Hidlay, PSU wrestlers set for NCAAs
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The at-large selections have been announced, the seeds are set and the brackets are filled for the 2024 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships that start next Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
For Mifflin County's Trent Hidlay, now a 197-pounder for North Carolina State, next week's tournament holds a special distinction. He will try to ride the momentum of his fourth ACC championship, he's only the 12th wrestler in the history of the conference to accomplish that feat, to the top of the podium in Kansas City in his last trip to the tournament.
Hidlay is already a four-time All-American, having placed fourth in 2023, fifth in 2022, second in 2021 and being named an All-American by the NWCA in 2020, when the NCAA canceled the tournament in the midst of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
For the second year in a row, and the third time in five years, Hidlay (24-0) will begin his quest for a championship as the second seed, this year at 197. He is paired with Kristian Kinsey of Virginia, the No. 31 seed who is 10-8, in the Round of 32. Hidlay piled up an 18-4 major decision over Kinsey on Feb. 9.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Penn State starts its quest for a three-peat with a full complement of 10 wrestlers, all ranked in the Top 10 of their respective weights, including four No. 1 seeds.
Freshman 125-pounder Braeden Davis, sophomore 157-pounder Levi Haines, fifth-year senior 197-pounder Aaron Brooks and senior 285-pounder Greg Kerkvliet were all seeded No. 1. Senior 141-pounder Beau Bartlett and redshirt freshman 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink earned No. 2 seeds.
Graduate student 184-pounder Bernie Truax earned the No. 6 seed. True freshman 149-pounder Tyler Kasak is seeded seventh. Senior 174-pounder Carter Starocci was designated the No. 9 seed. And, sophomore 133-pounder Aaron Nagao earned the No. 10 seed.
Davis (19-2), the Big Ten champion, will await the winner of a pigtail bout in his Round of 32 match between No. 33 seed Tristan Lujan (16-15) of Michigan State and No. 32 seed Mike Joyce (8-7) of Brown.
Defending NCAA runner-up Haines, who won his second consecutive Big Ten title, will also face the winner of a pigtail match. No. 33 seed Nick Stampoulos (22-17) of Buffalo faces No. 32 seed Isaac Wilcox (20-10) of Ohio State.
Brooks, Penn State's third four-time Big Ten champion and three-time NCAA champion, will meet the winner of the pigtail bout between No. 33 seed Evan Bates of Northwestern and No. 32 seed John Crawford (22-12) of Franklin & Marshall.
Three-time All-American Kerkvliet (15-0) will also wrestle a pigtail winner. No. 33 seed Jordan Greer (14-8) of Ohio meets No. 32 seed Nick Willham (12-10) of Indiana for the right to meet Kerkvliet.
Bartlett (19-1), a 2024 Big Ten runner-up and 2023 All-American, is paired with No. 31 seed Kai Owen (16-11) of Columbia in the Round of 32.
Mesenbrink, the Big Ten champion, meets Northwestern No. 31 seed Maxx Mayfield (15-15) in the first round.
Truax (14-4), a three-time All-American at Cal Poly, takes on Clarion No. 27 seed Cameron Pine (23-7) in the Round of 32.
Kasak, off his third-place finish in the Big Ten tournament, meets No. 26 seed Jaden Abas (16-7) of Stanford in the first round.
Starocci (12-2), the three-time NCAA champion who defaulted two matches at the Big Ten tournament to protect an injured knee, earned a Round of 32 showdown with Minnesota No. 24 seed Andrew Sparks (10-7).
And, returning All-American Nagao (14-5) squares off with No. 23 seed Marlon Yarbrough (15-7) of Virginia in the first round.
Session 1 of the NCAA Championships gets under way at noon March 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.