Tag: Aaron Brooks

Best photos of Aaron Brooks at the U.S. wrestling Olympic trials

Check out some of the best photos of Aaron Brooks winning his spot on the U.S. national wrestling team heading to the Olympics this summer.

It was a monumental weekend in Happy Valley for Penn State wrestling star [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag]. Brooks scored one of the most surprising upsets of the weekend’s U.S. national wrestling trials to earn a spot on the national team heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer when he topped fellow former Nittany Lion, and defending gold medalist, [autotag]David Taylor[/autotag] on the mat in a best-of-three series.

Brooks is coming off a fourth consecutive NCAA title and will now have a shot at Olympic gold. Taylor will still be on the U.S. National Team as the trials runner-up, but his path to defending his gold is trickier than most anticipated.

Here are some of the best photos from Brooks’ run to the U.S. trials victory this weekend in the Bryce Jordan Center. Next stop, Paris!

Penn State wrestling alums to represent Team USA at Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

It should be no surprise that the U.S. national wrestling team heading to the Olympics this summer will have these former Nittany Lions leading the way.

Penn State wrestling will be well-represented at this summer’s Olympic games in Paris, France. On Saturday, the United States wrestling team trials were held in the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, home to Penn State’s dominant national championship wrestling program, and some familiar faces battled on the mat for spots in the Olympics.

The biggest storyline was [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag] pulling an upset of Olympic gold medalist [autotag]David Taylor[/autotag] in a battle of former Nittany Lion standouts in the 84 kg trials.

While Brooks cemented his spot on the roster, Taylor will also be on the U.S. National Team as well as the trials runner-up.

Taylor and Brooks will be joined in Paris by some fellow Penn State products. [autotag]Kyle Dake[/autotag] (74 kg) came out on top of former Nittany Lion [autotag]Jason Nolf[/autotag] for a spot on the team, but Nolf will also be on the Team USA roster after finishing in second place.

A fifth member of the Penn State wrestling family will be making plans to head to Paris as well. [autotag]Kyle Snyder[/autotag] (97 kg) picked up a win in his trials over Isaac Trumble to secure a spot on the U.S. national team.

A handful of others from the Penn State family kept their Olympic dreams alive as well. [autotag]Zain Retherford[/autotag] (65 kg) will have a chance to qualify for the Paris Games in May. [autotag]Nick Lee[/autotag], who lost to Retherford, earned a spot on the U.S. team thanks to his second-place finish. [autotag]Mitchell Mesenbrink[/autotag] (74 kg) took third place in the trials and earned a spot on the U.S. national team.

The Paris 2024 Olympics are set to begin on July 26 in Paris, France. Wrestling events will begin on August 5 and run through August 11. The world is about to get a dose of Penn State wrestling up close and personal.

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Penn State wrestling clinches 11th NCAA national title under Cael Sanderson

Death, taxes, and Penn State winning a national championship in college wrestling.

Add another national title to the books for Penn State’s wrestling program. The Nittany Lions clinched the NCAA team national championship with a strong showing in the semifinals on Friday, going a perfect 6-0 in semifinal matches at the NCAA national championships.

Penn State sits in first place with 148.0 points after Friday’s semifinal matches. Michigan is in second place with a point total of 65.5, and Iowa is in third with 65.0 points. This marks Penn State’s third consecutive team national title under head coach Cael Sanderson, and its 11th in the past 13 seasons. This is Penn State’s 12th all-time national championship for the wrestling team.

[autotag]Beau Bartlett[/autotag] (141 lb), [autotag]Levi Haines[/autotag] (157 lb), [autotag]Mitchell Mesenbrink[/autotag] (165 lb), [autotag]Carter Starocci[/autotag] (174 lb), [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag] (197 lb), and [autotag]Greg Kerkvliet[/autotag] (285 lb) all will compete for individual national titles on Saturday.

Penn State has also had eight wrestlers named all-americans, bringing the school’s all-time total to 254.

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6 QBs Mike McCarthy has developed before Trey Lance

The Cowboys’ skipper has been in charge of offenses for the duration of the 2000s. How have his inexperienced QBs fared? | From
@KDDrummondNFL

Mike McCarthy might have inherited Dak Prescott as an entrenched starting quarterback, but he’s had a role in the development of several other quarterbacks who hadn’t yet ascended. The Dallas Cowboys have acquired third-year quarterback Trey Lance via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers and it’s a move that appears all upside, little risk for the Cowboys.

