LITTLE ROCK – The Trojans are ready to scuffle. Little Rock will open the 2022 calendar year at the Southern Scuffle, presented by Compound Sportswear, in Chattanooga, Tennessee this weekend. The tournament begins on January 1 and will wrap up final rounds the next day.
The action will commence at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, with double-elimination brackets running throughout the entire day. For those that advance to day two, the competition will start at 11 a.m. EST on Sunday.
The full schedule of events can be found here.
Fans can
watch the Trojans through FloWrestling, follow results on FloArena, and stay up to date with the team's official Twitter account
@LittleRockWRES.
Ranked and Ready
The Trojans have been on hold for a while, with their last time out at the Cougar Clash in the first weekend on December.
For a recap on the tournament, click here.
Triston Wills picked up his first ranked win of the season over #12 McNally from Wisconsin at the Cougar Clash, leading to his first national recognition of his career. Wills earned an honorable mention from FloWrestling and sits at
#31 in the country on Intermat's college rankings with a record of 6-2.
This weekend will be Little Rock's final chance for tournament experience before the Pac-12 Championships, as dual season kicks into high gear over the next two months. Check out the full
Trojan schedule here.
"This is a great example of what it's going to take to weigh in and compete on consecutive days. A representation for what the NCAA tournament looks like," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "This is just another great example of how our schedule prepares us for our ultimate goal."
Better Than Before
This will be the second appearance for the Trojans at the prestigious Southern Scuffle, after the event was called off last year. Out of the current men on the roster that appeared in Little Rock's inaugural season, twins Jayden and Jaylen collected wins in the tournament, while
Tyler Brennan fought his way through the consolation bracket as the only Trojan to appear in day two.
"We are a much more mature team compared to year one," remarked Coach Erisman. "That was our first real competition that required us to wrestle back-to-back, top-tier competition. Being so young and inexperienced, it was hard to even have a takeaway from the first scuffle. I believe now we are battle tested, and ready to compete and win this time around."
Competition at the Southern Scuffle
The Scuffle is well known for hosting several tough teams, with this year being no exception, despite COVID-19 protocols leaving some squads at home.
Check out the full list of entrants here.
"There is a lot of unknown this weekend, with COVID knocking out whole teams," admitted Coach Erisman. "But what I do know is this is going to be a great tournament with top level competition. I believe we are ready to go out, compete, and win. It's only matter of our guys embracing it and then going out and doing it."
Those guys include the familiar Little Rock starting lineup, plus a handful of Trojans wrestling unattached, listed below.
Little Rock Wrestlers
125:
Jayden Carson, R-So. and
Josh Sarpy, R-Fr.
133:
Jaylen Carson, R-So. and
Aidan Campbell, R-So.
141:
Conner Ward, R-Jr. and
Matty Bianchi, Fr.
149:
Joseph Bianchi, R-So. and
Austin Keal, R-So.
165:
Tyler Brennan, R-So.
174:
Triston Wills, R-So. and
Alex Hernandez, So.
184:
Tanner Mendoza, So. and
Mason Diel, Fr.
197:
Brooks Sacharczyk, R-Fr.
285:
Josiah Hill, R-Fr.
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.
#LittleRocksTeam
