Penn State’s star-studded wrestling program will lead the university’s contingent of former (and current) athletes into the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Five national-championship wrestlers who either dominated for coach Cael Sanderson or who are key members of the State College-based Nittany Lion Wrestling Club will compete in the upcoming Olympic Games (July 26-August 11).
They will be joined by plenty of other Olympic athletes with Penn State ties during the upcoming two weeks in France. From volleyball to field hockey, track and field and fencing …
Six former Nittany Lion athletes won medals at the Tokyo Olympics Games in 2021 — including a PSU-record four golds.
Follow along here for updates on how these more than 20 current Penn State Olympians are performing:
Aaron Brooks, 24, will look to continue his stunning ascension at quite possibly the perfect time. In the past eight months he’s won an Under-23 world title, a fourth national championship at Penn State and the Olympic Trials by upsetting reigning 86 kilogram gold medalist David Taylor.
Now, he faces a loaded Olympic field that includes Iranian Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani (gold medal in 2016, silver in 2021). Can Brooks pose the same kind of trouble for Yazdani — and rising 26-year-old Russian Artur Naifonov — as the vanquished Taylor did over the years?
Zain Retherford, Penn State’s three-time national champ, nearly gave up wrestling last year for a financial career. Now, he’s Olympic-bound thanks to an inspired run through April’s team trials at the Bryce Jordan Center and an even more remarkable performance a few weeks later at the World Olympics Games Qualifier in Turkey. He won four matches on the deciding day in Istanbul to place third in the 65 kg freestyle weight class and clinch his trip to Paris.
The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club standout will make his third trip to the Olympics — in search of his second gold medal. Snyder is a Woodbine, Maryland native and a three-time NCAA champ at Ohio State. Though he, blasted through April’s Olympic Trials at Penn State in the 97 kilo division, he should face stiff competition in Paris, particularly from longtime rival Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia.
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