3 NC State Wrestlers Reach Podium in Cliff Keen Invitational

Three NC State Wrestlers made the podium at the 2019 Cliff Keen Invitational. Redshirt Junior #1 Hayden Hidlay (157) and Redshirt Freshman #4 Trent Hidlay (184) placed 2nd, and Redshirt Junior #13 Thomas Bullard (165) finished 3rd.

#1 Hayden Hidlay beat #8 Kendall Coleman of Purdue 8-0 in the Semifinals, but then lost to #2 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern 6-2 in the finals.

#4 Trent Hidlay beat #3 Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa 8-4 in the Semifinals, marking his 3rd Top-5 victory of the year. Unfortunately, he ran into #1 #1 Zahid Valencia of Arizona State in the finals, losing 12-4 to the 2-time National Champion.

#13 Thomas Bullard beat Dazjon Casto of The Citadel 3-0 to start off the Consolation rounds, and then 18-6 major decision over #8 Andrew Fogarty of North Dakota State to advance to the 3rd/4th match. Bullard then pinned #12 Ethan Smith of Ohio State to claim 3rd place.

While he didn’t make the podium, Redshirt Junior #12 Tariq Wilson finished 7th. Wilson started off the day with a 4-2 win over Anthony Sparacio of Binghamton, but then went on to lose to Northern Iowa’s Blockhus 6-4, booting him to the 7th/8th match. Wilson claimed 7th place in dramatic fashion, beating #18 Mitch Moore of  Virginia Tech in the final 3 seconds, with a takedown and two swipes, winning 5-3.

The Wolfpack will hit the road on Friday for a dual against Appalachian State.