Little Rock Wrestling Prepared for Cougar Clash Tournament

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock wrestling returns to the Cougar Clash in Edwardsville, Illinois this Sunday for another big day of wrestling. The tournament will be first this season that members of the starting lineup will appear in.

The Cougar Clash will begin at 10 a.m. and will be streamed on Rokfin, with live stats on TrackWrestling. Little Rock fans can also follow live tweets via the team page @LittleRockWRES.

"It's great to be back on the mat, especially after Thanksgiving," said head coach Neil Erisman. "We like going to this event. We get great competition, but we also get a good mix of our guys getting out there to compete. With new teams this year, there's a lot of competition we haven't been able to see before. Should be a good test on where we're at after a pretty good start of the year." 


Competition at the Clash
This year at the Cougar Clash, the six-team tournament includes hosts SIUE, Northern Illinois, Lindenwood, Northern Colorado, #6 Missouri, and your Trojans. Only Little Rock, SIUE, and Northern Illinois return for back-to-back years.
 
However, it will be the second time that Little Rock sees wrestlers from Lindenwood, SIUE and Missouri this season, as the Trojans appeared in both Mizzou's home tournament and Lindenwood's open last month. However, the Tigers will not be sending their starters.
 
There will be just five ranked wrestlers at the tournament this weekend, via FloWrestling. One of those is Little Rock's Triston Wills, who is still in at 174 with an honorable mention. Northern Illinois has #9 Olejnik at 165 and #HM West at 125, while Northern Colorado boasts #1 Alirez at 141 and #HM Poulin at 125.

Last year, the Trojans took fourth place overall, defeating SIUE and finishing less than 20 points behind Northern Illinois as a team. Triston Wills and Josiah Hill claimed runner-up finishes in their respective brackets, while Joseph Bianchi took third individually.


Strength in Numbers 
15 Little Rock wrestlers will be hitting the mat at the Cougar Clash, featuring ten wrestlers that have appeared in duals for the Trojans this year. The remaining five still have experience under their belts this season, having competed at tournaments.
 
Jeremiah Reno will be out to make a name for himself at 125 for the Trojans, facing a pair of ranked wrestlers in his bracket. The sophomore owns a record of 3-1 going into the weekend as well as the top winning percentage on the squad.
 
The Trojans will be looking to bounce back from their time out, when Little Rock fell to Oklahoma in a dual on the road. This weekend will be a good opportunity to rack up numbers in the win column for both the regular starters and wrestlers looking to earn a spot in the lineup ahead of the team's home dual in two weeks against North Dakota State. View the full schedule here.


Little Rock Wrestlers
125: Jeremiah Reno, So. (3-1) and Jayden Carson, R-Jr. (6-4)
133: Josh Sarpy, R-So. (1-4)
149: Joseph Bianchi, R-Jr. (3-2) and Chase Tebbets, Sr. (5-3)
157: Matty Bianchi, R-Fr. (3-2), Bilal Bailey, R-Fr. (4-3), Austin Keal, R-So. (3-4)
165: Kodiak Cannedy, Fr. (0-2)
174: Triston Wills, R-Jr. (3-2) 
184: Mason Diel, R-Fr. (2-3) and Tanner Mendoza, Jr. (2-2)
197: Matthew Weinert, R-Fr. (4-5) and Ty Lukens, R-Fr. (2-3) 
285: Josiah Hill, R-So. (2-3)



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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