As most of the nation's best high school competitors mull over their potential college destinations, Aaron Brooks is pumping the breaks a bit as he heads down the recruiting trail. 

The three-time Fargo champion has had just about every school knocking at his door in hopes of bringing the dynamic and ultra-talented recruit from Maryland to its campus. However, he will not make that decision anytime soon, because after he graduates from high school he will head off to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, for a year to enter its developmental program.

"I just feel like it's the right thing for me to do," Brooks said. "I've let the coaches who have been recruiting me know that that's my decision. Some of them are OK with it, and some still try to convince me to commit and come to their school instead. But this is what's best for me."



The way Brooks sees it, 2020 will be here before he knows it, and he is eyeing a spot on the Olympic team.

"Getting this experience right now while I can before heading off to college is a great opportunity," he said. "I want to make the Olympic team in 2020, and this is a step towards doing that.

Let's be honest, winning World and Olympic titles are the end goal in our sport so why not set myself up to do that? Even if I don't make the team, getting to have the experience against this guys is huge.

As he sharpens his freestyle tools with some of the best coaches in the country at the OTC, Brooks will also take classes at a local school. But even though he is putting his college commitment on hold, he has still taken some unofficial visits to Penn State and his home state school of Maryland. He has plans to visit a few others as well. 

Brooks isn't the first wrestler from Maryland to choose this route. World and Olympic champions Kyle Snyder and Helen Maroulis made similar decisions after high school, and you see how that worked out for them.

"I was definitely influenced by Kyle," Brooks said. "I'm doing the same thing, just at a different time. You see how it helped him develop, so what could be bad about this? I'm really looking forward to getting to train freestyle and get this experience."