This is the first Olympic appearance for the 24-year-old from Provo who finished second in his heat on Monday.
The tight race ended with Morocco finishing just 0.36 seconds ahead of Rooks.
Third place came in 0.06 seconds behind him.
Rooks was the only US athlete to make it to the finals after his teammate and current BYU student James Corrigan was knocked out in the qualifying heats.
