2021-22 Wrestling Roster
Hayden Hidlay
- Weight:
- 174
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Hometown:
- Lewistown, Pa.
- High School:
- Mifflin County HS
All-American (157 pounds): 2018, 2019 and 2020 (1st-team), 2021
All-American (174 pounds): 2022
ACC Wrestler of the Year: 2020
ACC Champion (157 pounds): 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
ACC Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the Year: 2020
CoSIDA Academic All-American: 2021
U23 World Team Member (70 kg): 2018
Career
• Became NC State’s first-ever five-time All-American. Earned the honor at 157 pounds his first four years, then at 174 in his final campaign. He was also the first-ever four-time All-American, and the fourth to earn three at NC State.
• Became the sixth wrestler in school history to reach 100 career wins. His total of 110 is tied for the third-most.
• Finished his career with a career record of 110-11 (.909), ranking second all-time in school history in career win/loss percentage.
• Went 73-1 all-time in bonus point matches.
2021-22
• Moved up a pair of weight classes to 174 pounds for his final campaign.
• Earned All-American honors for the fifth time in his career with a third place finish at the NCAA Championships. Entered as the #4 seed and advanced to the semifinals with three wins, including 5-3 over #5 seed Kemerer of Iowa. Fell to eventual national champion Starocci of Penn State in the semifinals. Came back with a pair of wins, including a 12-4 major decision in his final bout over Kemerer for third place.
• Earned a podium finish at the ACC Championship for the fifth straight year, placing third.
• Went 19-3 on the season overall, 11-1 in duals.
• Defeated #3 Lewis of Virginia Tech in his final home match, 3-1 in extra time.
• Wrestled up at 79 kg at the 2021 U.S. World Team Trials and came away with a top-six finish. Opened with top seeded Jordan Burroughs, got the bout’s first takedown, but fell 7-3. Scored an 8-2 win over RTC teammate Tommy Gantt and then 3-1 over Michael O’Malley before falling to Jason Nolf in the consolation semis.
• Claimed top honors at the 2021 U.S. Senior Nationals at 74 kg. Went a perfect 4-0, outscoting his foes 42-4, and won 2-1 in the finals.
• Named an NWCA Scholar All-American for the fifth time in his career. Also named to the All-ACC Academic team.
2020-21
• Became NC State’s first-ever four-time All-American with a fifth place finish at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Entered as the #2 seed, and scored three bonus point wins before advancing to the semifinals. Fell to eventual national champion Carr of Iowa State (6-4). Scored an 11-2 major over #6 seed Lee of Minnesota in the fifth place bout.
• Became only the 10th all-time wrestler to win four ACC Championships, as she scored a pair of bonus point wins, outscoring both foes 34-9. In the final, downed #16 McCoy of Virginia by major decision 12-3.
• Went 13-2 on the season, 6-0 in duals (4-0 in ACC action).
• Named a 2021 NWCA Scholar All-American and a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Also named to the 2020-21 All-ACC Academic Team. Also inducted into NC State’s inaugural Chi Alpha Sigma (National Honor Society) class. Named 2020-21 Academic All-District Men’s At-Large Team, selected by CoSIDA.
• Placed third at 74 kg at the 2020 U.S. Senior Nationals. Entered as the #6 seed, and advanced to the quarterfinals before his first loss. Went 7-1 at the event overall, including an 11-8 win over #2 seed Even Wick in the third place bout.
2019-20
• Earned 2020 All-America 1st-Team honors by the NWCA.
• Seeded #2 for the 2020 NCAA Championships.
• Named 2020 ACC Wrestler of the Year.
• 2020 ACC Champion at 157 pounds for the third straight year. Became the 11th wrestler in school history to win three ACC titles.
• Finished 28-1 on the season overall, perfect 12-0 in duals, and 10-1 against ranked foes. Won his final 16 matches of the season with eight of them ranked wins.
• 21 of his 28 wins were for bonus points.
• Placed first at the Southern Scuffle. Went 5-0, all bonus point wins, including a 10-0 major decision over #7 Dellavecchia of Rider in the finals.
• Also first in the Wolfpack Wrestling Club Open and second at the Cliff Keen Invite.
• Named ACC Wrestler of the Week a league-best three times, eight times in his career overall.
• Named a 2020 NWCA Scholar All-American for the third straight year.
• Named 2020 ACC Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the Year and to the 2020 All-ACC Academic Team. Named to the 2019-20 ACC Academic Honor Roll.
• Finished the season ranked #2 at 157 pounds by both InterMat and FloWrestling.
2018-19
• Earned All-American honors for the second straight year, placing fourth at 157 pounds.
• Finished with a 24-4 record, 14-2 in duals. Also 16-0 in bonus point matches.
• Started the NCAAs as the fifth seed, won his first two matches by tech fall (a combined 32-2) to reach the quarterfinals.
• Scored a 5-3 OT decision over #4 seed Pantaleo of Michigan to advance to the semifinals where he lost to eventual national champion Nolf of Penn State 3-2.
• Wrestled back to down #3 seed Deakin of Northwestern 8-2, before falling to Pantaloe in the 3rd place bout 5-3.
• Also won his second straight ACC title at 157 pounds, once again going 5-0 in the regular season and 2-0 at the championships. At the championships, faced two ranked foes (#24 and #11) and outscored them 25-2.
• Finished the season ranked #4 in FloWrestling’s final rankings.
• Started the season with a first place finish at the Hokie Open, then went to Romania for the U23 World Championships. Lost two of his first three matches after returning, then won 15 straight heading into NCAAs.
• Named to the NWCA’s All-Academic Team, the 2019 All-ACC Academic Team, and the 2018-19 ACC Academic Honor Roll.
2017-18
• NCAA Finalist and 2018 All-American at 157 pounds in his first season of action after his redshirt year.
• Went 26-1 on the season, including a perfect 15-0 in duals and 5-0 in ACC action.
• A perfect 7-0 versus ranked opponents in the regular season, three were top-10 wins. Also posted six wins over previous All-Americans.
• 15-0 in bonus point matches on the year.
• Entered the NCAA Championships a perfect 22-0 and the No. 1 seed, NC State’s sixth all-time. Went into the NCAAs the only undefeated freshmen nationally (both redshirt and true) in all weight classes.
• Defeated No. 8 seed Berger of Nebraska (3-2) in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Pantaleo of Michigan (10-2) in the semifinals. Fell in the NCAA Finals to two-time champion Jason Nolf of Penn State, 6-2. Tied as the highest NCAA finish for a Wolfpack freshman all-time.
• 2018 ACC Champion going 2-0 on the day.
• Also took first at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Went 5-0, with three bonus point wins, and defeated 2017 NCAA Finalist and #2 Lavallee of Missouri, 3-1 in OT, in the finals
• Named ACC Wrestler of the Week a league-best three times.
• Named to TheOpenMat’s All-Freshman first-team, as the top rookie at his weight and named the top rookie at 157 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News.
• In his first-ever senior-level event, placed second at 70 kg at the 2018 U.S. Open, won first four matches before falling in the finals. Also placed second at the World Team Trials Challenge at 70 kg.
• Won Gold at the 2018 U23 World Team Trials at 70 kg, and advanced to the U23 World Championships in Romania. Advanced to the best-of-3 finals with six straight wins, all techs and outscoring final five foes 51-0. In the finals, took the first bout 8-4 over Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin, only for Deakin to even the series 1-1 after a tech. In the final match, was down 3-1 late, but scored the winning takedown with only one second left.
• Named to the 2018 All-ACC Academic Team and the 2017-18 ACC Academic Honor Roll. Also named to the NWCA’s All-Academic Team.
2016-17
• Redshirted the season.
• Saw action in two open tournaments and at Midlands at 157 pounds and two at 165 pounds.
• Went a combined 22-3 - 13-2 at 157 pounds and 9-1 at 165.
• In his four open tournaments, won three and placed third in the other. First place at the Southeast Open and Wolfpack Open at 157 pounds, and also won the National Collegiate Open at 165.
• Posted a top-three finish at the Junior World Team Trials at 74 kg as he advanced to the challenger finals. Qualified for the Trials after a fourth place finish at the United World Wrestling Junior Nationals (UWW).
Prep
• A 2015-16 ASICS All-America second-team selection at 152 pounds.
• Was a PIAA 3A State Qualifier as a freshman (28-7 at 113 pounds), placed sixth at the PIAA State Championships his sophomore year (38-5 at 138 pounds), took third as a junior (43-2 at 145 pounds), and won the title as a senior (40-1 at 152 pounds): career record of 149-15.
• Won the Greco Roman Junior Nationals at 152 pounds and was third in the Freestyle Junior Nationals at Fargo as a senior. A double Fargo Cadet National finalist in 2013 in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman. Also placed fifth in Fargo Junior Greco Nationals in 2014.
• Was a FloNational Champion in 2015 at 145 pounds. Also Competed in FloWrestling’s Who’s Number One event in 2015.
• Placed fourth at the Super 32 at 152 in 2015 and third at 145 pounds in 2014.
• OW for Team PA at Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic.
• At the King of the Mountain Tournament, he placed first in 2015, 2014 and 2013, and second in 2012. Also second in 2015 and 2014 and fourth in 2013 at the PowerAde Tournament.
Rankings
• #6 overall recruit and #2 at 152 pounds by FloWrestling.
• #13 overall recruit and #2 nationally by Intermat.
Personal
• Graduated with an undergrad degree in Business Administration in May 2020.
• Earned a grad certificate in NC State’s Nonprofit Management Graduate Program and then a second in Professional Communication and Managerial Skills.