamat Dauletbekov and the No. 8 seed Ishiguro Hayato. 

Wrestling can be a challenging sport to predict. Before the 2024 Summer Olympics started, Brooks entered as one of the heavy favorites to take home the Gold. Ramazanov, who entered as the eighth-highest favorite, now has pulled off multiple upsets and will be competing for the Gold Medal on Friday.

Aaron Brooks will next wrestle on Friday in the ninth match of the 12:15 pm ET time window with an opportunity for the Bronze Medal at 86 kg.

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