The N.C. State Wolfpack will take the mat this weekend at the 2024 ACC championship with the goal of winning their sixth conference title as a team. This is a team full of personality and potential, headlined by one of the most popular college wrestlers in recent program history: three-time All-American Trent Hidlay.
We talked with Hidlay ahead of this year’s conference tournament about his legacy in the ACC, his final, special season as a college wrestler and what it will take for him to end his career in Kansas City on top of the podium. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You've had so many memorable moments with NC State nationally and at the conference level. Is there one moment in particular that comes to mind when you think about what has defined your experience at NC State?
One match that I think I go back to a lot was the first time I won ACCs against Hunter Bolen from Virginia Tech. That was really special for me because he was someone who had beaten me three times in a row in my first two years here, and it was getting to the point where I was like ‘man, I feel like I'm better than this guy, and I'm working extremely hard, and I keep falling short.’
And then when I was able to kind of break through and get that win in overtime for my first ACC title, that was huge for me, and I think that lit a spark in me a little bit that I need to jump a level.
What do you hope people remember from your time wrestling for the Wolfpack?
I think more so than the wins or losses and the things I've done, I hope just that the passion that I brought with the way that I competed is something that people remember. I love to compete, I love to put it on the line all the time. I'm someone that really enjoys the competition aspect of wrestling for NC State. And to do it with my best friends on the team was something that was really special, so I hope that in terms of like a legacy, or what people remember, is just that I love to compete; I competed as hard as I possibly could every time. You know, I did it passionately. I love live wrestling. I love dual meet wrestling.
What do you think it is about your wrestling style that allows you to be so free, so offensive, and so passionate on the mat?
I think it just comes mostly from experience. This is my sixth year of college wrestling, I've been here for just about forever…but I've been enjoying it a lot. I think the more you mature, the more you realize that the more free you can be, the easier it is out there.
ALL-AMERICANS: These are the 80 guys who finished on the podium last year in Division I
Not that it's ever easy because it's very difficult, you get really tired, but I think just for me experiencing what it felt like to come up short and come off the mat and feel like I didn't give myself a chance, I think it's kind of helped me shift my perspective. I don't want to leave any stone unturned. I don't want to hold anything back. So for me, you know, as soon as the whistle blows, I want to start early, I want to be offensive and push the pace.
What kinds of things do you have to do in the next two weeks to get yourself as prepared as possible to end your career the way you want to?
I think at this point it’s just trying to be as patient as I can. You know, I wish the national tournament was this weekend. I feel like I'm really prepared for it physically and mentally. I'm healthier than I ever have been at this point in the season as compared to the last four years. Mentally, I'm a lot more free and fresh. I haven't really put as much pressure on myself to have to achieve something or have to win something.
I'm doing this because I love it...I'm just trying to make the most of it. Trying to stay in the present is probably the hardest thing for me right now. I'm super excited and probably a little bit impatient to get there and do it with my team, but I think the biggest thing is slowing down and enjoying the ride as much as I can these next two weeks. I'm never going to get this time of the year back again.
As we get closer and closer, I know the spotlight will grow brighter. How do you handle all of that external attention and the media requests that you get?
I'm trying to enjoy this spotlight as much as I can. There's nothing quite like Division I wrestling and the support and the fan base around it. I'll never get this attention again, probably, after college wrestling…I'm embracing that it's fun. I know there's a lot of eyes on me when I compete, so I want to try to do my best to live up to that.
Knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself if you were beginning your NC State journey six years ago?
One of the things that I wish I would have done when I was a little bit younger was be more offensive and buy into just attacking right away. Wrestling so hard that you sometimes fear getting tired out there, but what I've realized now as I've gotten older is that you're going to be tired if you attack, and you're going to be tired whether you kind of sit back and make it a close match, so you're better off pushing the pace and not being afraid to make mistakes and wrestle through positions and trust in the work that you've put in.
THROWBACK: Here’s how NC State won the 2022 ACC tournament
I feel like I've been able to do that better now than I was a couple years ago, so I would say that's probably the biggest thing: not fear[ing] making mistakes as much and not trying to make everything perfect…I don't have any regrets because it was all stuff that I learned, and it’s just that the path that I was on took me a little bit longer than I probably like to learn those things.
We've talked a lot about your wrestling accomplishments, but you have significant academic accolades as well. What's something you think people would be surprised to know about you as a scholar?
I've had a pretty impressive academic performance. Sometimes I don't really think about it because I think the standard that we're held at here is to strive to get a 4.0. I've gotten a 4.0 every semester, except for last semester, I got like a 3.936 because I messed up at the end of one of my classes, so that burns me a little bit.
But it's pretty fun because I have a pretty healthy competition with Jarrett Trombley on our team, he's a brainiac, and he gets 4.0 every semester. People may be surprised to know that I’ve gotten a 4.0 every semester, and I’ve done really well in school. I'm finishing my MBA this semester, which will be really cool. But I credit that to just the standard that Coach Popolizio has held us to here.
Do you have a favorite class that you’ve taken?
I've enjoyed a lot of finance classes I've taken. I can tell you which one I absolutely hated: I had to take History of the Middle Ages my freshman year, and I had to really grind to get an A- in that.
Is there anything that you haven't been asked in any of your interviews that you think people need to know or you wish you were asked?
I guess the really the thing that I’ve leaned on most for this year is that I've challenged myself as much as I possibly could by going up to 197. I could have made the choice to stay at 184, and I think a lot of people would probably think I had a better chance to win there. But I know for me personally the thing that gave me the most opportunity for growth and challenge was to go to 197 and chase down Aaron Brooks because he's been the guy that's beaten me. He’s definitely the frontrunner, but that's why I came back for my extra year, that's what's driving me to do what I do. So I guess that's kind of a little bit of a vision quest that I'm on