Lance comes with two years remaining on his rookie contract, and if he shows any semblance of development over the course of the season, Dallas has the ability to place the fifth-year option on him. Of course there’s a long way to go from a career QBR under 40 to that, but the head coach of the Cowboys has had some interesting results in developing quarterbacks since his early days as an offensive coordinator.

Recap: Penn State at the NCAA Divison 1 Wrestling Finals

A rundown of Penn State’s results from the NCAA wrestling championships.

Penn State wrestling has become a dynasty in college sports ever since coach [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] took over in 2009. He has produced a plethora of All-Americans, Big Ten champions, and national titles.

2023 was no different for the Nittany Lions as heading into the individual title matches, the team had already locked up it’s second consecutive overall title.

On the same night the basketball team fought for respect in the NCAA basketball tournament, their classmates and fellow Nittany Lions were in Tulsa, Oklahoma looking to earn some respect of their own.

Five wrestlers individually were competing for national championships, as well as competing for an overall team title for the second straight year.

Check-in below with how they fair in the BOK Arena with all the action taking place on the famed mat one.

NCAA wrestling championship photos: Penn State nearing another national title

Penn State’s wrestling team is inching closer to yet another national championship.

The month of March has much more than basketball madness popping up around Happy Valley. At Penn State, March is when the school’s wrestling program performs at its best, and it is once again closing in on another national championship at this year’s NCAA wrestling championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Penn State’s top wrestlers went 5-2 in the semifinals to inch closer to another team title under head coach Cael Sanderson. Following Friday’s round, Penn State owned 116.5 points in the standings, with Iowa in second with 77.0 points in the overall team standings. Five Penn State wrestlers will have a chance to secure an individual national title on Saturday; [autotag]Roman Bravo-Young[/autotag], [autotag]Levi Haines[/autotag], [autotag]Carter Starocci[/autotag], [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag], and [autotag]Greg Kerkvliet[/autotag]. [autotag]Beau Bartlett[/autotag] and [autotag]Shayne Van Ness[/autotag] will battle for third-place in consolation matches on Saturday.

Here are some of the best photos of Penn State hitting the mats at the NCAA wrestling national championships in Tulsa.

Best photos from Penn State wrestling’s Big Ten championship

Best photos of Roman Bravo-Young and the Penn State wrestling program’s Big Ten championship.

Death, taxes, and Penn State wrestling. Once again the most dominant athletics program at Penn State celebrated a Big Ten championship at this year’s Big Ten wrestling championships, thus setting the tone for another potential national championship run for the program.

[autotag]Roman Bravo-Young[/autotag] (133), [autotag]Aaron Brooks[/autotag] (184),  [autotag]Carter Starocci[/autotag] (174), and [autotag]Levi Haines[/autotag] (157) all won individual Big Ten titles in their respective weight classes to help Penn State build its lead for the team championship. [autotag]Max Dean[/autotag] (197) and [autotag]Greg Kerkvliet[/autotag] (285) were finalists in their weight class as well but fell shy of a Big Ten championship.

Here are some of the best photos from Penn State’s wrestling stars at the Big Ten championships.

49ers ended the Saints’ streak of 332 games without a shutout

The 49ers ended the Saints’ streak of 332 games played without a shutout loss on Sunday. It had been the longest active streak in the NFL:

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It’s been a long, long time since the New Orleans Saints were last shut out. They put points on the board in 332 consecutive games — which had been the longest active streak in the NFL. But the San Francisco 49ers snapped that streak on Sunday, and now the Saints are left to pick up the pieces. Annoyingly, that isn’t even an NFL record. The 49ers themselves set it with 420 games played without a shutout.

So what happened in New Orleans’ last shutout? To give you some context, it happened on Jan. 6, 2002 at the end of the 2001 regular season. Jim Haslett coached the team, and Aaron Brooks was the Saints quarterback at the time, with Drew Brees closing out his rookie year with the Chargers (who played in San Diego at the time). At the time, this was a game between two rivals in the old NFC West; the NFC South would be founded a year later. Sean Payton was finishing out his second season as the New York Giants offensive coordinator and Dennis Allen was busy working the secondary at Tulsa, his first full-time coaching job. It capped a four-game losing streak that put the Saints at 7-9, eliminating them from the playoffs.

