Over 6,000 miles away from home and pushed to the brink of elimination, sophomore wrestler Matty Singleton rallied to earn the bronze medal at the U20 World Championships — a competition that featured some of the world’s top wrestlers.
Singleton was a natural choice for the US national team. Singleton’s high school career included four state championships and a pair of NHSCA national titles, making him a No. 1 recruit in his weight class.
This past year at NC State, Singleton posted an 11-7 overall record and finished fourth in the ACC conference championships, a strong year for a freshman. After that, Singleton was ready to take on a new challenge — international competition.
Singleton took the 13-hour flight from Raleigh to Jordan for the The U20 World Championships. After downing opponent after opponent, Singleton suffered a loss in the semifinals and found himself in one final match against Turkey’s Ahmet Yagan with a bronze medal on the line.
“I knew it was all or nothing at that point,” Singleton said. “You either get bronze, get on the podium and get a medal or you lose the match.”
After a strong start to the match with Yagan, Singleton found himself up 6-1. However, in one final challenge, Yagan furiously fought back to even the score at 7. Back to square one, Singleton iced off Yagan at the end for a 9-7 victory, clinching the bronze medal.
“When you go up big, it’s a high-risk match,” Singleton said. “At that point, that guy has nothing to lose, so he’s throwing everything at you.”
To get to this point, Singleton battled plenty of adversity. For starters, he found himself competing in Amman, Jordan — an unfamiliar place on the other side of the globe.
“Anytime you’re in a place like where we were in Jordan … it’s just a lot different there,” Singleton said. “It’s a big culture, and you can’t really read or talk to anyone.”
Adding to the challenge, the four-time state champion from Georgia suffered an injury in March, cutting his first season with the red-and-white short.
“He’s been through a lot,” said associate head coach Adam Hall. “This past year as a true freshman he didn’t qualify for the national tournament, broke his hand at the conference tournament at ACCs and had to have surgery right after the season.”
Despite the injury, Singleton qualified to make the US national team, but after earning his spot on the squad, Singleton dealt with a second injury.
“He made the world team, and then he broke a bone in his wrist in his other hand and was dealing with that all summer,” Hall said. “He could have elected to miss out on the world championships. … He chose to wrestle through it, wanted to wrestle at the world championships and made the most of it.”
Singleton did in fact make the most of the opportunity, dominating opponents on his way to a bronze medal, starting with Kyrgyzstan’s Denizbek Ulan Uulu 12-2. Singleton followed that up with an impressive 10-0 victory over Hungary’s Nandor Hajduch. While cruising past his early competitors, Singleton used his international training to sharpen and broaden his skills.
“Anytime you’re wrestling or going through a hard training process, it’s gonna make you better,” Singleton said. “It adds more to the arsenal. If you’re able to be a real, NC State, gritty kind of guy but then you’re also trained to be well-versed in freestyle [the international style of wrestling], you can be really slick with points… If you can put those two things together, then that makes you really dangerous.”
After tackling adversity and adjusting to international competition, Singleton’s success throughout the U20 World Championships showcased the strength of NC State’s wrestling program.
“I think it validates what our program is about,” Hall said. “Trying to be the best, not only in our country, but around the world. We have [six] world medals since 2017, so that’s a big deal.”
With the U20 World Championships in the books, Singleton’s focus has turned toward getting healthy and improving on the mat.
“I don’t know how much you’re going to see of me this year on the mat,” Singleton said. “But I’ll be working everyday with the help of my coaches. … For the 2024-25 season, you can be sure that I’ll be there unlike I’ve ever been before. I’ll be ready to take home an NCAA championship.”
