Badger Bites
4X NCAA All-American ... first Wisconsin heavyweight in school history to earn four NCAA-All-American honors in career ... 5X NCAA Championships Qualifier ... team nickname is "Thor" ... parents are David and Sue ... brother Dylan played football at Hope College ... earned bachelor's degree in Agricultural Business Management in 2021 ... currently pursuing master's degree at Wisconsin in Sports Leadership ... fastest pin 1:08 (vs. Illinois' fifth-ranked Luke Luffman at 2021 Big Ten Championships, 3/7/21) ... fasted pin wrestling unattached 0:49 (Iowa State's Nick Nolting at Willie Meyers Open, 01/20/18) ... fastest tech fall 1:59 (vs. Drexel's Liam Dietrich, 16-0, 12/11/22)... 118-47 career record.
Honors and Awards
- 2023 NCAA All-American
- 8th place at 2023 NCAA Championships (285 pounds)
- 6th Place at 2023 Big Ten Championships (285 pounds)
- 2023 Academic All-Big Ten (3.8 GPA)
- 2023 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (4.0 semester GPA)
- 2022 NCAA Championships Qualifier (285 pounds)
- 9th place at 2022 Big Ten Championships (285 pounds)
- 2022 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- 2022 Academic All-Big Ten
- 2022 NWCA Scholar All-American
- 2021 NCAA All-American
- 6th place at 2021 NCAA Championships (285 pounds)
- 5th place at 2021 Big Ten Championships (285 pounds)
- 2020 NWCA All-American (First-Team)
- 2020 NCAA Championships Qualifier (285 pounds)
- 4th place at 2020 Big Ten Championships (285 pounds)
- Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (Nov. 26, 2019)
- 2019 NCAA All-American (285 pounds)
- 8th place at 2019 NCAA Championship (285 pounds)
- 4th place at 2019 Big Ten Championship (285 pounds)
Year-By-Year
Trent Hillger Career Individual Match Cumulative Results (PDF) (Updated 03/30/2023)
2022-23: Team Co-Captain ... ranked 11th by Intermat (Oct. 27, 2022) entering the season ... earned his 100th collegiate career victory with 16-0 tech fall in 3:23 of Chattanooga's Nicholas Benton to open the season at the 2022 Battle in the River City in Jacksonville, Florida ... helped lead Badgers to upset of No. 7 Cornell with a 5-2 upset decision over No. 9 Lewis Fernandes (Hillger ranked No. 12) on Nov. 19 ... placed 6th at the 2022 Midlands Championships with 4-1 overall record after advancing to semifinals ... placed 6th at 2023 Big Ten Championships (2-2 record, seeded 5th) and earned automatic qualification to 2023 NCAA Championships, his fifth consecutive qualification to the national tournament ... 2023 NCAA All-American at 285 pounds after finishing 8th at national tournament (3-3 record, seeded 11th) ... becomes Wisconsin's first heavyweight in school history to earn four NCAA All-America honors ... finished season at 19-11 overall ... 2023 Academic All-Big Ten (3.8 GPA in master's program) ...
2021-22: Team Co-Captain ... earned automatic qualification to fourth-consecutive NCAA Championships ... finished 1-2 overall at NCAAs at heavyweight, including 8-0 major decision over Northern Iowa's Tyrell Gordon ... earned automatic qualification to NCAAs after finishing 9th at Big Tens with 3-2 record ... finished season ranked 14th in the nation by Intermat (March 8, 2022) ... ranked sixth nationally at 285 pounds by Intermat in preseason ... undefeated 10-0 overall record entering Big Ten dual season, including four victories in Badgers' dual matches ... placed first at SIUE Cougar Clash ... placed first at Illinois Matmen Open with 4-0 record, including three wins by major decision ... won four matches by pin ... wrestled all 14 of Wisconsin's duals at 285 pounds ... finished season with 20-8 overall record, including four victories by pin and eight major decisions ... Team Co-Captain ... 2022 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar ... 2022 Academic All-Big Ten ... 2022 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-American ... competed in World Team Trials at 125 KG in men's freestyle in the U23 tournament in June.
2020-21: Ranked fifth in preseason national rankings at 285 pounds by FloWrestling, InterMat, TrackWrestling and WIN Magazine ... finished fourth in freestyle 125 kilograms at USA Wrestling Senior Nationals (October 10-11) ... finished fifth at 2021 Big Ten Championships at 285 pounds ... automatic qualifier for third NCAA Championships ... finished sixth at 2021 NCAA Championships at 285 pounds ... earned third NCAA All-American honor, one of only 10 Badgers in school history to earn three honors ... finished 10-7 overall, including 7-5 against Big Ten competition in COVID-shortened season.
