NCAA Division 1 SE Primer - 184 lbs.
184 lbs.
The dirtysouth has plenty of hammers to watch in Detroit. We have included qualifiers for southern schools (within the coverage of SEWrestle - FL, GA, AL, SC, TN, NC) even if they are not “homegrown” here in the SE. The images below were pulled from each school’s social media account - if you wish for the tweet, pic, etc. to be removed please contact sewrestle. The bios are pulled from each of the schools pages … it is designed to give the reader some background on who to watch at 184.
Interested in a more robust look at the NCAA Division I Tournament? Check out MatTalk’s Media Guide by clicking on the image below.
Caleb Hopkins - Campbell (Palmer, AK - Colony HS)
2020-21: Qualified for the NCAA Championships…Seeded No. 14 at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis…Won his opening round matchup at the NCAA Championships, topping No. 19 Zach Braunagel of Illinois, 7-6, going 1-2 in the tournament…Named an NWCA Division I Scholar All-American…Earned the SoCon’s 184 pound championship, clinching his first NCAA Championships berth with a 5-2 decision over Chattanooga's Matthew Waddell…Also blanked VMI's Zach Brown 4-0 in the SoCon semifinals after receiving a first round bye…The SoCon Pinnacle Award recipient…Named All-SoCon at 184 pounds…Went 12-3 on the year with a perfect 7-0 record in conference matchups…Ranked as high as No. 12 in the individual polls at 184 pounds…Twice named SoCon Wrestler of the Week…Suffered his only regular season loss to then-No. 2 Hunter Bolen from Virginia Tech…Tallied a team-high five pins…Logged his fastest pin of the season, defeating Bellarmine’s Samuel Woolf in just 41 seconds…Helped CU come back to top Chattanooga with a 5-2 decision over Matthew Waddell…Also helped Campbell come back to defeat Appalachian State, pinning Julian Gorring (4:08)…Registered pins in CU’s shutout wins over VMI and Davidson…Pinned Gardner-Webb’s Jha’Quan Anderson (4:27)…Also topped Ohio’s Carson Brewer with a 16-3 major decision…
2019-20: Named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Posted a 13-12 overall record, going 1-0 in dual action, while adding five pins and four major decisions…Split time between 174 and 184 pounds…Helped Campbell down Gardner-Webb in SoCon action with a pin over Samuel Mora (1:54) at 184 pounds…Posted 3-2 tournaments at both the Navy Classic and the Reno Tournament of Champions…Tallied 2-2 days at the Midlands Championships, Wolfpack Open and the Franklin & Marshall Open…Opened Midlands with a 12-2 major decision over Buffalo’s Peter Acciardi…
2018-19: Named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll…Took a runner-up finish in the Freshman/Sophomore Division at the Hokie Open to begin the season, going 4-1 in the tournament with three falls…Placed fifth in the Franklin & Marshall Open, rebounding from an opening round loss and reeling off five straight wins…Also posted a 3-2 mark in the NC State Wolfpack Open and 2-2 at the Midlands Championships…Went 14-6 on the year at 174 pounds, tallying a team-best eight pins…
Prep/Personal: A 2017 Alaska State Champion and three-time state finalist...Owned a 99-10 record over his last three seasons for Colony High School...The 30th-ranked senior at 182 pounds by USA Wrestling Magazine...
Trent Hidlay - North Carolina State (Lewistown, PA - Mifflin County HS)
All-American (184 pounds): 2020 (1st-team), 2021
ACC Champion (184 pounds): 2021
2020 ACC Freshman of the Year
All-ACC (184 pounds): 2020
Junior World Bronze Medalist (86 kg): 2019
2021-22
• Wrestled up at 92 kg at the 2021 U.S. World Team Trials and came away with a third place finish. Started with a 10-0 tech over Virginia Tech’s Smith before falling 5-4 to Kollin Moore in the quarterfinals. Went a perfect 4-0 in the consolation bracket, with a pair of wins over former NCAA champions, 9-5 over Myles Martin then 8-1 over Drew Foster in the third place bout.
• Finished second at the 2021 U.S. Senior Nationals at 86 kg.
2020-21
• NCAA Finalist at his first NCAA Championships. Was seeded #2 at 184 pounds and advanced to the finals, falling to #1 seed Brooks of Penn State (3-2). Opened with a pair of tech falls (17-2, 20-5) before a 3-1 win over #7 seed Wilson of Northern Illinois in the quarterfinals and then 2-1 (TB1) over #6 seed Poznanski of Rutgers in the semifinals.
• 2021 ACC Champion at 184 pounds, downed two ranked foes on the day. In the finals, scored a takedown in OT to down #1 ranked Bolen of Virginia Tech (3-1).
• Among his ACC wins, two straight over ranked foes: #16 Harvey of Pitt (11-4) and #15 Lautt of North Carolina (5-1).
• Went 10-2 on the season overall, 4-1 in duals and 4-1 vs. ranked foes.
• Missed the first two weeks of the season as he underwent an appendectomy in late December.
• Named a 2021 NWCA Scholar All-American and to the 2020-21 All-ACC Academic Team. Also inducted into NC State’s inaugural Chi Alpha Sigma (National Honor Society) class.
