With a national championship each of the past two years, NC State wrestling has been on the rise, a fact which is shown in the Wolfpack’s 2015-16 recruiting class.
During the past two weeks, the team has garnered verbal commitments from three top-60 prospects, in addition to a top-20 prospect who committed earlier in the year.
Willie Saylor, editor at FloWrestling, said in a tweet the Pack’s ‘15-16 recruiting class would be ranked “probably #1 right now.”
Head coach Pat Popolizio tweeted in response to the commitments, “truly amazing things [are] happening” for his program.
The first member of the class to commit was Hayden Hidlay of Mifflin County High School in Lewisville, Pennsylvania.
Hidlay is the top-ranked prospect in his class according to FloWrestling, posting a 104-19 record in his three years of high school so far, including three-straight district championships and a third-place finish in the state at 145 pounds last year. Hidlay boasts 36 pins and has never been pinned in his career.
Last week, twin brothers Thomas and Daniel Bullard of Archer High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia committed to State. The twins are ranked No. 45 and No. 50 in their class, respectively.
Thomas has three state titles to his name at the 160-pound weight class, as well as two NHSCA championships. Daniel also won the state championships three times at 170 pounds and has a Powerade Championship title as well.
The Bullard twins were a package deal, according to FloWrestling, and chose NC State over Virginia, Lehigh and in-state rival UNC-Chapel Hill.
The same day, Kellen Devlin of Amherst High School in Amherst, New York became the fourth top-60 prospect to join the Pack.
Like State’s other top recruits, Devlin is a state champion, taking home the New York state title at 132 pounds the past two years. Devlin also won the NHSCA Junior Nationals in March.
With two-time NCAA heavyweight champion Nick Gwiazdowski anchoring the team next season and a powerful group of young talent heading to Raleigh, NC State will likely be a popular destination for top high school wrestlers in the years to come.
