How Isaac Trumble’s redshirt year will pay off for NC State this season

For NC State redshirt junior Isaac Trumble, spending a year away from Wolfpack competition on a weekly basis seems to have been beneficial for both his development as a wrestler and his mindset going into this season. 

Trumble, a two-time NCAA qualifier for the Pack, took a redshirt year last season to focus on the Olympic trials and international competition. He worked on improving as a wrestler, while also pitting himself against the best in the world. 

The result? A U23 World Championship and nearly an Olympic berth. Not bad for a season that was viewed as a time to get better on the mat. 

While Trumble found success on the world stage, he also was able to wrestle without the stress of competing for NC State. In a way, it helped him find joy on the mat again. 

“I wasn’t competing for NC State, so there was a little less stress on my back,” Trumble said recently. “I was competing more for myself. I was able to wrestle a lot more free and it showed. I competed really well and it made it a lot of fun to go out there and just wrestle.”

First, Trumble won gold via a technical fall victory over Moldova’s Radu Lefter at the U23 World Championships (97kg) in Albania last October. That performance — the first gold-medal finish in any age division by a Wolfpack wrestler — seemed to prove he was more than capable of handling himself in big moments.

Eight months later, he followed it up with an impressive showing in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Penn State. Trumble battled his way through the challenge tournament, knocking off Jonathan Aiello, who previously beat him earlier in his career, and former Ohio State All-American Kollin Moore. 

Those wins earned Trumble a spot in a best-of-three final against Kyle Snyder, a two-time Olympic medalist (gold in 2016, silver in 2020) and NCAA legend at Penn State. While it didn’t go the way Trumble was expecting as Snyder won both matches without conceding a point — 5-0 and 4-0 — the mat time against one of the best in the world proved to the Wolfpack wrestler he belonged at heavyweight. 

“I use it as confidence,” said Trumble, who previously competed at 197 pounds in his first two seasons at NC State. “Kyle Snyder is a three-time NCAA champ, and if I’m able to compete with him after he’d been graduated for so long, then I can compete with anyone in the country right now. … I know that I can compete with everyone in the heavyweight division, no matter the size.” 

The main difference between Trumble, who is ranked ninth in the NCAA heavyweight division this season by FloWrestling, and a top-five wrestler in the world, in his eyes, is finding ways to attack an elite defender. His defense was similar to Snyder’s, but when he was able to get to the former four-time NCAA All-American’s legs, Trumble couldn’t find a way to score. 

Even so, reaching a point where he was just one opponent away from the Olympic games, Trumble knows he can compete. 

For NC State coach Pat Popolizio, Trumble’s experience — and success — during his redshirt season epitomizes what his program is all about.

“It’s always rewarding to see an athlete who commits and works extremely hard, dedicates a full year into getting better and then you see the results come full circle,” Popolizio said. “I think that’s always what you strive for as an athlete and what our program is built upon — a lot of hard work and commitment.”

That year of development could set Trumble up for a big season as the Wolfpack takes the mat in search of its seventh consecutive ACC title. In Popolizio’s experience, those who redshirt with previous collegiate mat time have a more fruitful result from their year off of consistent competition. 

Both of NC State’s most recent individual NCAA champions, Nick Gwiazdowski (2014 and 2015 at heavyweight) and Mike Machiavello (2018 at 197), did it off a redshirt season. 

Popolizio, NC State’s 13th-year coach, believes that the redshirt year could do wonders for Trumble and redshirt sophomore Matty Singleton, who placed third at the U20 world championships (79kg) and is in a similar position as the U23 world champion. 

“You’ve gained the growth and understanding of the grind you go through as an athlete, then, you have a year to slow things down and process the improvements and why things are happening,” Popolizio said. “You get to see a different perspective of it. I’ve always seen guys come off the redshirt year with a lot of confidence. I expect the same from Isaac and Matty.”

Trumble is searching for his first individual ACC championship and has aspirations of claiming the NCAA title this season. His success in international competition will help as the Wolfpack enters the 2024-25 campaign with a target on its back. 

“We’re going to be in the line of fire and there’s not a bigger tournament than the world championships,” Popolizio said. “He’s proven and shown that he can go out and compete at the world level. We’re going to continue that momentum into the college season.”