LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock wrestling began year four with a bang, posting a program-high 41 points over Ouachita Baptist's three to seal the home opener victory on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans claimed nine bouts during the evening, earning bonus points in seven of those nine individual wins.
"It was awesome to be back on the mat competing," said head coach
Neil Erisman on his fifth victory at the helm of the Trojan wrestling program. "Our guys work so hard in the off-season and it was good to see the results. There is a lot to be excited about, but mostly I'm proud that we went out and did what we were supposed to do. Overall, I was impressed with all the points we scored, and even in the tough moments we found a way to score more points against a team that kept fighting."
"Tonight was a product of us having great depth in our room and a result of the increased level of training intensity," Coach Erisman added, highlighting the fact that six out of the ten man lineup were new starters for the Trojans. "We have a lot of different competitions and you are going to see a lot of different faces. I would expect to see some good battles at some different weights this season. It truly is an exciting year to be a Trojan fan!"
Two Little Rock wrestlers collected six team points from falls in their matches,
Tyler Brennan and
Jayden Gomez. Brennan, a familiar face at 165 and a sharing winner of the most pins award last season, took his victory two minutes into the first period after a single takedown. Gomez, a redshirt freshman making his first career start at 141, came out swinging with four takedowns in the first period before turning for a reversal and the fall halfway through the second period.
Three Trojans posted technical falls, winning the match by 15 or more individual points before the end of their bout, to add five team points to the total. Those three included returning starters
Joseph Bianchi and
Triston Wills along with redshirt freshman
Mason Diel in his first career start. Bianchi exploded in the third period with a flurry of points, collecting 12 points in less than a minute and a half before ending the bout early. Likewise, Wills also closed with a big final period, racking up nine points, but the 174-pounder also picked up back points in the first period. Finally, Diel came into the third period with a decision on the line, but he went on attack mode for seven takedowns in the last period for the tech fall.
The evening opened with a win from newcomer
Jeremiah Reno at 125 pounds, who put together a consistent match to finish with the 17-5 dub. The transfer from Nebraska collected five takedowns and a pair of two-point near falls plus the point for riding time. Joining him for a major decision and four team points to add to the total was
Matty Bianchi, the youngest of the three to pass through the Little Rock wrestling program. In his first career start, Bianchi's control over his bout left his opponent no way out, and along with the riding time point the redshirt freshman picked up a penalty point for stalling on Ouachita Baptist. He finished just one point away from the tech fall.
Josh Sarpy and
Josiah Hill contributed to the final team score with a pair of victories by decision. In his first career start, redshirt sophomore Sarpy came out aggressive with three takedowns and near fall points to hold a lead he wouldn't relenquish. Hill closed the exciting evening with a takedown in the last 10 seconds of the match, securing riding time and the program-high 41-3 team score.
The previous program-high team score was two years ago against Fresno State, when the Trojans won 35-11 on the road. The last win at home was also a Little Rock home opener, and program opener in 2019, when the team defeated the University of the Ozarks 34-6. However, today's match was also the closest the team can come to a clean sweep. The Trojans won eight bouts against the Ozarks and seven versus Fresno State.
Little Rock will be back home at the Jack Stephens Center on Sunday, December 18 at 6:00 p.m. Until then, the Trojans will be fighting big battles on the road, beginning with a tri-dual event in Jacksonville, Florida this weekend against Iowa State, Campbell, and Chattanooga.
View the full schedule here.
RESULTS vs. Ouachita Baptist
125:
Jeremiah Reno MD Noah Yeamans (Ouachita Baptist), 17-5
133:
Josh Sarpy DEC James Anderson (Ouachita Baptist), 13-7
141:
Jayden Gomez F Hudson Herring (Ouachita Baptist), 3:42
149:
Joseph Bianchi TF Zander Fields (Ouachita Baptist), 21-6 (6:19)
157:
Matty Bianchi MD Jaylon Otero (Ouachita Baptist), 17-3
165:
Tyler Brennan F Adrian Salazar-Rivera (Ouachita Baptist), 2:15
174:
Triston Wills TF Will Martin (Ouachita Baptist), 19-4 (6:17)
184:
Mason Diel TF Cole Eason (Ouachita Baptist), 24-9 (7:00)
197: Brooks Schrimsher (Ouachita Baptist) DEC
Matthew Weinert, 5-0
285:
Josiah Hill DEC Johnny Green (Ouachita Baptist), 7-4
Extra Match at 133:
Jayden Carson TF Cole McCartney (Ouachita Baptist), 17-2 (3:00)
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