2019-20: 23-6 overall record ... took first place at the Cougar Clash hosted by SIUE and picked up a technical fall against Michigan State's Christian Rebottaro ... pinned No. 3 Tate Orndorff from Utah Valley in overtime earning him Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors ... pinned Kent State's Spencer Berthold in 1:46 in the first home dual of the season ... took third place at Midlands with a 4-0 decision over Yaraslau Slavikouski ... won five consecutive matches including a 4-1 decision over No. 16 Christian Lance ... took fourth place at the 2020 Big Ten Championships after defeating No. 16 David Jensen and earning a win over Ohio State's No. 17 Gary Traub ... qualified for the NCAA Championships and was the sixth seed in the heavyweight bracket prior to event being canceled due to COVID ... named a First-Team All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association after the NCAA Championships was canceled due to COVID.
2018-19: Made competitive debut for the Badgers, earning 24-9 overall record ... started at heavyweight in all but one dual for Wisconsin, finishing 10-3 ... went 3-0 at Cyclone Open and at SIUE Cougar Clash to take first place in both tournaments ... finished in eighth place at Midlands ... finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships to qualify for his first NCAA tournament in his freshman season ... earned 3-3 record at the NCAA Tournament, finishing in eighth place to earn his first All-American honors ... 67th All-American in Wisconsin Wrestling history ... finished the season ranked in the top 10 across all media organizations ... recorded one pin, two technical falls and one major decision ... eight wins against ranked opponents.
2017-18: Wrestled unattached and finished season with 22-6 overall record ... led all unattached wrestlers in pins with seven ... ended his first campaign on a ten-match winning streak ... took first at the Pat 'Flash' Flanagan Open, going 3-0 ... went 4-0 at the Willie Myers Open, taking the heavyweight crown ... also went 4-0 at the Blugold Open, claiming his third open title ... recorded three technical falls and one major decision.
High School: Three-time state champion for Lake Fenton High School (Linden, Michigan) ... finished in fourth place at Michigan state championships as a freshman ... came in ranked fourth in the country by both FloWrestling and The Open Mat, as well as the top heavyweight in Michigan ... amassed an overall record of 182-8 ... earned All-American status in freestyle and Greco-Roman as a junior ... Greco-Roman state champion as a freshman and sophomore ... 2015 Flint Area Wrestler of the Year ... top-10 academic standing in his class all four years of high school ... also a standout in football for Lake Fenton High School and recruited to play football in college, in addition to wrestling.
| Year |
Overall |
Duals |
B1G |
Pins |
B1Gs |
NCAAs |
| 2022-23 |
19-11 |
11-5 |
7-7 |
1 |
6th |
8th AA |
| 2021-22 |
20-8 |
10-4 |
8-6 |
4 |
9th |
1-2 (DNP) |
| 2020-21 |
10-7** |
3-2 |
7-5 |
2 |
7th |
6th AA |
| 2019-20 |
23-6 |
13-3 |
10-5 |
3 |
4th |
AA (NWCA)* |
| 2018-19 |
24-9 |
10-3 |
10-7 |
1 |
4th |
8th (AA) |
| 2017-18 |
22-6 |
-- |
2-1 |
7 |
-- |
-- |
| Career |
118-47 |
47-17 |
44-31 |
18 |
5X |
4X AA |
* NCAA Championships canceled due to COVID; ** 2020-21 season shortened due to COVID
Why Wisconsin?
"I chose Wisconsin because the team is super close and feels like a second family of mine. Also, the atmosphere of the fans is second to none. It was the perfect opportunity to have a great athletic career while getting a degree from a great university."
Off the Mat
- Where is your favorite place on campus? Memorial Union Terrace
- Where is your favorite place to eat on campus? Mickies
- Where is your go-to study spot? The Terrace
- What is your major? Agricultural Business Management
- What are your post-college plans? Continuing an athletic career and then coaching
- Who is your favorite school to wrestle against? Michigan, it was my favorite school growing up and I have a lot of friends on the team
- What is your best wrestling memory? Blood round win my freshman year to All-American
- Where is your favorite place to wrestle? The Field House
- When did you begin wrestling? When I was 4 years old
- What is your favorite thing about Wisconsin wrestling? Team camaraderie
- What is something you do before every match? Pray and run through keys for the upcoming match
- What is one word that describes this team? Family
- My favorite thing to do off the mat with my teammates is: Play video games
- What is your most memorable wrestling achievement? First All-American honor
- Favorite Coach Bono saying? “100% Hustle, Effort and Attitude”
- What is your dream as a collegiate wrestler? Multiple time National Champ
- If you would switch places with anyone on the team for a day, who would you pick and why? Dom (Dentino) because he is the GOAT.
- If you could play for any other Wisconsin sports team, what sport would you choose and why? Football, that was my second option anyway, so it would be interesting to see what life would’ve been like if I chose football instead of wrestling.
- What is your favorite song to sing in the car? Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
- Who is your favorite athlete in any sport? Lebron James
- What is your favorite sports team? Detroit Lions
- What other sports did you play growing up? I played a lot of different sports for a short period of time like BMX racing, baseball, track, and cross country. But I also played football my whole life along with wrestling.
