LITTLE ROCK - The Little Rock wrestling team is headed to California, where the Trojans will wrestle three duals at two different locations in one day. Little Rock will compete on Sunday, Jan. 24 beginning in San Luis Obispo, taking on Pac-12 foes Cal Poly at 12:00 p.m. CT and Fresno State at 2:00 p.m. CT The Trojans will then drive east to Bakersfield to face Pac-12 opponents CSU-Bakersfield for a 7:00 p.m. CT start time.
"Looking at this weekend, we've got a great competition," said head coach Neil Erisman. "We are expecting our guys to step up and start finding ways finish their matches. We have done some really good things up to this point, but if we can do that, we're going to start doing a lot more than just winning individual matches. We will find success in the team win column. Time to get it done."
Both the Cal Poly and Fresno State matches will be streamed on FloWrestling for fans to watch from home, while the CSU-Bakersfield dual will be live on the host team's website. Make sure to follow @LittleRockWRES on Twitter for live updates.
Watch Little Rock vs Cal Poly at 12:00 p.m. CT
Watch Little Rock vs Fresno State at 2:00 p.m. CT
Watch Little Rock vs CSU-Bakersfield at 7:00 p.m. CT
Featuring the Freshmen
Out of 14 members of #LittleRocksTeam that have appeared in a dual so far this season, eight are either true freshmen or redshirt-freshmen. While the Trojans are led by redshirt senior Paul Bianchi at a winning record of 3-2 on the year, redshirt freshmen Gabe Beyer and Triston Wills each have three wins as well. Also look out for Alex Hernandez, who picked up his first win of his career last weekend, and Khyler Brewer, who has wrestled three ranked opponents so far and has been right in the thick of his matches.
Ready for Pac-12 Wrestling
The Trojans have already faced conference members Arizona State and Oregon State this season, and this upcoming weekend they will knock off two more Pac-12 opponents off the list. This will be the first time that Little Rock wrestles both Cal Poly and CSU-Bakersfield in a dual setting, as the Trojans only saw the Mustangs and Roadrunners as last year's conference championships.
Still Searching...
Little Rock had the opportunity to pick up their first D1 dual win last weekend at home, but five one-point decisions turned the tables on the Trojans in their dual against SIUE. Cal Poly may be their next best shot, since the Mustangs finished just one place higher than Little Rock wrestling at the 2020 Pac-12 Championships. CSU-Bakersfield has not yet wrestled this year and has a new coach at the helm as well, but they finished third in the conference last year and return a NCAA qualifier at 184 pounds (who looks to be moving up a weight class).
A Glance at the Rankings
While neither Cal Poly, Fresno State, nor CSU-Bakersfield are listed on this week's NWCA Coaches Poll, both Cal Poly and Fresno State have one wrestler within the top 25 rankings on FloWrestling, as shown below in each team's likely starters.
Little Rock Probables
125: Khyler Brewer, Fr. (0-4)
133: Paul Bianchi, R-Sr. (3-2)
141: Conner Ward, R-So. (1-5)
149: Joseph Bianchi, R-Fr. (2-4) or Kyle Prewitt, R-Fr. (1-5)
157: Noah Aziere, R-Sr. (0-3) or Thomas Lisher, R-Sr. (0-2)
165: Alex Hernandez, Fr. (1-4)
174: Triston Wills, R-Fr. (3-3)
184: Zane Davis, Fr. (0-2) or Tanner Mendoza, Fr. (2-3)
197: Dylan Johnson, R-Sr. (2-4)
285: Gabe Beyer, R-Fr. (3-3)
Cal Poly Probables
125: Antonio Lorenzo, R-Fr. (0-1)
133: Adam Jacob, Fr. (0-5)
141: Lawrence Saenz R-So. (0-1) or Wyatt Cornelison, R-Jr. (1-3)
149: Legend Lamer, R-Fr. (5-0) or Logan Gioffre, Fr. (2-2)
157: Brawley Lamer, R-Jr. (0-1) or Max Anderson, R-Fr. (1-1)
165: Adam Kemp, R-So. (0-1) or Nathan Tausch, Jr. (2-1)
174: #25 Bernie Truax, R-So. (3-1)
184: Dylan Miracle, R-So. (0-1)
197: Trevor Tinker, Fr. (0-2) or Josh Harkey, Fr. (0-1)
285: Samuel Aguilar, R-Jr. (3-0)
Fresno State Probables
125: Undecided
133: Haiden Drury, Fr. (3-1)
141: #13 DJ Lloren, R-Sr. (3-0)
149: Kyle Parco, R-Fr. (3-0)
157: Chris Gaxiola, Jr. (0-0)
165: Beau Colombini, R-Jr. (1-2)
174: Undecided
184: Hunter Cruz, R-So. (4-0)
197: Mateo Morales, Fr. (0-0)
285: Randy Gonzalez, Jr. (0-2) or Isaiah Perez, R-So. (0-0)
CSU-Bakersfield Probables
125: Eddie Flores, R-So. (0-0)
133: Chance Rich, R-So. (0-0)
141: Angelo Martinoni, R-So. (0-0)
149: Kalani Tonge, R-Sr. (0-0)
157: Brock Rogers, R-Fr. (0-0) or Josh McMillan, Jr. (0-0)
165: Braden Smelser, Fr. (0-0) or Hunter LaRue, Jr. (0-0)
174: Albert Urias, R-So. (0-0)
184: Dom Ducharme, R-Sr. (0-0)
197: Josh Loomer, R-Jr. (0-0) or Adrian Chavez, R-Fr. (0-0)
Hwt: Jacob Sieder, R-Sr. (0-0) or Jarrod Snyder, R-Sr. (0-0)
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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