• In his first senior-level freestyle event, placed third at the 2020 U.S. Senior Nationals at 86 kg. Entered as the #3 seed, and advanced to the semifinals before his first loss. Went 4-1 at the event overall, and defeated former national champion Drew Foster in the third place bout, 7-4.
2019-20
• Earned 2020 All-America 1st-Team honors by the NWCA.
• Seeded #5 for the 2020 NCAA Championships.
• Earned All-ACC honors by making the finals. Started as the #2 seed, and scored a top-10 win in the semifinals.
• Went 23-4 overall, 14-1 in duals and 4-1 in ACC action (outscored foes 41-15 and only conceded one takedown).
• Had four top-10 wins on the season, including three top-five victories.
• Defeated #5 Darmstadt of Cornell (7-5) and #4 DePrez of Binghamton (2-1) on the same day in a pair of road duals.
• Also scored an 8-4 decision over #3 Lujan of Northern Iowa (who was the #1 seed for NCAAs) in the semifinals at the Cliff Keen Invite.
• Also had a pair of top-10 wins over Pitt’s Bonaccorsi (6-3 in dual, 3-2 at ACC Championship).
• ACC Wrestler of the Week twice.
• Finished second at both the Cliff Keen Invite and the Southern Scuffle.
• 13-1 in bonus point matches.
• Finished the season ranked #3 at 184 pounds by FloWrestling and #4 by InterMat.
• Named to Amateur Wrestling News’ 2019-20 All-Rookie Team.
• Named a 2020 NWCA Scholar All-American with a perfect 4.0 GPA and to the 2020 All-ACC Academic Team. Named to the 2019-20 ACC Academic Honor Roll.
• Won a bronze medal at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Estonia in August of 2019. Advanced to the semifinals with three straight wins, outscoring his foes 26-1. Fell in the semifinals to Russia, 4-3, but came back in the bronze medal bout with a 9-0 win over Latvia.
• Earned a spot on U.S. squad for the Junior World Championships by taking top honors at the World Team Trials in Reynolds Coliseum. Received a bye to the best two-of-three finals, then downed UVA’s Victor Marcelli in back-to-back bouts, 12-7 and 11-4.
• Placed first at UWW Junior Nationals at 86 kg to qualify for the WTT. Entering as the third seed, went 5-0 and outscored his foes 42-6.
2018-19
• Redshirted the season.
• Went 24-2 in six open tournaments - 17-2 in the first four tournaments at 174 pounds, 7-0 in the final two at 184.
• Took fourth at the Southern Scuffle at 174 pounds. His only two losses on the season were to a pair of returning All-Americans by a combined three points.
• Won the Hokie Open, Bearcat Open, Wolfpack Wrestling Club Open, Appalachian State Open and National Collegiate Open.
• Defeated three ranked opponents on the season by a combined 15-5.
• Named to the 2018-19 ACC Academic Honor Roll.
Prep
• A 2017-18 ASICS All-America second-team selection at 170 pounds.
• State champion as both a senior and junior. Finished his career 154-14, and won the final 81 high school matches of his career. Did not surrender a takedown during the winning streak.
• Claimed top honors at 3A 170 pounds as a senior, outscoring his opponents in the state tournament 64-19. Went a perfect 43-0 as a senior.
• Also went undefeated as a junior, 38-0, and won the state title at 160 pounds.
• State finalist as a sophomore, he was the first wrestler in Mifflin County history to reach the finals three times. Also the second two-time state champion in county history, first from his high school.
• Second-most career wins in county history and recorded 73 career pins.
• 2017 FloNationals Champion, two-time Powerade Champion, 2016 and 2017 and three-time Super 32 placer.
• Placed third at the 2018 UWW Junior World Team Trials at 79 kg and 2017 Junior National Freestyle and Greco-Roman Runner-Up.
Rankings
• Ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds and No. 18 overall by FloWrestling.
• Ranked No. 2 at 170 pounds and No. 22 overall by InterMat.
• Ranked No. 4 at 170 pounds by TheOpenMat.
Personal
• Held a 4.0 GPA in high school. Named a 2018 Wrestling USA Scholastic All-American.
• Older brother Hayden is a four-time All-American and currently a R-Sr. for the Wolfpack.
• Enrolled in Business Administration.
Gavin Kane - North Carolina (Milton, GA - Cambridge HS)
2020-21 (Freshman): Compiled a 4-1 record • Notched a 16-0 technical fall on Jan. 10 over Samuel Mora of Gardner-Webb • Collected a 15-6 major decision over Duke's Conor Becker on Jan. 22 • Picked up an 8-2 decision on Jan. 30 over Sam Fisher of Virginia Tech • Finished the season DQ win over Lehigh's Trey Cornish on Feb. 6
Personal/Prep: Gavin Lee Kane is the son of Richard and Beth Kane • Born on October 25, 2001 in Chicago, Illinois • Coached by Don St. James at Don St. James High School • Four-time Georgia state champion • Pittsburgh Classic Team USA member • Super-32 Runner-Up • Two-time NHSCA All-American • 167-2 high school record • Honor roll student • Brother, Devin, also wrestles at Carolina