LITTLE ROCK - The Little Rock wrestling team returns home this Sunday after a month and a half of away duals and tournaments, wrapping up the fall slate with a challenge at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans will battle #15 North Dakota State at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 18 in their second matchup against a top-15 ranked opponent this season as their final test of the semester.
The first bout will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be
streamed on Little Rock All-Access, with live stats on TrackWrestling. Little Rock fans can also follow live tweets via the team's Twitter page
@LittleRockWRES.
"It's always great to be at home, and we love having our fans and family there," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "This NDSU team has shown some great stuff this year, but we are ready for the test of another top team. I believe in what our guys have done over the last couple weeks. As a whole, we have made some good adjustments since our last competition, and the guys will be ready to fight."
Strong Semester So Far
Little Rock (2-3, 0-0 Pac-12) has been stepping up to several challenges over the past month, since their opening victory against Ouachita Baptist, a program-high team score for the Trojans. The team then took on formidable foes at a neutral site in Jacksonville, scaring receiving-votes Campbell and taking down Chattanooga handily, 28-5. Little Rock then saw two wrestlers claim tournament titles for the first time in program history, freshman
Brennan Van Hoecke at the Lindenwood Open followed by
Triston Wills at the Cougar Clash.
Five Trojans listed in the probables have winning records going into tomorrow, led by Wills' 7-2.
Jeremiah Reno has the top dual record at 3-1, with only one dropped bout against Oklahoma last month, while
Joseph Bianchi also has a strong record at 6-4 (3-2 in duals). Look for
Josiah Hill to put on a performance at heavyweight after continuous improvement over the past month, while
Bilal Bailey may make his first career start at 165 pounds after seeing some success in tournaments this fall.
Battling the Bison
North Dakota State (3-1, 0-0 Big 12) had a hot start to their season, taking out #8 Nebraska 20-16 while unranked and on the road to open the year. Although the Bison fell to #10 Minnesota, 9-24, they have had several wrestlers compete at a high level consistently, leading to their highest team ranking in program history over the past two weeks at #15 in
the NWCA Coaches Poll.
NDSU has six wrestlers in the individual rankings via FloWrestling, led by #6 Franek at 157 pounds, the reigning Big 12 wrestler of the week. At 174 pounds, there will be an honorable mention matchup between Little Rock's
Triston Wills and North Dakota State's Gaven Sax. Notably, Sax was the Bison's 149-pound wrestler versus the Trojans last year as a freshman, dropping his match to Bianchi.
This will be the second time that Little Rock takes on North Dakota State, with the first meeting happening last season up in Fargo against an unranked NDSU. Returning starters
Josiah Hill and
Joseph Bianchi claimed wins by decision at their respective weight classes, 285 and 149, while
Jayden Carson also added three team points to the total with a decision at 125 pounds. However, the Trojans were unable to stop a 30-9 score in favor of the home team, dropping two bonus point matches and two falls.
While the Trojans will be the underdogs tomorrow, it's nothing the team can't handle. It will be the 16th ranked opponent that Little Rock has faced in a dual in just four years since the program's conception, with nine duals to go after Sunday. Out of the nine remaining, two are currently ranked in the top 25, with two receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll.
View the full schedule here.
Little Rock Probables
125:
Jeremiah Reno, So. (6-2)
133:
Josh Sarpy, R-So. (3-6)
141:
Jayden Gomez, R-Fr. (2-3)
149:
Joseph Bianchi, R-Jr. (6-4)
157:
Matty Bianchi, R-Fr. (4-4)
165:
Bilal Bailey, R-Fr. (6-5) or
Kodiak Cannedy, Fr. (0-4)
174: #HM
Triston Wills, R-Jr. (7-2) or
Warren Hoyt, R-Fr. (1-2)
184:
Mason Diel, R-Fr. (3-5) or
Tanner Mendoza, Jr. (4-5)
197:
Matthew Weinert, R-Fr. (5-7) or
Ty Lukens, R-Fr. (4-5)
285:
Josiah Hill, R-So. (5-4)
#15 North Dakota State Probables
125: Carlos Negrete, R-Fr. (5-3)
133: McGwire Midkiff, Sr. (3-3) or Fernando Barreto, Fr. (3-2)
141: #11 Dylan Droegemueller, Sr. (3-1)
149: Kellyn March, Jr. (7-3)
157 #6 Jared Franek, Sr. (3-1)
165 #21 Michael Caliendo, R-Fr. (7-0)
174 #HM Gaven Sax, So. (5-3) or Riley Habisch, Jr. (5-3)
184: #HM DJ Parker, So. (2-6) or Michael Nelson, Jr. (0-0)
197: #24 Owen Pentz, Jr. (3-3)
285: Juan Mora, R-Fr. (5-2)
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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