LITTLE ROCK - Tonight featured both a first and a last for the Little Rock wrestling team: the last home dual as well as the first PAC-12 conference match. The Trojans closed out their homestand and their inaugural season at the Jack Stephens Center against the #5 Arizona State Sun Devils, winning three bouts in a row despite falling 38-9.
Paul Bianchi, Conner Ward, and Tyler Brennan each claimed match victories one after the other at 133, 141, and 149, respectively, in front of an electric home crowd.
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"I was very proud of my guys tonight," said head coach Neil Erisman. "We fought in pretty much all of our matches. They had a chip on their shoulder about wrestling this team, and I think our team learned a little bit about themselves. I'm just excited to see how they respond. We left with some confidence that we competed at the highest level against some of the best competitors in the nation."
Paul Bianchi started his bout with two takedowns in the first period before his opponent surged back in the second. The junior earned an escape to tie it up at the end of the second period, but by choosing to start down and getting ahead with the escape, he landed a takedown to seal the deal with an 8-6 decision.
"My match was a tough fight but I was able to get it done," said Bianchi simply, calm and cool as always. "When I was doing my cooldown, I could hear good things going on behind me, so I think it was pretty cool how we fed off each other's energy and got the crowd excited."
That excitement that Bianchi heard was for Conner Ward.
Ward collected his first D1 collegiate dual win this evening in an exciting bout. Going into the second period, he was down by one but the redshirt freshman changed the tide with a four-point near fall. With 21 seconds to go, the match was tied, but Ward was able to escape with :11 left on the clock to secure the 8-7 decision.
"It's no different than what we do in practice every day," said Ward. "It was hectic, but it was loud and the atmosphere was great. Being in that position tonight, where I knew that I could win, I wasn't going to let that win go. It means a lot to me, especially being a PAC-12 match, and I'm going to feed off that for conference."
Fueled by the crowd and his teammates' momentum, Tyler Brennan scrapped for most of his bout before stepping up to the challenge in the third period. The true freshman was down 0-2 with five seconds left to go, taking control with a reversal and a two-point near fall in the blink of an eye to come away with a 4-2 decision.
"It was amazing," said Brennan of his last-second victory. "Having the whole crowd cheering and screaming got everyone hyped up. My dad's been there watching and supporting me nearly every match, and knowing that he's always there in the crowd is really motivating."
The other notable match of the evening was Will Edgar's, who was able to hold off #6 Josh Shields of Arizona State and allow the Sun Devil just a 16-5 major decision.
The Trojans will take to the road for the remainder of their inaugural season, traveling to PAC-12 foes Stanford and Oregon State this upcoming week for their final duals of 2020 before the conference championships in March.
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Results
125: #7 Brandon Courtney (ASU) TF Jayden Carson (Little Rock), 20-4 (6:20)
133: Paul Bianchi (Little Rock) DEC Josh Kramer (ASU), 8-6
141: Conner Ward (Little Rock) DEC Cory Crooks (ASU), 8-7
149: Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) DEC Josh Maruca (ASU), 4-2
157: Jacori Teemer (ASU) TF Tommy Lisher (Little Rock), 18-2 (4:52)
165: #6 Josh Shields (ASU) MD Will Edgar (Little Rock), 16-5
174: #9 Anthony Valencia (ASU) F Tristan Tadeo (Little Rock), at 1:36
184: #1 Zahid Valencia (ASU) F Matthew Muller (Little Rock), at 5:24
197: #11 Kordell Norfleet (ASU) F Dylan Johnson (Little Rock), at 1:14
285: #6 Tanner Hall (ASU) won by forfeit
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