A few thoughts and observations from No. 4 NC State wrestling's 23-9 win in its ACC opener at Virginia Friday night:

This was almost certainly going to be the top headline from the meet, no matter what happened — star redshirt sophomore 184-pounder Trent Hidlay is that important to the team. In his return to the lineup after an emergency appendectomy, he posted a 4-0 win over Michael Battista.

Hidlay had an offseason of success, placing third at Senior Nationals and then being the only wrestler to go 5-0 at FloWrestling’s RTC Cup, but has an incredibly tough stretch upcoming.

In the next three weeks, he’ll face a trio of ACC foes ranked among the top 20 nationally, headlined by Virginia Tech’s Hunter Bolen Feb. 5. Bolen earned the No. 2 seed for last year's NCAA Championships, while Hidlay earned the 5 seed. Both are legitimate national title contenders, and every live match Hidlay can get before that top-five showdown is a positive.

Sure, 149-pounder Ed Scott is a true freshman and it’s only the third dual of his career. But especially coming off a close loss to a top-10 foe last week, Scott’s dominant 13-1 major decision would be impressive against anybody. He wasn’t expected to get bonus points — not many true freshmen ever are — but earning that result in a conference match and against an opponent ranked as high as 14th nationally by one outlet and in the top 27 of three polls makes it even more special.

Scott bullied his foe around the mat. He also scored three takedowns and was able to not only ride his foe but score near-fall points from the top position. Outside of last Friday’s loss to No. 10 Jonathan Millner, Scott has recorded bonus points in his other three appearances: a second-period pin, a 21-6 technical fall and now 13-1 major decision.

This moves Scott up in the ACC pecking order at this weight, but according to InterMat’s national rankings, three of his last four regular-season opponents will be ranked in the top 20: No. 1 Austin O’Connor of UNC (Jan. 29), No. 12 Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech (Feb. 5) and No. 19 Josh Finesilver of Duke (Feb. 12).

He'll have plenty of opportunities very soon to change this triumph from his best victory to just his first impressive win.

In NC State’s three duals, redshirt sophomore 125-pounder Jakob Camacho has dominated. It began with a 21-8 major decision victory in the opener, followed by an 11-4 victory (one point shy of being a major decision) over a nationally ranked foe in App State’s Codi Russell and continued with tonight’s 16-7 major decision.

That 48-19 aggregate advantage is mighty impressive, and unofficially 13 of those points allowed have been escapes (several of which have been “cuts,” where Camacho allows his opponent up to get back to work in neutral).

197-pound fifth-year senior Nick Reenan had the most difficult matchup on the team, drawing UVA's Jay Aiello, who is ranked as high as second nationally (by FloWrestling).

Aiello, the defending ACC champion, dominated the league last year, outscoring conference foes by a 63-19 margin in his six bouts outside of a victory over Reenan by injury default. There are no moral victories, but Reenan being able to limit Aiello’s scoring and stay competitive is a huge positive. He's looking as good as he has since tearing his ACL during the 2018-19 season.

• It’s hard to beat the same wrestler twice, and even more difficult it to do it three times. That’s exactly what junior heavyweight Deonte Wilson has done against UVA’s Quinn Miller, ranked as high as 15th nationally (by The Open Mat), in the last 12 months. He beat Miller 5-1 in the dual last year and 7-1 at the ACC Championships, and pulled out a 2-0 victory Friday night.

• It says something that fifth-year senior 157-pounder Hayden Hidlay defeats a top-20 opponent (6-3 over No. 16 Justin McCoy), and it’s no longer even that notable — that’s just what is expected of him at this point. The win makes him 24-0 all time against ACC foes.

• NC State freshman 133-pounder Ryan Jack made his dual debut, but lost to No. 13 Louie Hayes 11-6. What NC State does at the weight — it also boasts returning NCAA qualifier Jarrett Trombley — is a storyline worth monitoring.

• 149-pound redshirt freshman Hunter Lewis continued his torrid pace in the “extra” matches (countable bouts that happen after the dual for coaches to get their backups mat time since there are no open tournaments). He picked up another first-period fall against Virginia, giving him four pins in four matches this season — three have come in the first period, including one against No. 10 Jonathan Millner of App State, which earned Lewis ACC co-Wrestler of the Week honors.

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