Hayden Hidlay selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week

Hayden Hidlay (Lewistown, Pa./North Carolina State) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on Jan. 8, 2020.

2018 NCAA finalist Hidlay put together a strong performance at the Southern Scuffle, which was held Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Wrestling at 157 pounds, Hidlay, who entered as the No. 1 seed, recorded five bonus-point wins to claim the title and become NC State’s first Southern Scuffle champion since 2009.

He opened the event with a dominant 16-0 tech fall in less than five minutes over Air Force’s Trey Brisker. The Wolfpack wrestler followed it up with a first-period fall over Ethan Woods of Stanford.

Hidlay then registered back-to-back major decisions in the quarters and semis to earn a spot in the finals. There, he shut out No. 2 seed Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider with a 10-0 victory.

Because of his performance, Hidlay also earned ACC Wrestler of the Week for the second time in a row and third time this season.

Each week USA Wrestling will select an Athlete of the Week based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling from youth programs through the senior level. Twitter fan votes also play a part in decision.

To nominate a wrestler for this honor please send the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments and career accolades to USA Wrestling Communications Coordinator Taylor Miller at tmiller@usawrestling.org.