Isaac Trumble was not happy with the NIL Collective in Raleigh after North Carolina State finished in a tie for eighth place at the NCAA Tournament of college wrestling. He could not believe the lack of recognition or acknowledgement from the university’s Name, Image and Likeness arm.
His complaint actually led to an admission of wrongdoing!
Trumble, a redshirt junior, began his college wrestling career in 2020 as one of the top recruits in the country. The Nebraska-native placed fourth at 285 pounds after three days of competition at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia over the weekend and earned All-American honors.
He was not the only Wolfpack wrestler to have success at the NCAA Tournament. Matty Singleton placed seventh at 174 pounds. Vince Robinson was crowned as the 2025 NCAA Division I National Champion at 125 pounds in his first full season of competition. North Carolina finished inside the top-10 as a team.
Robinson’s win was especially impressive.
Vince Robinson – National Champion 🥇#PackMentality pic.twitter.com/fTCRiDdBQx
— NC State Wrestling 🤼♂️ (@PackWrestle) March 23, 2025
He never won a state title during his high school career in Illinois. That did not stop him from running through a gauntlet of unforgiving opponents in Philly!
- First Round — No. 29 Joey Cruz (Iowa)
- Second Round — No. 13 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton)
- Quarterfinals — No. 12 Dean Peterson (Rutgers)
- Semifinals — No. 8 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh)
- Finals — No. 7 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State)
All-in-all, it was a great showing for the Wolfpack. They far out-performed expectations.
And yet, the One Pack NIL Collective did not acknowledge their feats outside of a few reposts on social media. Isaac Trumble could not believe it. He decided to put the collective on blast.
Not a single word from of our NIL collectives about having the national champ at 125lbs, 3 all Americans, or a top 10 ncaa finish.
— @isaactrumble_ / X
Although I am not overly aware of the Name, Image and Likeness situation at North Carolina State, I am aware of the breakdown at other schools. Wrestling is not a revenue sport at most schools. It is not anywhere near the top of the hypothetical totem pole when it comes to popularity.
That does not mean that college wrestling is not great. That is not to say it does not draw interest. However, when it comes to NIL specifically, wrestlers are not going to get paid the same as other athletes. Most of the money goes to football and men’s basketball. It trickles down from there.
With that being said, Isaac Trumble’s gripe with the One Pack NIL Collective is entirely valid. There was an opportunity to celebrate a really great run by the Wolfpack while also raising money for the program (and its athletes) but the collective fell short.
Chris Vurnakes, Executive Director of One Pack, agrees. He promised to make things right.
Isaac – you’re right. We should have been quicker. We have a campaign coming out tomorrow.
Call me tomorrow. CV
— @Vurnakes12
I have not seen this kind of exchange in college sports. Athletes occasionally put their school’s collective on blast for a failure to meet payment. This is different.
Trumble questioned why the collective failed to recognize one of the “lower-tier” sports for its accomplishments. The collective agreed with his frustration. That’s a new one!