NC State’s wrestling squad heads to Pittsburgh for the 2020 ACC Championship on March 8. Redshirt junior No. 2 Hayden Hidlay and redshirt junior No. 12 Tariq Wilson earned NC State’s lone one-seeds at 157 and 141 pounds, respectively.
Hayden Hidlay’s looking for his third straight ACC title and is in a strong position to three-peat. Hidlay walked all over his ACC opponents this year, putting up a combined 45-6 score against them, and that doesn’t include his fall against Duke’s Eric Carter.
Tariq Wilson’s year was a little less dominant, but he only dropped a single conference bout, a 7-3 decision loss to Virginia Tech’s Mitch Moore, with Wilson narrowly avoiding a disastrous pin that would’ve sent the team match to criteria. He beat the tournament’s two-seed, Zach Sherman, in a 6-0 decision in NC State’s match against UNC.
NC State earned two seeds at five weight classes, with redshirt freshmen No. 18 Jakob Camacho and No. 3 Trent Hidlay, No. 25 sophomore Deonte Wilson, and redshirt juniors No. 10 Thomas Bullard and No. 12 Daniel Bullard.
Trent Hidlay burst onto the wrestling scene this year, posting a 22-3 record.Hidlay has three victories over top-five opponents. He’s got a wall in his way of an ACC Championship, though, in Intermat’s No. 1 wrestler at 184 pounds: Hunter Bolen. When the two faced off in February, Hidlay struggled with Bolen’s strength and couldn’t get to his legs for a takedown, losing a tight 3-1 decision.
Redshirt junior Nick Reenan will not wrestle for the Pack at 197 pounds. Reenan’s had a rough year moving up in weight after suffering a knee injury last year. Reenan was ranked No. 27 at his weight when NC State took on Virginia. He was forced to injury default to No. 7 Jay Aiello with a right knee injury. Sophomore Tyrie Houghton will take the mat in his place as a six seed. Houghton is 15-10 on the year, but winless against ACC foes. He draws third-seeded Brandon Whitman in his first bout — Whitman took a 7-0 decision over Reenan in February.
Redshirt freshman Jarrett Trombley is a dark horse to take the 133-pound crown. Trombley had a strong first year wrestling for NC State with a 18-7, 3-2 ACC record. Those two losses came from top-seeded No. 6 Micky Phillippi (a 4-0 decision) and two seed Jamie Hernandez (a 1-0 decision). Trombley’s definitely got a chance against any of his opponents, so don’t be surprised if he ends up taking 133.
The ACC Championship is at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with the championship bouts starting at 7 p.m. The ACC Network Extra will carry the early bouts, with the championship round getting broadcast on the ACC Network.
