He won a state championship in the last match that Bobby Shriner ever coached for Orange wrestling.
He was a midfielder for Orange men’s lacrosse, mainly focusing on face-offs.
Most of all, Payton Wilson did a little bit of everything for Orange High’s football team from the moment he made his debut in the 2014 3A State Playoffs against Corinth-Holders in Wendell. Wilson spent that year on the junior varsity. He got the call up to the varsity for the state playoffs, where he would play alongside his brother, Bryse, on defense.
He instantly made an impact.
Now, Wilson has become the most decorated college football player to ever come out of Hillsborough.
After a season where he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in tackles and tackles for loss with the N.C. State Wolfpack, Wilson has become just the fourth unanimous first-team All-American in Wolfpack history. Last week, Wilson was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, the only ACC player honored.
Two weeks ago at halftime of the N.C. State men’s basketball team’s win over Maryland-Eastern Shore at Reynolds Coliseum, Wilson was surprised by head coach Dave Doeren as the winner of the Dick Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker. Wilson was honored at halftime of the game for being nominated for the Butkus Award, unaware that he had actually already earned the honor until Doeren show up with the trophy moments later.
On December 8, Wilson won the Chuck Bednarik Award during ESPN’s College Football Awards Show at the Maxwell Football Club. The Bednarik Award is awarded annually to the nation’s best top defensive player.
He is the first player in N.C. State history to earn the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award.
The ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson led the ACC with 138 tackles in 2023, fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He averaged 11.5 tackles per game for a Wolfpack team that finished 9-3, winning its final five games including victories over Clemson, Miami and North Carolina.
Wilson led the ACC with 17.5 tackles for loss. He also had six sacks, broke up ten passes, and pulled down three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.
Wilson has likely played his final game for the Wolfpack. N.C. State, ranked #19 by the Associated Press, is slated to face Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Miami on December 28. However, Wilson is expected to opt out to focus on staying healthy for the NFL Draft in April.
Wilson won three straight conference championships during his stint at Orange in 2015, 2016 and 2017. As a junior in 2016, he got to focus primarily on defense under head coach Pat Moser and defensive coordinator Van Smith. It was arguably the greatest Orange football team in school history with the Wilsons sharing time at linebacker, along with defensive end Stone Edwards, who would go on to play at Vanderbilt before an ankle injury cut his career in Nashville short.
The Panthers became the first team since 1978 to finish undefeated in the regular season, roaring through its six Big 8 Conference games allowing just 13 points and one touchdown. Orange thumped Southern Durham 49-7 inside Spartans Stadium on September 23, 2017, a game where Wilson returned a punt for a touchdown. It ended a run of five straight wins by the Spartans over the Panthers, including two tight games in the state playoffs in a rivalry that defined that generation locally on the gridiron.
Southern Durham’s Kendall Hinton, who would go on to play at Wake Forest and with the Denver Broncos, was the Spartans’ starting quarterback.
In his senior year, Wilson was the starting linebacker, returned punts, was the placekicker, punter and eventually became the starting quarterback at midseason. He led Orange to its third straight Big 8 Conference title. Among the highlights of that year was the Panthers beating Hillside at Russell Blunt Stadium in Durham, which ended the Hornets 48-game conference winning streak. Wilson rushed for two touchdowns in the Panthers 31-20 victory.