The big recent news about NC State wrestling was the four “super seniors” coming back for their sixth year of eligibility from the former No. 1 recruiting class, which had five main guys, and that the group’s two biggest stars — Hayden Hidlay and Tariq Wilson — are both planning to move up in weight classes.
Hidlay went in-depth on the team’s podcast about his plan to go from 157, where he was a former NCAA finalist, up two weights to 174 to be directly in front of his brother, Trent, who made the NCAA finals this season. Meanwhile, Wilson wants to go from 141 to 149, which would be the third weight class of his college career.
Pat Popolizio, who will be entering his 10th year at the helm next season, has gone on the record recently to discuss a number of subjects, including his super seniors coming back. If you read between the lines of his latest podcast appearance or thoughts shared on the Wolfpack Club’s recent ‘State of the Wolfpack,’ I think two things are certain: 1) these won’t be the only weight changes and 2) the plans above are not set in stone.
I’ll take on the latter first — a two-weight-class jump is rare, for obvious reasons. Seventeen pounds may just have been quarantine for some of us, but in a weight-based sport it’s a massive jump. Hidlay is a surefire national title contender at 157; I still think he’s an All-American at 174, but maybe not a bonafide national title contender — especially if you look around the landscape at 174 nationally.
The rumors around the wrestling world are that the weight could feature three former NCAA champions next year (to put in perspective how incredible that is, I believe there were only two former champs entering NCAAs this season). Penn State’s Carter Starocci won it this year as a freshman, and two former 165-pound champs — Shane Griffith of the recently cut Stanford program and Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis (2019 champ) — are both expected to move up. Speaking of Griffith, he’s expected to land at either Michigan or North Carolina, so 174 within the ACC could be one of the toughest weights in any conference nationally if the latter happens. Additionally, at least a trio of top-12 finishers from the weight this year that were seniors are expected back (runner-up Michael Kemerer of Iowa, No. 6 Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley and blood-rounder Andrew McNally, formerly of Kent State but now in the transfer portal; No. 6 Logan Massa of Michigan is also a possibility).
To be clear on Hidlay, me personally, if that kid says he’s going to do something, who am I to doubt him? I know he’s extremely, extremely close with brother Trent, and they want to be able to train together, but I don't think that should determine which weight he goes.
Popolizio definitely didn't sound so sure about the two-weight jump on the State of the Wolfpack, where he said of Hidlay: “We’re still talking about [weight class] and his diet, but we’ll work it all out. … He wants to work out with his brother, which is fine, but time will show what weight class he’s at.”
If Hidlay were to go up only one weight, to 165, it could cause a domino effect — but one that is best for the team. Guys moving around weight classes is like a huge jigsaw puzzle, but Popolizio and his team are not scared to talk about their goals of winning a national (team) title, and there could be a ton of weight class movement to get to the optimum lineup while satisfying (some of) the super seniors’ desires to get super sized.
As Popolizio said on the most recent podcast: “We’ve got to let time play out who will be at what weights. … Our goal right now is to just get better at wrestling, then we’ll figure out who will be where.”
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… But where’s the fun in that? Who could be some of these other weight-class movers? Let the speculation begin:
For starters, 197-pounder Nick Reenan sounds like he is definitely on the move. Again, on the podcast, Popolizio said of Reenan, who is a three-time NCAA qualifier at three different weights (174, 184, 197): “I don’t think he’ll be at 197” next year, and then later teased about how lean Reenan was looking (perhaps most notably, he also said of Reenan: “I think for the first time in a long time, his mind and body have been healthy, and we’re starting to see some really good wrestling out of him.”).
Reenan isn’t going up to heavyweight, and he isn’t beating Trent Hidlay for the spot at 184. I can’t imagine him coming back for another year with plans to back up Hidlay, so maybe if Hayden goes 165, he slides into 174. I know that sounds crazy, but …
What then becomes of Thomas Bullard, the starter for the last three years at 165? Maybe he was only at 165 because Hayden was at 157, and they flip flop.
That means the lineup could feature the four “super seniors” in a row from 149-174: 149 Wilson, 157 Bullard, 165 Hayden Hidlay and 174 Reenan. That is far from a sure thing (again, this is just speculation off a few bread crumbs), but reading between the lines of what’s been said, it seems to be a decent possibility many months away from the start of the season.
I also think this would play in the favor of Bullard, who they basically admitted wasn’t completely healthy this year on the podcast. In my opinion, he’s an extremely tough matchup for an opponent the first time they wrestle given his incredible gifts on top and as a scrambler. He’s very unique and tough to deal with in both aspects, especially the first time.
He didn’t accomplish his goal of being an All-American this year, and if the hypothetical above happens it could put him in the best position possible to go out on a high note, like brother Daniel did this season as an ACC champion and All-American.
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It’s also important to note that I think the expectation is already that the sixth-year seniors won’t necessarily be in the lineup for every dual.
