NC State wrestling brothers excited to work together, benefit from marketing, endorsements

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Every NCAA athlete in the country can now make money from endorsements and through a variety of other ventures. The new rule won't just benefit big-name athletes -- it can also provide a huge advance for non-revenue sports, such as wrestling.

"It's a very exciting time to be a college athlete," NC State wrestler Trent Hidlay said. "It'll definitely change the landscape of how things are done and how things will move in the future. It's very exciting and great opportunities ahead."
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His brother, Hayden Hidlay also looks forward to the possibilities.

"I think just being able to speak more on your thoughts on things and at the end of the day getting paid for some of those things," Hayden Hidlay said. "It shouldn't be a bad thing for people wanting to engage in the free market. I think I will try to take advantage of that as much as aI can."

The Hidlay brothers -- teammates on NC State's wrestling team -- are excited to get to work and said it's a bonus to get to do it together.

"We've been able to build up a brand while being amateurs," Hayden said. "I think people have come to respect who we are just by our social media presence and the way we conduct ourselves. He's very different from I am, but we still have our brand and I think being able to capitalize on that will be really special."



The Wolfpack wrestling team has enjoyed a strong following and has been a national power for some years now.

"It opens the door for people to support you in ways they haven't been able to in the past," Trent said. "The good thing about my brother and I is that we can do things together and that kind of is a bonus for both of us."
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He added that this benefits fans, as now he and his teammates can make shirts with their images on them or their names on the back, something they weren't able to do before Thursday.

"I think it gives us a chance to almost give back to the support of our fans in the past few years who have followed us really well," Trent said. "Anything we can do to help them, if that's get a T-shirt or be able to communicate with them without as many rules. I think that will be huge."

The Hidlay brothers said the first thing on the agenda will be to make some T-shirts online. They said they are also open to any endorsement deals that come their way.