EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Little Rock wrestling team faced off against top-10 Division I opponents today for the first time at the Cougar Clash invitational, which included the likes of #8 Wisconsin, #19 Missouri, Michigan State (receiving votes), Brown, and hosts SIUE. The Trojans came away with four top-five finishers at the end of the day-long invite and finished fourth as a team out of the six total.
PDF Results
"Today was a good day," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "The impressive thing to me was that a true freshman led the way. Very proud of his performance. Jayden showed a lot of GRIT and has set the bar high for everyone else."
Jayden Carson indeed had quite the day, making his way to the championship final at 125 pounds by defeating opponents from SIUE, Michigan State, and Missouri, in that order. The true freshman placed second overall, the highest finish for the Trojans.
"As a whole, we had ups and downs but overall I'm pleased," added Erisman. "We have improved drastically from competition to competition. I'm happy with where we are right now."
Paul Bianchi finished fourth place at 133, taking home two victories by major decisions, while redshirt freshman
Cash Jones took home fourth at 174 pounds, collecting two pins in the process.
Conner Ward came away with one pin en route to a fifth place finish at 141 as well.
Little Rock will be back home at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18 its first-ever dual against a Division I team, Appalachian State. The Trojans will then host #18 North Carolina on Friday, December 20 with the first match also beginning at 6:30 p.m. Make sure to mark your calendars for both duals and join Little Rock's Team at the Jack Stephens Center.
Team Results
1. Missouri
2. Wisconsin
3. Michigan State
4. Little Rock
5. Brown
6. SIUE
Individual Results
125 – Jayden Carson
Championship Round 1 – won by technical fall 16-0 over Gage Datlovsky at 3:00 (SIUE)
Champ. Quarterfinals – won by decision 7-2 over Logan Griffin (Michigan State)
Champ. Semifinals – won by decision 4-2 over Dack Punke (Missouri)
Champ. Finals – Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) won by decision 7-4
133 – Paul Bianchi
Championship Round 1 – won by major decision 13-2 over Darby Diedrich (Brown)
Champ. Semifinals – #2 Seth Gross (Wisconsin) won by technical fall 17-0
Consolation Semifinals – won by major decision 14-6 over Dominic Dentino (Wisconsin)
Third Place Match – Garrett Pepple (Michigan State) won by decision 5-2
141 – Conner Ward
Championship Round 1 – Saul Ervin (SIUE) won by decision 9-3
Consolation Quarterfinals – won by fall over Samuel Lynch (Brown) at 1:09
Consol. Semifinals – James Pawelski (Brown) won by decision 2-0
Fifth Place Match – won by forfeit over Jake Spiess (Michigan State)
149 – Tyler Brennan
Championship Round 1 – Alex Hrisopoulos (Michigan State) won by decision 6-1
Consolation Round 1 – received a bye
Consol. Round 2 – Daniel Stilling (Wisconsin) won by fall at 3:47
149 – Tommy Lisher
Championship Round 1 – Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) won by major decision 12-4
Consolation Round 1 – Max Kristoff (SIUE) won by fall at 2:55
157 – Jose Champagne
Championship Round 1 – won by fall over Jack Bokina (Brown) at 5:00
Champ. Quarterfinals – Drew Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) won by decision 6-3
Consolation Quarterfinals – Garrett Model (Wisconsin) won by decision 8-1
165 – Tristan Tadeo
Championship Round 1 – #3 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) won by technical fall 18-3 at 3:35
Consolation Quarterfinals – Austin Hiles (Michigan State) won by technical fall 16-0 at 4:31
174 – Cash Jones
Championship Round 1 – won by fall over Nate Jimenez (Michigan State) at 6:55
Champ. Semifinals – Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) won by technical fall 16-0 at 4:46
Consolation Semifinals – won by fall over Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) at 2:17
Third Place Match – Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) won by fall at 0:46
184 – Matthew Muller
Round Robin 1 – Cordel Duhart (Missouri) won by technical fall 16-0 at 3:00
Round Robin 2 – #13 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) won by fall at 1:13
Round Robin 3 – Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) won by fall at 2:04
Round Robin 4 – Dylan Wisman (Missouri) won by fall at 0:57
197 – Dylan Johnson
Championship Round 1 – Jake McKiernan (SIUE) won by decision 9-5
Consolation Round 1 – won by forfeit over Austin Andres (SIUE)
Consol. Quarterfinals – Taylor Watkins (Wisconsin) won by major decision 11-2
285 – Gunner Cash
Championship Round 1 – Christian Rebottaro (Michigan State) won by fall at 4:17
Consolation Quarterfinals – won by forfeit over James Valentino (Brown)
Consol. Semifinals – Jose Diaz (Missouri) won by decision, 9-6
Fifth Place Match – Tommy Helton (SIUE) won by fall at 4:07
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