And of course it was the same 49ers team who beat them in a 38-nothing shutout at home. Terrell Owens started the game with two long touchdown catches from Jeff Garcia (of 56 and 60 yards, both in the first quarter) and things didn’t get much easier from there. The Niners racked up 407 yards of offense while limiting New Orleans to just 126 yards, intercepting Brooks four times and jarring loose four fumbles (three of them from Ricky Williams). San Francisco improved to 12-4 on the year but got knocked out of the playoffs a week later.

Things might be headed in a similar direction all these years later. The Saints are long shots of reaching the playoffs, while the 49ers look like a possible Super Bowl contender. There are still games left to play and decisions to make, but that’s where we are. History doesn’t always repeat itself  — but it often rhymes.

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Taysom Hill closing in on Aaron Brooks’ single-season fumbles record

New Orleans Saints QB Taysom Hill is closing in on Aaron Brooks’ single-season fumbles record, a mark he probably isn’t excited about.

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There have been some highlights from Taysom Hill’s four-game starting stint with the New Orleans Saints. But nearly every one of those bright moments has been punctuated with a momentum-killing fumble.

And the pace he’s on has to be concerning. Hill has fumbled 10 times in 13 games, and, again: he’s only seen four starts as the full-time quarterback. He hasn’t played often enough to warrant that sort of giveaway rate.

For perspective: Hill is in danger of breaking the team record Aaron Brooks set back in 2003, when he coughed up 14 fumbles in 16 games as the starting quarterback. Brooks fumbled 11 or more times each year from 2001 to 2004.

That isn’t exactly the sort of company Hill would like to join, and he doesn’t have Brooks’ success as a passer to outweigh the fumbles. Both of them pail in comparison to Drew Brees, who has only fumbled 10 times in a single season once, in 2009.

It’s clearly something Hill must clean up. Saints coach Sean Payton can talk him up as his next quarterback for life after Brees, but this is one flaw they can’t afford to live with.

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Former Illawarra coach Matt Flinn calls LaMelo Ball a ‘quintessential gym rat’

Former Illawarra coach Matt Flinn continued to shut down narratives of LaMelo Ball’s work ethic by calling him a gym rat in a recent interview.

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In the weeks and months leading up to the 2020 NBA Draft, questions arose of LaMelo Ball’s maturity levels, work ethic and how seriously he took the game. With no facts to back it up, the claims were largely baseless and went against many of the reports from teammates and coaches in Illawarra.

Ball’s former head coach with the Hawks, Matt Flinn, has been one of his most ardent defenders. During and even after Ball’s half-season in Australia, Flinn consistently complimented Ball’s work ethic and focus and did so once more recently in a profile on Ball for USA Today by Josh Peter and Jeff Zillgitt.

“He is a quintessential gym rat. He’s got an amazing skill set. He works in tight spaces. He’s a great ball handler. He’s ambidextrous when he passes the basketball. But he hadn’t been coached a lot in terms of that real professional team environment.

“When I look back on his journey with us, that’s a proud one because we sort of helped him establish to other people that he can exist in a professional environment.’’

From nearly the minute he stepped onto the court during the preseason in Wollongong, Flinn defended Ball. He called Ball’s love for basketball “infectious,” talked about how hard he practiced and said Ball “sleeps, drink basketball.”  Even after Ball left Illawarra and Flinn was relieved as head coach, the compliments still came, showing hard strong an impression Ball left on Flinn.

All of Flinn’s comments mirror those of teammate Aaron Brooks. The former NBA guard spent a handful of games alongside Ball with the Hawks before suffering a season-ending injury. Brooks came into the season expecting Ball to be the prima donna his reputation portrays him as but was blown away by Ball’s commitment to the game as well.

“What surprised me is he was just like a real cool kid. I would have never known he had that many followers (on social media) unless we went out because he was just one of the guys. He had a roommate just like everybody else. He traveled with the team like everybody else. He was just one of the regular guys. When I said we needed to go get some extra work in, he was ready to go get some extra work in. When we had extra running to do, he did extra running. At 18, when I say there’s guy that got drafted in Houston and they were rookies and they were 21 and had less accolades than him and were bigger assholes, for him to be the way he was was surprising to me. Just a good kid, man.”

If Ball is not picked No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, it should be due to his on-court skillset and not any off-court concerns. Any concerns about his work ethic and maturity have long been put to bed by those that have spent time on a team around him.