“They don’t need to be, and we have a lot of young talent we need to develop as well, so we’re going to balance that out, but when it matters and we’ve got to go full throttle … we’ll be ready to roll with a lot of horsepower,” Popolizio said on the podcast.
That isn’t to say the super seniors won’t be in the lineup for the most important duals — Popolizio is a big proponent of dual matches and its value for building a team and fan base, and he also noted on the podcast he didn’t think it’d be right for the seniors to go out without being able to wrestle in front of the packed houses they have contributed to bringing about in Raleigh.
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NC State is bringing back its four super seniors, but of course many other teams are able to do the same, and Cornell’s powerful program should be back next season after the Ivy League canceled all sports this school year (Cornell would’ve been an almost certain top-five NCAA finisher this year at full strength — and they were originally supposed to wrestle at NC State this winter in what would’ve been an awesome dual … maybe they still make the trip next year?).
According to FloWrestling’s senior tracker, here’s where the teams that finished ahead of NC State at NCAAs stand in terms of bringing back last year’s seniors that qualified for NCAAs:
No. 1 Iowa (who was so loaded they clinched the NCAA team title before the championship bouts even began) — Six seniors, all expected back
No. 2 Penn State — One senior in lineup, he’s coming back, meaning they will return all four NCAA champs
No. 3 Oklahoma State — Three seniors qualified for NCAAs, one is not returning and the other two have not announced yet.
No. 4 Arizona State — No word yet on three seniors
No. 5 Michigan — Three seniors qualified for NCAAs this year, only one is marked as returning (149 Kanen Storr). Status of other two (174 Logan Massa and 197 Myles Amine) is unknown, as is Stevan Micic, who would’ve been a serious NCAA title contender at 133 but never got healthy.
And within the ACC:
• Pitt will return both senior NCAA qualifiers, including 165-pound NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel. They have also seemingly been mentioned with almost every big-time transfer I’ve seen put out a schools list.
• Virginia Tech’s lone senior NCAA qualifier, sixth-year senior Korbin Myers (fourth at 133 this year), is returning for a seventh year … and they were NC State’s top competition this year with a young lineup.
• Virginia is one of two in returning its senior NCAA qualifiers — eighth-place finisher at 133 Louie Hayes is moving on, but 197-pounder Jay Aiello — a top-10 grappler most of the year at his weight — is returning
• The two big senior NCAA qualifiers for UNC are still unknown (165 Kennedy Monday and 184 Devin Kane). 157 Josh McClure will return, heavyweight Andrew Gunning is moving on.
In short, NC State will be loaded, but so will many others.
Hidlay went in-depth on the team’s podcast about his plan to go from 157, where he was a former NCAA finalist, up two weights to 174 to be directly in front of his brother, Trent, who made the NCAA finals this season. Meanwhile, Wilson wants to go from 141 to 149, which would be the third weight class of his college career.
Pat Popolizio, who will be entering his 10th year at the helm next season, has gone on the record recently to discuss a number of subjects, including his super seniors coming back. If you read between the lines of his latest podcast appearance or thoughts shared on the Wolfpack Club’s recent ‘State of the Wolfpack,’ I think two things are certain: 1) these won’t be the only weight changes and 2) the plans above are not set in stone.
I’ll take on the latter first — a two-weight-class jump is rare, for obvious reasons. Seventeen pounds may just have been quarantine for some of us, but in a weight-based sport it’s a massive jump. Hidlay is a surefire national title contender at 157; I still think he’s an All-American at 174, but maybe not a bonafide national title contender — especially if you look around the landscape at 174 nationally.
The rumors around the wrestling world are that the weight could feature three former NCAA champions next year (to put in perspective how incredible that is, I believe there were only two former champs entering NCAAs this season). Penn State’s Carter Starocci won it this year as a freshman, and two former 165-pound champs — Shane Griffith of the recently cut Stanford program and Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis (2019 champ) — are both expected to move up. Speaking of Griffith, he’s expected to land at either Michigan or North Carolina, so 174 within the ACC could be one of the toughest weights in any conference nationally if the latter happens. Additionally, at least a trio of top-12 finishers from the weight this year that were seniors are expected back (runner-up Michael Kemerer of Iowa, No. 6 Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley and blood-rounder Andrew McNally, formerly of Kent State but now in the transfer portal; No. 6 Logan Massa of Michigan is also a possibility).
To be clear on Hidlay, me personally, if that kid says he’s going to do something, who am I to doubt him? I know he’s extremely, extremely close with brother Trent, and they want to be able to train together, but I don't think that should determine which weight he goes.
Popolizio definitely didn't sound so sure about the two-weight jump on the State of the Wolfpack, where he said of Hidlay: “We’re still talking about [weight class] and his diet, but we’ll work it all out. … He wants to work out with his brother, which is fine, but time will show what weight class he’s at.”
