Hidlay Returns to NC State as Assistant Coach

Yesterday, Hayden Hidlay announced that he had left the Stanford coaching staff to pursue another opportunity. Today, NC State has announced that Hidlay would return to the program where he made a name for himself as a competitor.

Hidlay will return to the Wolfpack as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons out west coaching at Stanford. Over the weekend, one of the storylines from the 2026 NCAA Championships was the emergence of the Cardinal program. Stanford finished sixth in the nation and head coach Chris Ayres was named Coach of the Year by the NWCA. The sixth-place finish was a school record, as were Stanford’s four individual All-Americans. One of those All-Americans, Aden Valencia, captured a national title at 149 lbs. He became the program’s first freshman champion. As a middleweight, he certainly spent time working with Hidlay.

Hidlay started his coaching career at North Dakota State University in 2023-24. After his collegiate career at NC State wrapped up, Hidlay spent a year around the team as its Student-Athlete Development Coordinator.

As a competitor, Hidlay put together one of the best careers in NC State wrestling history. He earned NCAA All-American honors on four occasions with NCAA finishes of 3rd, 5th, 4th, and 2nd. Hidlay was also named a first-team All-American after the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. He was also a four-time ACC champion and earned the #1 seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Hidlay’s younger brother, 2025 world champion Trent, is still in Raleigh training with NC State’s Wolfpack RTC.

With Hidlay leaving Stanford, they’ll have an opening on the Cardinal coaching staff. With a team full of young talent, fresh off a sixth-place finish in Cleveland, Stanford and Coach Ayres should have no shortage of quality candidates to choose from.