'I want to be the greatest of all-time.' How Aaron Brooks is making Penn State history

He always knew, it seems, that he'd become one of the great wrestlers in the world.

That he'd be able to do something few ever have.

Aaron Brooks, those close to him say, has been fueled by an almost unnatural confidence to learn and grow and win from the time he was old enough to roll around on a wrestling mat.

And the unwavering faith to promote what drives him toward his most grandiose goals now ...

Brooks is favored to win his fourth individual national title at the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri (March 21-23) − along with injured Penn State teammate Carter Starocci. Only five others, including Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, have ever done it.

A few weeks later, he gets his shot at making the Olympics during the team trials at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. He's already considered the top competitor to Olympic gold medal winner and former Penn State star David Taylor, regarded by some as the world's top wrestler, pound for pound.

Brooks, who will turn 24 in June, calmly, expectedly, embraces that stunning challenge ahead, like he has most everything else in his wrestling life.

To think that it all began, when he was just 6.

He had been wrestling for about a year when he started attending the practices of his older brother. On one particular day, Aaron was overwhelmed by the stronger, more mature boys.

He begged his father to explain on the drive back to their Hagerstown, Maryland home. John Brooks began by talking about training and maturity and then stopped.

"'Let me ask you,'" he would say to his son, 'would you like to be best in the club, in the league, a national champ? What do you want to be?'"

Aaron didn't hesitate.

"I want to be the greatest of all time," he said. He listened as his father began detailing the kind of dedication and perseverance that he would need to even begin such a journey.

"When can we start?" the kid shot right back.

And so the very next day, the story goes, Aaron Brooks began running sprints and jogging stairs and doing endless plyometrics and pushups and sit-ups − and has really never stopped. Within a year, John Brooks would be betting his contractor co-workers how his grade school son could do more push-ups than any of them. Aaron would always go first, rattle off 40, 50 or more, and the men would smile and just hand him a dollar or two.

"He’s had an internal drive. Where that comes from? I don’t know ...," his father said.

Penn State wrestling: When Aaron Brooks began to dominate ...

Aaron Brooks' success ramped up quickly at North Hagerstown High, especially as he began growing out of his 125-pound freshman body. His wrestling mind, meanwhile, always seemed to be working years ahead −in part, his father said, from devotedly pouring over taped matches of the greats who came before him, such as Sanderson.

The way he went about winning the first of his four Maryland state high school titles impressed longtime coach Greg Slick more than the actual winning.

"He would go 7-deep on moves as a freshman, so he was like, "I do that, then I do this and then I do ...' It was kind of amazing," Slick said. "I'd be, 'Wait a minute now, talk me through that again?' And then he'd go on the mat and demonstrate it. I don't want to say I was dumbstruck, but that the kid could do that …"

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Brooks was about 140 pounds by his sophomore year. That's when he gave Slick a personal goal sheet: "state champ, NCAA champ, world champ."

"That was the first time I admitted to myself he was destined for pretty big things," Slick said. "For a 15- or 16-year-old kid, he was matter-of-fact, 'Yeah, Coach, this is what I’m going to do.' Not what he hoped to do or planned to do. I looked at Aaron differently as a tenth grader because I knew how driven he was."

Take his senior year, in January, when he suffered a broken bone in his foot. He was expected to miss the next six weeks — putting that fourth state title in doubt.

Brooks simply claimed himself healthy in a month and began training just in time to qualify for postseason tournaments. He rolled to that fourth title despite a new metal rod in his foot.

He would spend the following year at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. That, if anything, would help him adjust more quickly than most upon arriving at No. 1 Penn State − where most of his teammates had also won state titles and were older and expecting to be stronger and wiser.

No matter, Brooks won the starting job at 184 pounds almost immediately with a string of rousing successes — though he said he learned more from his only defeat. In a recent Big Ten Network video interview, he and Penn State assistant coach Casey Cunningham pointed to that February 2020 night at Nebraska as a key pivot in his career.

“Coming off the mat coach Casey told me something that stuck with me to this day: ‘If you master baseline defense, you’re a national champion," Brooks said.

And he was able to avenge that defeat just a month later, pinning Nebraska's Taylor Venz at the Big Ten Championships, just before the COVID pandemic shut everything down. His quest to win a national championship would be delayed for a year.

“Most kids who come (to Penn State) say they want to be a four-time champ. Do they really believe it? I don’t know. He did. He believes it," Cunningham told the Big Ten Network. "It has to be important for you to be successful, but it can’t be so that it cripples you.

“When he goes (on the mat), and he’s relaxed and calm and breathing, but he’s aggressive? No one can wrestle him."

Aaron Brooks 'knows what his purpose in this world is'

Brooks carries himself toward the NCAA Championships, the Olympic Trials and everything that may come after, fueled by his faith in God.

He regularly shares his beliefs on his Youtube channel, has spoken increasingly about his faith before and after matches.

He created a national buzz last March, moments after winning his third national title. While crediting his wrestling successes to his Christian faith, he made, what many felt, were disparaging remarks about the Islamic profit Muhammad. The social media backlash was swift and fervent.

“It’s everything. Christ’s resurrection is everything,” Brooks said in that interview with ESPN. “Not just his life, but his death and resurrection. You can only get that through Him. The Holy Spirit only through Him. No false prophets, no Muhammad or no anyone else. Only Jesus Christ himself.

“I’m blessed. God used me. He gave me this platform for this right here,” Brooks said. “It’s all for his glory.”

He was unswayed by the criticism and has continued to evangelize when he sees fit − continues to strengthen his wrestling dominance this winter despite moving up to 197 pounds. He's never been remotely threatened in his 14 victories, improving his overall college record to 81-3.

His father said he hopes to wrestle through the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, then potentially transition into MMA or coaching or possibly into some type of ministry. He's already received invitation so speak to church youth groups.

Brooks has said he doesn't define his life as a wrestler, that it is only a means to serving a higher calling.

"If you can't be the greatest version of yourself as a human, you can’t be the greatest at anything," John Brooks said. "Aaron knows what his purpose in this world is. He doesn’t have a lot of confusion. Aaron knows he’s a Christian and a child of God. He knows he’s supposed to spread the word of God."

Spreading his beliefs through wrestling, he knows, can garner more attention with every conquering step. Like winning that fourth NCAA title and then battling, once again, the man who may truly be the greatest in the world at what he does.

David Taylor beat Brooks during Final X competition last summer for a spot on the USA world championship team. Taylor, 32, is ranked No. 1 in the world at 86 kilograms, according to FloWrestling. Brooks is No. 5.

They could well meet again in mid-April at the Olympic wrestling trials in the Bryce Jordan Center. Another guidepost in the journey he began as a first-grade kid.

“What you’re fighting for in a wrestling match is to be present," Brooks said in that BTN interview. "If I’m at peace, then I can then be present. If I’m present, then I can do anything."

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Aaron Brooks guns to be greatest in NCAA, ever at Penn State wrestling