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Hidlay brothers among best at Southern Scuffle

From staff reports

CHATTANOOGA – The sixth ranked NC State wrestling team had eight reach the podium at the 2020 Southern Scuffle, highlighted by a first place finish by R-Jr. Hayden Hidlay at 157 pounds.

As a team, NC State had a total of eight take a spot on the podium with top-eight finishes and the Wolfpack took second in the team race behind Oklahoma State.

Hidlay cruised to the title at 157 pounds, posting a major decision over No. 7 Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider in the finals. In the top-10 battle for the championship, Hidlay scored a takedown in the first, then racked up 4:47 straight of riding time the rest of the match, and included a pair of near falls for the 10-0 win.

For the tournament, Hidlay was 5-0 with all bonus point wins, outscoring his foes 50-6 including a pin.

R-Fr. Trent Hidlay came home with a second place finish at 184 pounds, his lone loss came in the finals in a top-10 battle. Hidlay won his first four matches of the tournament by a combined 35-10, but lost to No. Lou DePrez of Binghamton 3-2 in the finals, the lone takedown coming in the first period.

The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team had three true freshmen competing unattached at the 2020 Southern Scuffle. The two-day event took place in Chattanooga on Jan. 1-2. All three Lions placed at the tournament with Carter Starocci winning the 174-pound crown.

Starocci competed at 174 and steamrolled through the competition. Starocci began the tournament on day one by pinning The Citadel’s Kyle Kretzer at the 1:54 mark. He followed that up with an 18-1 tech fall over CSU-Bakersfield’s Albert Urias at the 6:42 mark. Starocci then majored Cody Surratt of the Air Force 12-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, the Lion freshman dominated No. 16 Spencer Carey of Navy, rolling to a 13-5 major decision. Starocci met VMI’s Neal Richards in day two’s semifinals and rolled to a 9-2 win. He took on Pitt’s Gregg Harvey for the 2020 Southern Scuffle championship at 174 and dominated the Panther, posting an 11-6 win for the crown. Starocci went 6-0 overall, including two majors, a tech fall and a pin.

Michael Beard competed at 197 and placed fourth. Day one saw an unseeded Beard post a 15-0 tech fall over The Citadel’s Martin Duane. He then dominated No. 19 Jordan Pagano of Rutgers, rolling to a 9-0 major decision over the Scarlet Knight.

Beard then posted one of day one’s most impressive wins, using a second period escape to notch a 1-0 win over No. 4 Nick Reenan of North Carolina State. In day two’s semifinals, Beard opened up an early lead on No. 8 Nathan Traxler of Stanford before dropping a hard-fought 9-7 decision. He met No. 6 Dakota Geer in the consolation semifinals and rolled over the Cowboy 10-5 for his second win over a top-ten ranked grappler. He met No. 18 Ethan Laird of Rider in the third-place bout and lost 9-7 on a late takedown. Beard went 3-2 overall with two majors, with all but one of those matches coming against nationally ranked opponents.

Joe Lee competed at 165 and placed fifth. Lee began day one with a 16-1 technical fall over The Citadel’s Chris Fasano. He then pinned Missouri’s Connor Flynn in just 2:17 in his next bout. Lee opened up an early lead on No. 8 Thomas Bullard of North Carolina State in the quarterfinals but could not hang on, dropping into day two’s consolation action with a 9-4 loss. Lee rolled to a 15-0 technical fall over Air Force’s Randy Meneweather at the 2:42 mark of the first period before picking up a medical forfeit win over No. 19 Ebid Jarrell of Drexel. He met No. 15 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in the conso semifinals and lost a close 8-4 decision.

Lee met No. 11 Jake Wentzel of Pitt in the fifth-place match and rolled to a 10-3 win over the ranked Panther. Lee went 5-2 overall with two technical falls and a pin. He picked up two wins over InterMat ranked wrestlers in the process.

Penn State is 3-1 in duals, 0-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action on Friday when they host Illinois in Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Two days later, the Lions host Northwestern in Rec Hall on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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