2022 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

March 18, 2022

Aaron Brooks

Penn State

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Aaron Brooks.

184, congratulations, Penn State.

Q. I couldn't help back to the Big Ten final when -- scored late and this went into overtime, when this went into overtime, what was your thought?

AARON BROOKS: Gosh, God. My mind was in other places, but God is my peace. I know he's got me. Stay calm and relaxed.

Q. You said your mind was in other places, do you know why?

AARON BROOKS: We're human. It happens, right? I was on kind of a hot streak, like I said it took a minute to make me realize these things and come back to my roots. It's a blessing.

Q. Aaron, you kept shooting. How confident were you it was going to work?

AARON BROOKS: I just exert myself every time I go out there. I wanted that second stall card, he goes to the edge a lot. It's his style, you've got to put -- put his hips in when he shoots so you have to stay on him, be consistent.

Q. You wrestled with no fans and now you had all these fans out here tonight, talk about that?

AARON BROOKS: It's electric. It's a blessing that God has given me to be out here and glorify him. I'm not worthy of his blessings, but I'm just grateful. It's something that I've always dreamed of so to be here in the moment, living the moment, I look up see my fans, my family, I just want to acknowledge them, they're a huge part of this with me so it means a lot.

Q. During the match he was wrestling the edge, same tactics as he used last year and you were so close to scoring on the edge three or four times that I saw. It gets frustrating. How do you react to that frustrating. You wanted to be back in the middle and you were at the end. What do you say to yourself to get you where you need to be?

AARON BROOKS: It's funny, I had a dream a week ago, it was me and him wrestling in the semis and I scored a takedown but it was a weird call and in my dream I was like, stay calm. I'm out there and that happened and I'm like, I knew this would happen, kind of, so this is God, he prepares me for these things ahead of time and when it happened I knew it was a time to keep my faith and keep going.

Q. You are one win away from a perfect night again. Y'all are so hard to score on. Why is that?

AARON BROOKS: Our coaches, the things we do in the room. They're the best coaches in the world, you know? Second to none. I give credit to the coaches. I guess I'm blessed to be at the place I'm at. It's just a blessing. I'm grateful. Whenever you're in a place like that you are prepared the right way so thanks to my coaches.

Q. Aaron, you had two close matches there with the guy you're going to be seeing tomorrow night. Has that been on your mind? Looking to get another crack at him?

AARON BROOKS: You kind of figure who it'll be, when you look at the brackets. You want to picture yourself in the finals and when you look at these guys you can kinda tell. But a bronze medalist, 25 years of age, he's been in the game a while. Worthy opponent. It's a blessing. He's going to bring out the best in me tomorrow and I'm sure I will do the same for him, so grateful.

Q. You haven't lost a match today in the semis as a team, what does that mean to you?

AARON BROOKS: We feed off each other, watching Roman in a close one with DeSanto, he pulled it out, that motivates me, when I'm in a great match we do it together, we're a family. I think that's what makes this team special. I've been at Penn State for three years now and this team is special. The atmosphere, we're smiling, we're having a good time all the time. We love what we do, we love each other so I think that's why our team is so successful this year. Past years we were always good, come in second, second, past years, but this team is special, you know, something different. Give it to God. This is God's plan.

Q. You said you had the dream and that God prepared you for events like this. (Away from mic.) You pointed up to the sky. Was that an extra reference to that preparation?

AARON BROOKS: Yeah. You know, I think Coach came up to me and he saw my head band -- for Christianity sign. I just felt-- he's a gamer, credit to that kid, coach was talking about he's a gamer, too, and Coach said the ultimate gamer and he said imagine the pressure he had to be perfect and that took all the pressure away from me. It was like our savior went through this, he puts me in these situations, I thought I would be like him, calm and relaxed. He had the pressure of the world to never sin so yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us. Congratulations.