Triston Wills Earns Ranked Win, Trojans Take Fourth at Cougar Clash

LITTLE ROCK – Triston Wills picked up a ranked win as Little Rock wrestling finished fourth as a team at the Cougar Clash invitational this Saturday at SIUE. The Trojans finished half a point behind Brown and half a point above the host team despite only wrestling nine men.
 
The Derby, Kansas native took on #12 Andrew McNally from Wisconsin in the quarterfinal of the 174-pound bracket, collecting a 9-6 decision thanks to an aggressive four-point near fall and two takedowns. Wills finished second overall, dropping a tight 3-2 decision in the finals to #32 Mason Kauffman of Northern Illinois.
 
"Super proud of Triston in his match against Wisconsin," said head coach Neil Erisman. "He needed that. He went out there to do that. But he can't be happy with that and complacent with that. He has to know that this is part of the process of getting to where he's capable. His attitude made the difference between that match and the finals. If he maintains that attitude, he wins that match too."
 
Josiah Hill also finished runner-up in his respective bracket, collecting a 5-2 decision over former National qualifier Colton McKiernan from SIUE en route to the first-place match. The redshirt freshman fell to #5 Trent Hillger of Wisconsin in the finals.
 
"Proud of Josiah," remarked Coach Erisman. "I saw him get out of his comfort zone a few times today, and that's important for him. When he does that, he thrives. He just needs to keep inching along every day with the same attitude and intensity, and he's going to be just fine in the end."
 
Every Trojan finished in the top six, with five Little Rock wrestlers competing in third place matches. Joseph Bianchi was the next top finisher aside from Wills and Hill, picking up the 8-2 decision for third overall. 
 
"Had some ups and downs today, but overall, a pretty good performance," summed up Coach Erisman. "We as a team understand that we have to improve drastically, but I saw a lot of settling with just being better and not striving to reach our ultimate goal. We decided to just win the moment or try not to lose the moment instead of expanding on our lead or mounting a fierce comeback."
 
"I felt a sense of complacency today because we thought we were better and we got away from who we were when things went wrong," he added, noting that the team went 6-3 in their first matches, but 3-6 in their second bouts. "When we focused on wrestling how we train and who we are, we had great success."
 
The Trojans will return to Little Rock on Sunday, December 19 for a 1 p.m. Pac-12 dual. Pack the Jack as Little Rock hosts CSU-Bakersfield in their first conference matchup of the season. 
 
Little Rock Results

125

• Quarterfinal - Jayden Carson (Little Rock) won by decision over Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) (Dec 12-5)
• Semifinal - #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) won by major decision over Jayden Carson (Little Rock) (Maj 9-0)
• Cons. Semi - Jayden Carson (Little Rock) won by fall over Reese Fry (Brown) (Fall 6:55)
• 3rd Place Match - Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Jayden Carson (Little Rock) (Dec 7-3)

133

• Quarterfinal - Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) won by decision over Mikey Kaminski (Northern Illinois) (Dec 4-1)
• Semifinal - Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin) won by decision over Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) (Dec 3-2)
• Cons. Semi - Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) won by fall over Matt Malavsky (SIU Edwardsville) (Fall 1:23)
• 3rd Place Match - Mikey Kaminski (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) (Dec 3-2)

141

• Quarterfinal - Conner Ward (Little Rock) won by decision over Samuel McMonagle (Brown) (Dec 8-5)
• Semifinal - #27 Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) won by decision over Conner Ward (Little Rock) (Dec 4-1)
• Cons. Semi - Timothy Levine (Brown) won by decision over Conner Ward (Little Rock) (Dec 4-2)
• 5th Place Match - Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Conner Ward (Little Rock) (Dec 1-0)

149

• Quarterfinal - Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) received a bye () (Bye)
• Semifinal - Umihiko Saito (Brown) won by fall over Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) (Fall 2:51)
• Cons. Semi - Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) won by tech fall over Aidan Medora (Wisconsin) (TF 19-4)
• 3rd Place Match - Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) won by decision over Mitch Collica (Bellarmine) (Dec 8-2)

 
157

• Quarterfinal - Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) won by major decision over Cole Nance (Bellarmine) (Maj 17-5)
• Semifinal - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) won by decision over Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) (Dec 6-1)
• Cons. Semi - Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) won by fall over Max Kristoff (SIU Edwardsville) (Fall 4:44)
• 3rd Place Match - Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) (Dec 6-2)

165

• Quarterfinal - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) received a bye () (Bye)
• Semifinal - #19 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) won by major decision over Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) (Maj 11-0)
• Cons. Semi - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) won by fall over Harrison Trahan (Brown) (Fall 6:19)
• 3rd Place Match - Cardeionte Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) won by fall over Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) (Fall 6:53)

 
174

• Quarterfinal - Triston Wills (Little Rock) won by decision over #12 Andrew McNally (Wisconsin) (Dec 9-6)
• Semifinal - Triston Wills (Little Rock) won by decision over Eric Beck (Bellarmine) (Dec 7-3)
• 1st Place Match - #32 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Triston Wills (Little Rock) (Dec 3-2)

197

• Champ. Round 1 - #29 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) won by tech fall over Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) (TF 18-1)
• Cons. Round 2 - Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) won by tech fall over Bryant Wilkinson (Bellarmine) (TF 16-0)
• Cons. Round 3 - Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) won by decision over Anthony Pray (Brown) (Dec 7-6)
• Cons. Semi - Colin Jagielski (Northern Illinois) won by fall over Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) (Fall 1:36)
• 5th Place Match - Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) won by forfeit over Tristin Guaman (Northern Illinois) (FF)

285

• Quarterfinal - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) won by fall over Lear Quinton (Brown) (Fall 1:25)
• Semifinal - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) won by decision over Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) (Dec 5-2)
• 1st Place Match - #5 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) won by fall over Josiah Hill (Little Rock) (Fall 3:46)

 
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