Who stands in Aaron Brooks' way at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials?

David Taylor, a reigning Olympic and world champion, is regarded as the No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler on Earth.

And he's just one of the obstacles standing in the way of Hagerstown's Aaron Brooks in his quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in the 86-kilogram (189.6-pound) weight class in men's freestyle.

Brooks — who recently became a four-time NCAA champion for Penn State and won the Hodge Trophy as the nation's top college wrestler — is set to compete in the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials on Friday and Saturdy at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.

Historic! Aaron Brooks wins his fourth NCAA wrestling title

He is one of 13 wrestlers vying for the country's lone Olympic berth at 86 kilograms — one of only six weight classes contested in the Summer Games.

Brooks, a 2018 North Hagerstown graduate, is seeded No. 1 in the challenge bracket. After a first-round bye, he will need to win three straight matches Friday to advance to Saturday's best-of-3 championship finals against Taylor, another former Penn State superstar.

As a returning medalist from the 2023 world championships, Taylor earned a bye all the way to the finals.

Brooks vs. Taylor again?

Brooks went 2-2 at the Olympic Trials in 2021 at 86 kilograms as Taylor won the weight class.

However, Brooks made the trip to the Tokyo Olympics that summer to serve as Taylor's training partner, helping him win a gold medal.

The two officially squared off for the first time last June at Final X in Newark, N.J., where the winners in each weight class advanced to the world championships in September in Serbia.

Taylor won the best-of-3 showdown 2-0, blanking Brooks 6-0 in the first bout and edging him 5-4 in the second.

Final X: Olympic champ David Taylor tops Aaron Brooks

Taylor went on to win his third world title, becoming a four-time global champion at the senior level, while Brooks went to the U23 world championships in Albania in October and captured a gold medal.

Brooks also won gold at the U17 world championships in 2017 in Greece and was the silver medalist at the U20 world championships in 2018 in Slovakia

Challenge awaits at the Trials

The other wrestlers competing in the challenge bracket at 86 kilograms this weekend include Chance Marsteller (the No. 2 seed), Trent Hidlay (3), Alex Dieringer (4), Mark Hall (5), Carter Starocci (6), Max Dean (7), David McFadden (8), Connor Mirasola (9), Evan Wick (10), Pat Downey (11) and unseeded Zahid Valencia.

Valencia earned an automatic spot in the semifinals — on the opposite side of Brooks on the bracket — as a returning world medalist (bronze) in a non-Olympic weight (92 kilograms).

Brooks has a 1-2 career record against Valencia in freestyle, but he won their last matchup 10-6 in the U.S. Open finals last April in Las Vegas.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Aaron Brooks is set to compete in the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials