3x NCAA All-American Hayden Hidlay (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
#23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
#22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)
#21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)
#20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan)
Next up is…
#18 Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
Weight: 174 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 91-8
Hometown: Lewistown, Pennsylvania
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 5th, 2019 NCAA 4th, 2018 NCAA 2nd, 2020 NWCA First-Team All-American, 4x ACC Champion
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #6 at 174 lbs
One of the cornerstones of NC State's top-ranked recruiting Class of 2016, Hayden Hidlay won a Pennsylvania state title and made the Fargo finals in both styles at the Cadet and Junior level, before coming to Raleigh. He and his fellow sixth-year senior were critical components in establishing NC State as a consistent national power.
Hidlay redshirted during his first year with the Wolfpack and proceeded to win his first two tournaments competing unattached. He carried an impressive 9-0 mark into the prestigious Midlands Championships. Now looking at the Midlands bracket, Hidlay's opening round win ages quite well. He scored a 20-3 tech fall over Pitt's true freshman Jake Wentzel. In his third match, Hidlay suffered his first loss of the year, a 9-6 decision to second-seeded Michael Kemerer (Iowa). He ended up blocked from placing after a 3-1 loss to Josh Shields (Arizona State) in the Round of 12. Even so, Hidlay ended up with four wins.
For the remainder of Hidlay's redshirt season, he moved up to 165 lbs. Though Hidlay lost his third bout of the year at the Appalachian Open, he did earn wins over teammate Daniel Bullard and Matt Finesilver (Duke). Hidlay finished the year with a title at the National Collegiate Open.
Even with a 22-3 record while redshirting, I'm not sure many people were ready for the kind of season that Hidlay would post during his first year officially competing for the Wolfpack. Hidlay was able to register bonus points in his first seven dual meets. That streak was halted with a dual win over returning NCAA fifth-place finisher, Tyler Berger (Nebraska), which was “only†by three points.
Two days later, at the Reno Tournament of Champions, Hidlay captured an individual title and knocked off the returning NCAA runner-up, Joey Lavallee (Missouri), in sudden victory. Hidlay closed out the dual portion of his freshman year with back-to-back wins over returning All-Americans, Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) and Micah Jordan (Ohio State).
At his first ACC Tournament, Hidlay edged two quality opponents, Mitch Finesilver (Duke) and Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh), by razor-thin margins to win a conference title. An ACC crown combined with an unblemished record was good enough to net a top seed for Hidlay.
The freshman was able to tabulate bonus points in his opening round 13-5 major decision over Drexel's Garett Hammond. A match later, Hidlay had to overcome his ACC finals opponent, Rahmani, which he did by the score of 4-2. It was another familiar face in the quarterfinals, as Hidlay snuck by Berger, 3-2 to lock up All-American status.
In the semifinals, Hidlay had to square off with Michigan's returning All-American Alec Pantaleo. It proved to be a bad style clash for Pantaleo and Hidlay won handily to become NC State's first freshman national finalist since 1980. Hidlay's 26-match winning streak came to an end in the finals against the defending national champion, Jason Nolf. Hayden was able to keep the high-scoring Nolf in check, but still fell, 6-2.
After the collegiate season, Hidlay was victorious at the U23 World Team Trials and earned a spot on the team. Hidlay took a break from the start of his sophomore season to travel to Bucharest, Romania, for the U23 World Championships, where he'd end up in ninth place.
In his first dual meet after U23 Worlds, Hidlay was upset by Old Dominion's Larry Early, 4-2. Two duals later, he was beaten by Berger, 5-2. A year after he had gone unbeaten before the NCAA Tournament, Hidlay suddenly had lost two of his first three duals.
Hidlay was able to right the ship and did not suffer another regular-season loss for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign. After the Berger loss, Hidlay won 13 consecutive duals and racked up bonus points in nine of those wins.
During Hidlay's first ACC title run, he had to gut out a pair of victories. In year two, Hidlay scored a tech fall in the semis and stretched out his margin of victory over Rahmani to six points in the championship bout. This time, Hidlay was deemed fit to receive the fifth seed at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
Hidlay rolled in his first two bouts at the national tournament, in his home state, with tech falls in both matches. In the quarters, he met Pantaleo again and got his hand raised after a winning takedown in sudden victory, 5-3.
Like his freshman year, Jason Nolf would be responsible for Hidlay's loss on the championship side. This one had a bit of controversy. In the waning seconds of the first period, after a prolonged scramble, Hidlay appeared to have a takedown on the two-time defending champion. Had Hidlay been awarded two, he would have been up 2-0 after a period and forced a different match. The official ruling was no takedown and Nolf squeaked by 3-2.
In the consolation semifinals, Hidlay cruised to an 8-2 win over the third seed, Ryan Deakin (Northwestern). That set up a third-place clash with Pantaleo. This time it was the Michigan man who was victorious, relegating Hidlay to fourth place.
With Nolf and Pantaleo out of the picture in 2019-20, Hidlay started the year ranked number one in the nation. After some close calls in the early going, Hidlay suffered his only loss of the season in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. After shutting out then-undefeated freshman Kendall Coleman (Purdue) in the finals, Hidlay was downed by Deakin, 6-2.
Also in individual tournament action, Hidlay blew through the Southern Scuffle with bonus points in all five of his contests. Hidlay emerged unbeaten in a field that included Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State), and Jared Franek (North Dakota State).
After the calendar turned to 2020, Hidlay competed the second undefeated dual season of his career. At the conference meet, Hidlay posted a pair of major decisions to win his third ACC crown. Unfortunately, the NCAA Championships were canceled due to the Covid pandemic. Hidlay was slated to receive the number two seed at the event. Some notables on his half of the bracket included #3 David Carr (Iowa State), #6 Coleman, #7 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh), #10 Will Lewan (Michigan), and #11 Sheets. Because of his seeding, Hidlay was named an NWCA first-team All-American.
The 2021 regular season didn't provide any significant tests for the veteran Hidlay. He was held to a 6-3 match against Justin McCoy (Virginia) in dual competition, but later majored McCoy in the ACC final. At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Hidlay was given the #2 seed, though all four of the top wrestlers at the weight entered unbeaten.
Hidlay started his NCAA Tournament on fire, winning his opening bout (Michael Petite - Buffalo) by a major decision before a tech (Cade DeVos - South Dakota State) and a fall in the quarterfinals (Jacob Wright - Wyoming). The semifinals provided the match that we were robbed of seeing in 2020, as Hidlay and Carr were the second and third seeds again. Carr got the best of Hidlay in a 6-4 win.
After the loss to Carr, Hidlay dropped another bout, an 18-12 shootout to sophomore Jacori Teemer. That represented the highest point total that Hidlay allowed in his career. He would rebound to major the normally stingy Brayton Lee (Minnesota), 11-2 for fifth place.
Hidlay is seeking to become the ACC's first five-time conference champion and is looking to become a four-time NCAA All-American; none of the previous three finishes were lower than fifth. He'll be in an unfamiliar position in 2021-22, as he's slated to jump up to 174 lbs.
Strengths: Everyone that's seen the Hidlay brothers should be familiar with their underhook series. Hayden has been physically imposing for most of his competition at 157 lbs. That leads to him controlling the mat with the hooks. Oftentimes, Hidlay will work from a knee or in a three-point stance. Hidlay is a lefty, so his attacks are typically on his opponent's opposite side. He has great timing on his reattacks and uses a variety of different shots. On the mat, Hidlay is imposing and will try to work in armbars or use a crab ride.
2021-22 Outlook: Since he arrived on the scene, Hidlay has been an NCAA title contender. I'd expect the same at 174 lbs. Expect Hidlay to be more offensive and have more energy with minimal weight-cutting involved. 174 looks like an extremely deep weight class nationally and in the ACC. 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) is planning on going 174, too, so they should have some memorable matches.
3x NCAA All-American Hayden Hidlay (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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