Let me be the first to say that I am very excited to watch Aaron Brooks wrestle at Midlands. 

Watch the 2018 Midlands Championships Live On Flo

Dec. 29-30 | 9:30 a.m. ET

As if Zahid Valencia and his dominating presence at this year’s tournament wasn’t enough to watch at 174, Brooks adding his name to the list of guys looking to take out the #2-ranked returning NCAA champ gives us another anxious wrinkle to look out for. So far this year the Junior World silver medalist has taken home titles from two college tournaments, the Wyoming Cowboy Open and Northern Colorado Open. At both of those tournaments he competed at 184. 

Watch Brooks vs. Labriola at the US Open:

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This weekend Brooks is making the move down in hopes of getting a chance to lock horns with Valencia. While neither the Wyoming Cowboy Open nor the Northern Colorado Open were particularly tough, let’s remember that Brooks also has three wins over Nebraska’s #9 Mikey Labriola (in freestyle). 

But Brooks isn’t the only guy in the field. Also in the mix is #8 Taylor Lujan, #10 Ryan Christensen, #11 Johnny Sebastian, #12 Ben Harvey and #19 Brit Wilson.

With Valencia coming off his first loss in two years, it’s no secret that he will be looking to get back to his high-paced winning ways. 

Watch Valencia win the Midlands title last year: