Born in Eden, North Carolina, Greg Hicks attended Page High School in Greensboro and joined the wrestling team as a sophomore.

Hicks earned two state medals in high school, finishing as state runner-up in 1963 and third in 1964.

He then attended North Carolina State University, majoring in chemical engineering and wrestling for the Wolfpack under Al Crawford and Jerry Daniels.

Hicks had a highly successful collegiate career, winning two Atlantic Coast Conference titles (1966 and 1967), two Southern Open championships, and qualifying for the NCAA tournament three times. At one point in college, Hicks won 32 consecutive ACC matches.

During his senior year at NC State, Hicks was approached by staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ to join the Athletes in Action wrestling team. Instead of pursuing a career in engineering, Hicks used his wrestling talents to impact thousands of people while wrestling for Athletes in Action and serving the Campus Crusade.

In 13 years with AIA, he visited major cities in the United States while also traveling to Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, Mongolia, Russia and Turkey.

Hicks also won the 1974 Wilkes-Barre Open and was a two-time USA Senior Freestyle Champion (1973 and 1975). He competed in the World Championships in 1974 and 1975, finishing fifth. He was also a two-time silver medalist at the World Cup (1974 and 1975) and also captured gold at the Pan American Games in Mexico.

He coached the United States team at the Junior World Championships in Mongolia in 1978 and was a volunteer assistant coach for NC State for many years.