At the end of the NCAA Championships, Wolfpack wrestling finished sixth in the team score. Redshirt sophomore Trent Hidlay had the best tournament run on the team, placing second, while redshirt senior Tariq Wilson placed third.
With four wrestlers making it to the final day of NCAAs, NC State tied a school record with four All-Americans in a single season. In the process, redshirt senior Hayden Hidlay etched his name into Wolfpack history as NC State’s first-ever four-time All-American.
No. 2 Trent Hidlay – 184 pounds
In his first NCAA Tournament appearance, Trent Hidlay made the finals, and top seed Aaron Brooks from Penn State was the lone wrestler standing between him and gold.
After a scoreless first period, Hidlay was reversed and nearly pinned in the second, but he managed to escape. Down 2-1 entering the third, Hidlay escaped to tie things up but a stalling penalty gave Brooks a one-point advantage. That ended up the deciding factor of the match, as Hidlay was unable to get a takedown in the bout’s waning moments and lost a 3-2 decision.
No. 3 Tariq Wilson – 141 pounds
With a dominant final day, Tariq Wilson was NC State’s lone other podium finish. Wilson first took out eight-seeded Chad Red of Nebraska in a 12-1 major decision which included over four minutes of riding time.
That victory put Wilson back into the third-place match for the first time since 2018, when he won as a redshirt freshman at 133 pounds. Today against Rutgers’ Sebastian Rivera, the results were no different; Wilson took a 15-5 major decision with just under four minutes of riding time racked up.
No. 2 Hayden Hidlay – 157 pounds
Hayden Hidlay didn’t get off to a great start, falling behind by double digits in his first bout of the day against No. 11 seed Jacori Teemer. He mounted a comeback, but Teemer held him off in a 18-12 decision which sent Hidlay to the fifth-place match.
In what could end up being the final bout of his collegiate career, Hidlay went out with a bang. It was his turn to start strong, taking down Minnesota’s Brayton Lee in the first period and adding a four-point near fall. Lee never came within striking distance, with Hidlay winning fifth place via an 11-2 major decision.
No. 8 Daniel Bullard – 174 pounds
Redshirt senior Daniel Bullard didn’t have to wrestle today, winning the seventh-place match by injury default. According to the team, this will be Bullard’s last season at NC State. He leaves the program after putting up the best individual season of his career.
