A suicide cradle quickly ended Trent Hidlay’s undefeated season.

Chaos before March.

Last week, Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen pinned N.C. State’s Trent Hidlay at The Collegiate Wrestling Duals. That significant individual result didn’t mean much from a team perspective. 

#17 N.C. State won 27-12 and remained undefeated. Undefeated, despite a youthful roster without a senior.

Three NCAA qualifiers starters exhausted their eligibility. Two — Tariq Wilson and Hayden Hidlay — combined for eight All-American honors. 

“I think a lot of people thought we’d have a little dip with talent and what we could accomplish as a team,” coach Pat Popolizio said. "I feel like we’ve made some really good strides with a lot of new faces in our lineup. It’s very refreshing.”

Improvement excites Popolizio. A potential March clash between Trent Hidlay and Keckeisen, too?

“That’s a matchup you’d probably see at the semifinals in NCAAs now,” Popolizio said. “I think it makes for a good storyline.”

A potential NCAA meeting would be the third of the season between the standout 184-pounders. Hidlay took Keckeisen to his back in the opening minute and cruised to an 8-2 victory in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. 

Hidlay enters the season’s second half ranked #3 while Keckeisen bumped to #2. 

Here are some other notes as the Wolfpack prepares for Friday’s dual vs Binghamton.

Camacho To Be Cleared

A Wolfpack mainstay waits for his season debut.

Jakob Camacho, N.C. State’s injured 125-pound starter hasn’t started on his path to a third ACC championship. He underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in the summer.

On Tuesday, Popolizio updated FloWrestling on Camacho’s status.

“He’s on the mat,” he said. “He’s drilling. He’s doing everything but all out live. Basically sparring. He’s as close to going live as you can without going live.”

Popolizio said they will need to get approval from the “higher-ups” to clear him.

“The reality is he’s going to be cleared to wrestle this year,” he said. “I just don’t know when and I don’t know if it’s worth doing if that makes sense.”

Even then, it’s not all that simple. Popolizio noticed Jarrett Trombley found success at 125.

He entered Christmas break with four straight wins after starting 0-3. Popolizio tends to think long-term in this situation.

“If we hold him (Camacho) out, we don’t graduate anyone outside of Trent for two years,” he said. “That could make for a really good run after this year and next year. We gotta just play it out.”

Scott Adjusting In Loaded Weight Class

National parity flexes at many weights, particularly 157. No returning national champion can cause that. In a field filled with many returning All-Americans, Ed Scott emerges as a potential podium candidate.

Ranked #12, Scott lost in the NCAA bloodround last year. A sophomore, he’s 10-4 with three losses to returning All-Americans.

But Popolizio said he’ll improve come March.

“A lot of times, he gets in some matches and he’ll get down early,” Popolizio said. “He wrestles better when he’s just attacking and controlling the match itself. I think you saw a little bit of that in Vegas where he was back to his real basic wrestling. Wrestled really hard and scored on top. When he does that, it fits his style and he’s tough to beat when he’s doing all those things.”

Arrington Shines Among Talented Freshmen

Five Wolfpack freshmen debuted in one dual so far this season. But 149-pounder Jackson Arrington leads that group.

He boasts perfect attendance in duals and a 13-5 overall mark. It’s a quick introduction to college for a three-time Pennsylvania state champion. He follows N.C. State’s history of strong Pennsylvania recruits and work ethic accompanies the pattern.

“A lot of these guys come from that background already so it’s not new to them,” Popolizio said.  

“It’s not a huge transition going from high school to college. For some kids, it might take a year or two to figure that out. These guys come in here ready to go as far as work ethic and can handle all the stuff that we throw at them.”

It’s not just Arrington gaining the invaluable experience of traveling and preparing as a starter. Popolizio, like many college coaches, has used the new NCAA redshirt rule to his advantage. No longer will a freshman burn a redshirt once he steps onto the mat at a dual. It’s a five-match limit. 

“It makes them hungry, too,” Popolizio said. “I can sit there, look at a kid and say, ‘Hey, you’re going.’ Every couple of weeks, I’m gonna make sure that you’re getting tested so that they’re not just going through the motions in practice. They gotta be ready.”