Arkansas Wrestle
(All images via lrtrojans.com)
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock wrestling is ready to face their first away duals of the season, as the starting lineup heads to Philadelphia for the Dragon Duals on Sunday, hosted by Drexel. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad will take on the Cougar Clash in Edwardsville, Illinois this Saturday for another chance at tournament competition.
The Trojans will wrestle Drexel at 10 a.m. CT before turning around to face Clarion at 11:30 a.m. CT over on the East Coast. The Drexel match will be streamed on FloWrestling and live results will be available on TrackWrestling. The Clarion match will be streamed on the Little Rock Facebook page. Meanwhile, the Cougar Clash will also have live results on TrackWrestling.
“We are going to Pennsylvania, the heart of wrestling country, and wrestling two very solid teams that have a tough athletes,” said head coach Neil Erisman on the trip to Drexel. “Anytime you head to the East Coast to compete, you better be ready. It should be a great scrap and a great weekend for us there.”
“The great thing about our squad right now is that we have some decent depth,” Coach Erisman continued. “The Cougar Clash has developed into a great tournament and all those guys are going to have a shot at wrestling and beating ranked opponents. Overall, it should be a great weekend for the Trojans.”
Top Teams and Tournaments
Neither Drexel nor Clarion are ranked in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches poll, nor have any ranked wrestlers via Intermat or FloWrestling, but the nature of wrestling goes that if you have a bout, you have a chance: just ask Tyler Brennan, who earned his #17 ranking after an upset win against Oklahoma, as the redshirt senior defeated former #13 ranked Tate Picklo by decision, 4-3.
This will be the first time that the Trojans have a match against Clarion, but it will be the second time that they face the Drexel Dragons, and a chance to even the score. The last time the Trojans and Dragons met, it was November 2021, where the visitors secured the 25-18 team win.
In Little Rock’s last dual this season, the Trojans fell to #20 Oklahoma at home, taking three of the ten bouts and one upset win the process for a final score of 26-10. Before that, Little Rock claimed second place as a team at the Tiger Style Invitational in a field that included #4 Missouri, Pac-12 foes Cal Poly, and Big 10 school Maryland, as well as familiar faces SIUE and Lindenwood.
Strong Start to the Season
The probables for this Friday’s dual against Oklahoma features several Trojans that have had early success this year, including a program-record five Trojans ranked simultaneously in the weekly rankings: Nasir Bailey, Matty Bianchi, Tyler Brennan, Josiah Hill and Stephen Little.
Little solidified his spot in the 197 weight class rankings at the Tiger Style Invitational, highlighted by a ranked upset win over former #8 Jaxon Smith from Maryland in the finals. At the same tournament, true freshman Bailey took out former #28 Zeke Seltzer from Missouri in his debut competition for an exciting 8-5 overtime victory in the finals.
Also at the Tiger Style Invitational, Bianchi beat out #25 Legend Lamer from Cal Poly by 4-1 decision on his way to third place at the tournament. Both Bianchi and Bailey earned victories against Oklahoma to stay perfect in dual competition, like Brennan.
Finally, Hill has been a constant for the Trojans, finishing third at the Tiger Style Invitational and compiling a solid 4-2 roster with losses only to ranked opponents.
Little Rock Probables
125: Jeremiah Reno
133: Nasir Bailey or Josh Sarpy
141: Brennan Van Hoecke
149: Kyle Dutton or Jake Adams
157: Matty Bianchi
165: Brendan Abdon or Bilal Bailey
174: Tyler Brennan
184: Triston Wills
197: Stephen Little
285: Josiah Hill
Little Rock Wrestlers at the Cougar Clash
125: Reid Nelson
133: Josh Sarpy
149: Jaylen Carson
165: Chase Tebbets, Brendon Abdon, Joseph Bianchi, Nico Lozano
174: Warren Hoyt, Kodiak Cannedy, Austin Keal
184: Brooks Sacharczyk
197: Tanner Mendoza
285: KJ Miley
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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