Doesn't matter to me whether WC wins or Hickory gets shut out or anything like that, I just hate seeing misinformation and people talking past each other. So, here are facts all pulled from the link I supplied below (other people posted similar info while I was looking this up.)
WC had 1577 students at the time of reclassification. While not a lot of students, it is squarely in 4A territory if realignment had been done by ADM only. However, in their infinite wisdom and in a spirit of social justice (which doesn't always provide equity, but that's not a topic for here right now) the NCHSAA chose to use Wachovia Cup points and Free or Reduced Lunch numbers in a formula to come up with the classifications. By my quick and dirty count, there were 21 schools with smaller ADMs than WC that were classed as 4A. I'm not going to county the number of 3A schools with higher ADMs than WC but with the provided link you can if you would like.
https://www.nchsaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Realignment-Data-Review-Post.pdf