If Hidlay were to go up only one weight, to 165, it could cause a domino effect — but one that is best for the team. Guys moving around weight classes is like a huge jigsaw puzzle, but Popolizio and his team are not scared to talk about their goals of winning a national (team) title, and there could be a ton of weight class movement to get to the optimum lineup while satisfying (some of) the super seniors’ desires to get super sized.
As Popolizio said on the most recent podcast: “We’ve got to let time play out who will be at what weights. … Our goal right now is to just get better at wrestling, then we’ll figure out who will be where.”
***
… But where’s the fun in that? Who could be some of these other weight-class movers? Let the speculation begin:
For starters, 197-pounder Nick Reenan sounds like he is definitely on the move. Again, on the podcast, Popolizio said of Reenan, who is a three-time NCAA qualifier at three different weights (174, 184, 197): “I don’t think he’ll be at 197” next year, and then later teased about how lean Reenan was looking (perhaps most notably, he also said of Reenan: “I think for the first time in a long time, his mind and body have been healthy, and we’re starting to see some really good wrestling out of him.”).
Reenan isn’t going up to heavyweight, and he isn’t beating Trent Hidlay for the spot at 184. I can’t imagine him coming back for another year with plans to back up Hidlay, so maybe if Hayden goes 165, he slides into 174. I know that sounds crazy, but …
What then becomes of Thomas Bullard, the starter for the last three years at 165? Maybe he was only at 165 because Hayden was at 157, and they flip flop.
That means the lineup could feature the four “super seniors” in a row from 149-174: 149 Wilson, 157 Bullard, 165 Hayden Hidlay and 174 Reenan. That is far from a sure thing (again, this is just speculation off a few bread crumbs), but reading between the lines of what’s been said, it seems to be a decent possibility many months away from the start of the season.
I also think this would play in the favor of Bullard, who they basically admitted wasn’t completely healthy this year on the podcast. In my opinion, he’s an extremely tough matchup for an opponent the first time they wrestle given his incredible gifts on top and as a scrambler. He’s very unique and tough to deal with in both aspects, especially the first time.
He didn’t accomplish his goal of being an All-American this year, and if the hypothetical above happens it could put him in the best position possible to go out on a high note, like brother Daniel did this season as an ACC champion and All-American.
***
It’s also important to note that I think the expectation is already that the sixth-year seniors won’t necessarily be in the lineup for every dual.
“They don’t need to be, and we have a lot of young talent we need to develop as well, so we’re going to balance that out, but when it matters and we’ve got to go full throttle … we’ll be ready to roll with a lot of horsepower,” Popolizio said on the podcast.
That isn’t to say the super seniors won’t be in the lineup for the most important duals — Popolizio is a big proponent of dual matches and its value for building a team and fan base, and he also noted on the podcast he didn’t think it’d be right for the seniors to go out without being able to wrestle in front of the packed houses they have contributed to bringing about in Raleigh.
***
NC State is bringing back its four super seniors, but of course many other teams are able to do the same, and Cornell’s powerful program should be back next season after the Ivy League canceled all sports this school year (Cornell would’ve been an almost certain top-five NCAA finisher this year at full strength — and they were originally supposed to wrestle at NC State this winter in what would’ve been an awesome dual … maybe they still make the trip next year?).
According to FloWrestling’s senior tracker, here’s where the teams that finished ahead of NC State at NCAAs stand in terms of bringing back last year’s seniors that qualified for NCAAs:
No. 1 Iowa (who was so loaded they clinched the NCAA team title before the championship bouts even began) — Six seniors, all expected back
No. 2 Penn State — One senior in lineup, he’s coming back, meaning they will return all four NCAA champs
No. 3 Oklahoma State — Three seniors qualified for NCAAs, one is not returning and the other two have not announced yet.
No. 4 Arizona State — No word yet on three seniors
No. 5 Michigan — Three seniors qualified for NCAAs this year, only one is marked as returning (149 Kanen Storr). Status of other two (174 Logan Massa and 197 Myles Amine) is unknown, as is Stevan Micic, who would’ve been a serious NCAA title contender at 133 but never got healthy.
And within the ACC:
• Pitt will return both senior NCAA qualifiers, including 165-pound NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel. They have also seemingly been mentioned with almost every big-time transfer I’ve seen put out a schools list.
• Virginia Tech’s lone senior NCAA qualifier, sixth-year senior Korbin Myers (fourth at 133 this year), is returning for a seventh year … and they were NC State’s top competition this year with a young lineup.
• Virginia is one of two in returning its senior NCAA qualifiers — eighth-place finisher at 133 Louie Hayes is moving on, but 197-pounder Jay Aiello — a top-10 grappler most of the year at his weight — is returning
• The two big senior NCAA qualifiers for UNC are still unknown (165 Kennedy Monday and 184 Devin Kane). 157 Josh McClure will return, heavyweight Andrew Gunning is moving on.
In short, NC State will be loaded, but so will many others.