KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trent Hidlay’s collegiate wrestling achievements would be the envy of the vast majority of wrestlers who pull on a singlet and step on the Resilite.

He’s a five-time All-American, a four-time placewinner (second in 2024, fourth in 2023, fifth in 2022, second in 2021) and two-time finalist. He was a four-time ACC champion. He was part of a wave of wrestlers that, in the past 10 years, raised North Carolina State to new heights.

And, yet, as the former Mifflin County High School star stood on the 197-pound medal stand Saturday night, on the second-place level, one step below his ultimate goal, one couldn’t help but notice he had to repeatedly wipe tears from his eyes before accepting his runner-up trophy.

A fierce competitor, Hidlay had just minutes before been stymied once again by his nemesis– four-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks of Penn State 6-1. It was the fourth year in a row that Brooks had stood in the way of Hidlay’s pursuit of a national championship. Brooks won 6-3 in the 2023 semifinals, 6-4 in sudden victory in the 2022 semifinals and 3-2 in the 2021 final.

In this final, Brooks was the aggressor early on, pushing the tempo. Hidlay was whistled for stalling with 38 seconds left in the first period. Then, just ahead of the whistle, Brooks converted on a takedown for a 3-0 lead after a period.

Brooks chose bottom to start the second and Hidlay rode him initially but Brooks eventually escaped and went back on the attack. He earned another penalty point from the referee for stalling and Hidlay’s deficit was 5-0 heading into the third.

Hidlay chose bottom to start the third and Brooks smothered him for most of the period, riding hard and not allowing any openings. Then, with fewer than 15 seconds on the clock, Brooks cut him loose and retreated in defense, not allowing Hidlay to penetrate. Brooks earned a point for 1:49 in riding time to set the final at 6-1.

Brooks said the matchup was one of similar approaches.

“Styles make matchups. Nowadays, especially with media, social media everyone knows what everybody’s got. People know I underhook, people know he underhooks. It just happens that he’s right-leg lead, right underhook, I’m lefty lead, lefty underhooks. So, one of us is going to get to it. I was looking to get to mine. He got to his twice. We just both like that technique,” he said.

For Hidlay, it was his first loss of the season. He ends the final year of his sparkling career with a 28-1 record and 106-12 for his career.

Hidlay was asked Friday night about his rivalry with Brooks. He was brutally honest in his response.

“It may be hard for me to call it a rivalry. I’ve gotten beat every time, but I think it goes to show the competitiveness of getting to this level. Just doing four years of college wrestling is extremely difficult, to be a starter for four years is extremely difficult, and to do that for five, six years and being on the national stage each year is — looking back on it, it’s something that I can really be proud of, and a lot of effort and hard work goes into that,” he said.

He had said Friday night after winning in the semifinals he had lots of motivation for coming back for one more season, even with Brooks having made the move from 184 to 197 as Hidlay had.

“I love wrestling. I love doing this with my teammates. This is my passion. I feel like this is where I’m most alive when I’m competing. There is nothing better than the national — than the NCAA Tournament. I’ve been close a couple of times. I’ve come up short three times here, so I think just the never-ending pursuit of trying to accomplish your goals, right?” he said.

“This has been a goal of mine ever since I was a little kid. I had the opportunity to come back and enjoy my last season with an awesome team and awesome coaching staff. It means a lot for me to wrestle for N.C. State and for my family. I’ve been given such a huge amount of support that it would be foolish not to take advantage of that. I’ve really enjoyed this last year.”