One of just three schools to qualify its entire lineup for the NCAA Championships, No. 4 NC State wrestling finished 10th overall after three days of wrestling. The placement marks just the sixth time in program history that NC State finished inside the top 10 at NCAAs.
Three wrestlers attained All-American status and made the final day of the tournament: graduate 174-pound four-seed Hayden Hidlay, redshirt sophomore 184-pound three-seed Trent Hidlay and graduate 149-pound two-seed Tariq Wilson.
Just two wrestlers made the semifinals, the Hidlay brothers. After a 5-3 decision over fifth-seeded Michael Kemerer of Iowa in the quarterfinals, Hayden Hidlay drew the top-seeded, undefeated, Carter Starocci and the Nittany Lion lived up to his record and reputation as defending champion.
Starocci was just too much of a load and he kept coming through all three periods, taking a 10-3 decision. Hidlay was unable to get any offense going, with all his scores coming from escapes.
Still, he bounced back on day three of the tournament, taking out six-seed Dustin Plott 8-2, then Kemerer again, this time with a dominant 12-4 major decision, to secure third place. The match brought an end to one of the most storied careers in Wolfpack wrestling history, and cemented a fifth year of All-American honors for the elder Hidlay.
Trent Hidlay took out Oregon State’s sixth-seeded Trey Munoz in the quarterfinals before running into a Nittany Lion of his own. Faced with two-seed Aaron Brooks, Trent Hidlay had a similarly tough time as his brother, constantly forced to the edge of the mat by Brooks’ pressure and unable to get his usual offense going. He and Brooks know each other well, they met in the finals last year and Brooks won by a point.
Things were similarly tight this time around, as Trent Hidlay was down 1-3 entering the third before escaping and using Brooks’ aggressiveness against him. After a shot by Brooks, Trent Hidlay countered and found a takedown of his own, and the match went to sudden-death OT after Brooks escaped to tie things up. Determined to press the issue, Trent Hidlay shot off the whistle in the extra period and Brooks stuffed it, scoring a takedown of his own to return to the finals.
The loss sent Trent Hidlay to the consolation bracket, where he lost his first bout before winning the 7th place match 3-2 over Ohio State’s seven-seed Kaleb Romero. This is Trent Hidlay’s second straight year achieving All-American status.
Tariq Wilson and four-seed Ed Scott both had their title races end in the quarterfinals, Wilson falling to Nebraska’s 10-seed Ridge Lovett by pin and Scott losing a 5-3 decision to Princeton’s fifth-seeded Quincy Monday. Monday eventually made the 157 finals.
Wilson lost his first match on day three, but dominated five-seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State 14-2 for seventh place. He ends his NC State career with over 100 career wins and four All-American years.
In the Blood Round, Scott was dinged for a pin at the hands of 10-seed Peyton Robb of Nebraska, a controversial finish to a stellar start at 157 pounds by Scott. He ended his season just one win short of All-American status.
Graduate 165-pound 21-seed Thomas Bullard, freshman 197-pound 15-seed Isaac Trumble and junior heavyweight 21-seed Tyrie Houghton each lost their tournament-opening matches, won their first consolation match and lost their second.
Redshirt sophomore 125-pound 14-seed Jakob Camacho, redshirt freshman 133-pound 15-seed Kai Orine and freshman 141-pound 18-seed Ryan Jack all ended their tournaments with losses in the third round of the consolation bracket.
