Way Too Early Lineup Look: 2020-21 NC State Wolfpack
Way Too Early Lineup Look: 2020-21 NC State Wolfpack
Taking an early look at who should be the starter at all 10 weight classes for the NC State Wolfpack during the 2020-2021 college season.
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Under the leadership of Pat Popolizio, NC State have vaulted themselves into the national conversation and asserted control over the Atlantic Coast Conference. Over the past five years, they've finished 22-3 in ACC duals with three conference titles and two runner-up finishes.
The Wolfpack have endured the loss of Frank Beasley (now the head coach of George Mason) and Obe Blanc (an assistant at North Dakota State), not to mention weathering the graduation of national champs Nick Gwiazdowski and Mike Macchiavello. Those men, among others, laid the foundation for the veteran group they'll bring back for the 2020-21 season.
It's unfortunate this team that went 15-0, qualified eight guys for NCAAs, and swept the ACC season honors, didn't get to have their national tournament. But they return every single starter and backup of note, plus they're bringing in the #8 recruiting class.
??♂️: @PackWrestle sweeps ACC Wrestling Season Honors!
— NC State Wrestling ?♂️ (@PackWrestle) March 31, 2020
ACC Wrestler of the Year: Hayden Hidlay
ACC Freshman of the Year: Trent Hidlay
ACC Coach of the Year: Pat Popolizio#PackMentalityhttps://t.co/Kp93Eyrj8U
2020-21 NC State Projected Lineup
125: Jakob Camacho
133: Jarrett Trombley
141: Tariq Wilson
149: AJ Leitten
157: Hayden Hidlay
165: Thomas Bullard
174: Daniel Bullard
184: Trent Hidlay
197: Nick Reenan
285: Deonte Wilson
We're looking at the final year from the 2016 recruiting class, one that came in ranked #1 in the country and should account for 4 or 5 of their starters next year. That group pushed them to a team trophy in 2018, and will, of course, be trying to close out their career with another top-four finish.
Lineup Looks: Iowa | Penn State | Cornell | Michigan | Ohio State | Oklahoma State | Missouri | Nebraska | Stanford
125: Jakob Camacho, RSSO
Ending the season beating Jack Mueller, even though it was at the ACC tournament and not NCAAs, you still have to feel good about the arc Camacho is on. He had a bad Southern Scuffle, not placing and losing to true freshmen John McGarry and Sam Latona, but then went 8-1 in the second semester. This is a guy who's won Super 32 and FloNationals with high placings at Fargo and NHSCAs. The pedigree is there for him to take off in his third year on campus.
133: Jarrett Trombley, RSSO
Trombley came in with Camacho and Trent Hidlay, who we'll get to later. He made it to NCAAs and had four wins over national qualifiers during a year that saw him go 18-9 against D1 competition, but 10 of those victories were bonus. The Michigan native finished his high school career #74 on the Big Board and will be pushed by Kai Orine and Kellen Devlin for the starting spot next year.
141: Tariq Wilson, RSSR
The fascinating career of Tariq Wilson is less than a calendar year away from ending. It seemed like just yesterday he lit the Cleveland crowd on fire en route to a third-place finish at the 2018 national tournament. He was unseeded that year but had 24 takedowns during his magical run. But he couldn't quite replicate it moving forward, even though he had a better 2018-19 season, finishing with a better record and bonus rate and being seeded 11th, but he just fell in line with a bloodround finish instead of pushing through for third.
It appears the group that came in in 2016 will be followed up en masse by this 2020 recruiting class, with Ryan Jack looking like the next NC State 141 pounder. What remains to be seen is if they can replicate the same types of things that put Hayden Hidlay in the national finals and Tariq to finish third as the Wolfpack took fourth and claimed a team trophy.
149: AJ Leitten, RSJR
If there are weights that look open for competition, 149 is definitely among them. The dual responsibilities were split up, with Leitten wrestling in eight, Matt Grippi wrestling in five, and Matt Fields taking two of them. Leitten took four of the five conference duals, plus the ACC championships. He's 2-1 against Grippi the past two years and has better results than Fields, but didn't qualify for NCAAs leading me to believe there will be a roster battle for this spot.
157: Hayden Hidlay, RSSR
Not only has Hayden emerged as an incredible talent, but he's also proven himself to be an excellent leader. That much is clear when listening to the letter he wrote being used by NC State in a video dedicated to Wolfpack's student-athletes across all sports. He just six losses in his career, three of which have come at the national tournament. There's a case to be made if you redid the 2016 Big Board he'd be #2 after a finals appearance, fourth-place finish, and being seeded second this year. Factor in that he was a huge part of their 2018 trophy team and the leadership mentioned above, and it's clear Hidlay has had a massive impact during his time in Raleigh.
165: Thomas Bullard, RSSR
Thomas entered NCAAs as the 10 seed after finishing third at CKLV and having split with David McFadden during the season. He wrestled a ton in tournaments, with 21 of his 29 matches coming from the Wolfpack Open, CKLV, Southern Scuffle, and ACCs, so he had plenty of reps for this third appearance at the big dance.
174: Daniel Bullard, RSSR
The larger Bullard has made incremental improvements as a 174 in his college career and clearly had his best season to date, with just six losses and getting the 15 seed. The top of this weight gets gutted, so Bullard could be a massive X-factor for NC State to push hard for a Top-10 or higher finish.
184: Trent Hidlay, RSSO
The ACC freshman of the year and five seed at NCAAs might have even exceeded expectations this year. We didn't get to see how he'd do in Minneapolis, but he had wins over the four and one seeds. It appeared he avoided the hangover that comes from spending all summer doing freestyle and then competing at Junior worlds (where he won a bronze medal). The next step is to grow his offensive repertoire and vary his style so he can beat guys like Hunter Bolen and improve on top. He's always embraced the fight and the big matches, so it's just a question of whether he can go from really good to scary good over his final three years.
197: Nick Reenan, RSSR
It's been difficult to watch Reenan's college career, one that saw him have mixed results as a true freshman cutting a ton of weight, then make Final X in the summer of 2018, only to have injuries hamper him the next NCAA seasons. He still made it to the national tournament last year, but only wrestled 10 matches this season, basically all in January and early February. Tyrie Houghton did the rare double of wrestling in both the National Collegiate Open and then the conference championships.
285: Deonte Wilson, JR
Wilson was the starter for 11 of the 15 duals, as well as the representative at the ACC championships for the second year in a row. The other four dual starts came from Colin Lawler, though those were all in the first semester. Wilson defeated Lawler last year and finished ahead of Owen Trephan in the tournaments they both entered, so Wilson is the guy next year unless he takes his redshirt. His biggest hurdle in the conference is Demetrius Thomas of Pittsburgh, who beat Wilson three times this year.