The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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64 ■ THE WOLFPACKER WHEREARETHEYNOW? But "to make it sting even more," in 1972 the West German wrestling team was allowed to compete in the U.S. Champi- onships. At the tournament, Hicks placed second to fellow American Wayne Wells, while the German finished third. A few months later at the Olympics, Hicks is in the stands watching Wells win and the same German he beat finish third. But this time, he didn't have the opportunity to be the silver medalist between the two. "In track and swimming, they take the top three U.S. place winners; in wrestling it's one," he explained. "I'm sitting there watching the guy that beat me for the U.S. team spot win the gold medal — he's the best in the world in my weight class. "The German that I beat 6-3 is on the po- dium, and I'm sitting in the stands. There's something wrong with this picture! "I could have had a shot if they would have let the top two or top three guys from a country go in every weight class, but they just didn't do that." Yet, the disappointments never deterred Hicks. "It doesn't haunt me, but it makes me wonder — what if the circumstances would have been just a little bit different? But I still did a lot of great things," he noted. "The Olympics are probably the one that really hits me the hardest because I never made the U.S. team. But I'm pleased with everything else that happened, so I can't be that disappointed." Hicks reached a point in his grappling career that people just assumed he went to one of the national wrestling powerhouses, not NC State, which was more known for its basketball program then. "People would know my name," he re- membered. "But numerous people would ask, 'Greg, where did you go to school? Oklahoma State?' "They couldn't comprehend that I went to NC State. For years, I had to correct people. They just couldn't imagine I went to a basketball school." Hicks has been even more successful in his life after wrestling, but stayed in the sport by returning to NC State as a volunteer assistant — a post he held for more than 20 years — which led to his wife being hired as an assistant for the football coaches. She served in that role through several head coaches, including Hicks' former teammate and a fellow ACC champion wrestler in Chuck Amato, before retiring. She passed away in September after a bat- tle with leukemia. Just like Hicks' wrestling career couldn't be defined by his time at NC State, he can't be defined only by a decorated interna- tional wrestling career. He is still involved with Athletes in Ac- tion, founded and now serves as the presi- dent of Financial Resource Management in Raleigh, has authored three books, helped start a church and hosts two radio shows — and those are just the highlights. After being read a list of his athletic feats and current activities, Hicks paused and said, "Whoa." It was almost like the boy that came to NC State simply to wrestle was astounded by the unexpected places the sport has taken him — from one side of the globe to the other. "What God opened up is mind boggling to me," he said. "I was an NC State student who said I'm going to be an engineer, get married and live happily ever after. "Once I committed myself to Him and Athletes in Action showed up, I never would have in a million years guessed what my life would hold. "It seems no way this could've hap- pened. It was very fulfilling, all the way through the journey. There were some re- ally tough times and some unbelievably fun and great times, too. There's no way I would go back and be a chemical engineer. "It's an amazing journey when I think about it. … Wrestling and State were clearly humongous stepping stones for me." ■ Hicks never competed in the Olympics, but he has been to four while working with Athletes in Action. Here, he attends one of the organization's Olympic projects with former Wolfpack linebacker Pat Teague (left). PHOTO COURTESY GREG HICKS