Arkansas Wrestle
(All images via lrtrojans.com)
LITTLE ROCK – If you could use one word to describe how this weekend went for the Little Rock wrestling team, what would you use? Head Coach Neil Erisman said it best: breakthrough. Despite the squad splitting between the Dragon Duals at Drexel in Pennsylvania and the Cougar Clash tournament in Illinois, the Trojans were busy – yet successful – in both locations.
At the Dragon Duals, Little Rock took out both Drexel and Clarion in back-to-back duals, scoring over thirty team points in both matches. The Trojans bested the host team 30-10 before cleaning up Clarion 37-6. The team won 15 of the 20 bouts on the day, with 12 of those being bonus point victories: wins by major decision, technical fall, or pin. During the second match at the Dragon Duals, Tyler Brennan added another ranked win to his repertoire, taking out #29 John Worthing from Clarion handily by decision, 8-4. Overall, the team tallied 23 takedowns to Drexel’s 6 and 27 takedowns versus Clarion’s 5, proving Little Rock’s offensive efforts throughout the day.
Five Little Rock wrestlers (Nasir Bailey, Matty Bianchi, Tyler Brennan, Stephen Little and Josiah Hill, all nationally ranked) came away with a perfect 2-0 on the day. Little dominated his position, taking home two technical falls, while Brennan and Hill each added a pin for huge bonus points. Bailey got work done for the lower weights, with a technical fall against Drexel and a major decision versus Clarion, while Bianchi claimed a pair of major decisions, not allowing his opponents a single takedown.
Notably, also earning bonus points wins were Triston Wills, finishing with a technical fall in his match against the Dragons, and Brennan Van Hoecke, pinning his opponent from Clarion in the first period. In addition, Bilal Bailey and Kyle Dutton won their first dual matches as Trojans, each claiming major decisions over Clarion.
“Today really was a breakthrough day for all our guys,” said Coach Erisman. “I’m proud of how we reacted to all the moments, wins and losses, and fought through them. The scoreboard didn’t look like it, but those are two tough teams. If we wrestled them last year, or even two weeks ago, it could’ve been a lot tighter, but today we found a way to blow it open.”
At the Cougar Clash, Josh Sarpy and Joseph Bianchi each tallied their first ranked wins as Trojans, showcasing the depth on the Little Rock roster. At 133 pounds, Sarpy claimed a strong 18-8 major decision over #31 Zeke Seltzer from Missouri, while in the 165 pound weight class, Bianchi finished with a 2-1 decision over #25 Blaine Brenner from Minnesota. Bianchi was the highest placer for the Trojans at the tournament, placing 4th in his bracket. He was joined by seven other Trojans that placed at the Cougar Clash.
“I think we competed pretty hard this weekend,” said Assistant Coach Albert White. “Minnesota and Missouri brought their starters to the Cougar Clash, so our guys at the tournament had quality match-ups and quality wins.”
“It builds on what they’re doing day in and day out,” Coach White added. “Because we competed against those type of wrestlers, we were able to collect a lot of data on our guys, see where they are, and see what they have to do to get where they wanna be.”
There’s a lot of season left, but the Trojans are on track to get to where they want to be. Stay tuned as the team faces a challenging December slate: trekking to Chattanooga for a double dual against the hosts and Queens on December 16 before turning around for competition at the Collegiate Duals in Nashville on December 18, where Little Rock will wrestle Cornell, Pitt and Iowa State in back-to-back matches. Now already 3-1, the Trojans are hungry for more despite fierce competition ahead.
For fans looking to see Little Rock compete at home in Arkansas, they’ll have to wait – the Trojans return to the Jack Stephens Center on Friday, January 19 for a 7 p.m. matchup with conference foes Arizona State. View the full 2023-24 schedule here.
Little Rock vs Drexel:
125: Jeremiah Reno DEC Desmond Pleasant (Drexel), 15-8
133: Nasir Bailey MD Jaxon Maroney (Drexel), 15-2
141: Jordan Soriano (Drexel) DEC Brennan Van Hoecke, 12-0
149: Dominic Findora (Drexel) MD Kyle Dutton, 10-1
157: Matty Bianchi MD Tyler Williams (Drexel), 11-2
165: Cody Walsh (Drexel) DEC Bilal Bailey, 7-3
174: Tyler Brennan F Jasiah Queen (Drexel), 6:39
184: Triston Wills TF Justin Griffith (Drexel), 18-2 (6:08)
197: Stephen Little TF Ibrahim Ameer (Drexel), 21-4 (7:00)
285: Josiah Hill DEC Santino Morina (Drexel), 4-2
Little Rock vs Clarion:
125: Joey Fischer (Clarion) DEC Jeremiah Reno, 9-2
133: Nasir Bailey TF TJ England (Clarion), 19-2 (3:05)
141: Brennan Van Hoecke F Ryan Avalos (Clarion), 1:52
149: Kyle Dutton MD Kyle Schickel (Clarion), 18-4
157: Matty Bianchi MD Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Clarion), 9-1
165: Bilal Bailey MD Wesley Barnes (Clarion), 15-2
174: Tyler Brennan DEC John Worthing (Clarion), 8-4
184: Cameron Pine (Clarion) DEC Triston Wills, 8-4
197: Stephen Little TF Ethan Wiant (Clarion), 21-5 (6:14)
285: Josiah Hill F John Meyers (Clarion), 6:50
Little Rock Placers at Cougar Clash:
Reid Nelson (7th Place, 125 pounds)
Josh Sarpy (7th Place, 133 pounds)
Chase Tebbets (5th Place, 157 pounds)
Joseph Bianchi (4th Place, 165 pounds)
Kodiak Cannedy (5th Place, 174 pounds)
Austin Keal (8th Place, 174 pounds)
Brooks Sacharczyk (6th Place, 184 pounds)
KJ MIley (7th Place, 285 pounds)
For the latest information on Little Rock Wrestling, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockWRES on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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