LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan wrestling team will be taking on a pair of ranked foes this weekend, traveling to #25 Oklahoma before coming back to Little Rock to host #13 Arizona State in their final home dual of the season.
"Our guys are battle-tested and excited to keep going up against top competition," said assistant coach
Javier Maldonado. "We've had a couple of good practices back to back and we just keep building off of what we're working on. We're ready to close out our home season against the defending Pac-12 champions."
Fans will be able to watch the Trojans online, follow results on TrackWrestling, and stay up to date with the team's official Twitter account
@LittleRockWRES.
WATCH Little Rock at #25 Oklahoma
WATCH Little Rock vs. #13 Arizona State
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Trojans hosted Pac-12 foes Cal Poly as well as Northern Illinois for a tri-dual, dropping both back-to-back matches despite
Triston Wills adding a third ranked victory to his resume. Little Rock was hurt by forfeits at 157 and 285 due to health and safety protocols, but this weekend the lineup should be back to full strength.
Facing another pair of ranked teams is just another day for the Trojan wrestling team. This will be the fourth and fifth top-25 matches for Little Rock, while another four of their past opponents this season were receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma Outlook
The Sooners round out the national poll at number 25 at a record of 6-5 overall, with all of their losses coming to ranked opponents with the exception of now-elevated Northern Iowa. In terms of mutual competitors, Oklahoma bested Northern Illinois 34-3 two weekends ago but were defeated by Arizona State 12-22 in mid-November.
Last year,
the Sooners came to Little Rock, where
Paul Bianchi picked up a crucial ranked win ahead of his NCAA appearance. The Trojans will have seven opportunities for another big victory on Friday evening – check out Oklahoma's probables and their rankings below.
Arizona State Analysis
The Sun Devils return to Little Rock on Sunday, having also competed at the Jack Stephens Center in the Trojans' inaugural season two years ago. Arizona State
was surprised by three straight Trojan wins from 133 to 149 in that outing, and Little Rock will look to stun the current Pac-12 leaders once again.
This year, the Sun Devils have a record of 6-3 headed into the weekend, but Arizona State will host Stanford Friday night before flying to Little Rock. Unlike Oklahoma, who has not won a home dual yet this season, the Sun Devils are better at home, posting all three of their losses on the road. The Trojans will need to use their home advantage to best seven ranked wrestlers, all returning NCAA qualifiers.
View all probable starters below (rankings via
Intermat):
Little Rock Probables
125:
Jayden Carson, R-So. (9-12)
133:
Jaylen Carson, R-So. (11-10)
141:
Conner Ward, R-Jr. (3-13)
149:
Joseph Bianchi, R-So. (12-9)
157:
Austin Keal, R-Fr. (5-6)
165:
Tyler Brennan, R-So. (10-11)
174:
Triston Wills, R-So. (11-8)
184:
Brayden Dillow, Fr. (4-6) -or-
Tanner Mendoza, So. (6-6)
197:
Brooks Sacharczyk, R-Fr. (5-15)
285:
Josiah Hill, R-Fr. (11-8)
#25 Oklahoma Probables
125: #32 Joey Prata
133: #20 Tony Madrigal
141: Zack Zeamer -or- Jacob Butler
149: #21 Willie McDougald
157: #14 Justin Thomas
165: Joe Grello -or- Troy Mantanona
174: #20 Anthony Mantanona
184: #28 Darrien Roberts
197: #14 Jake Woodley
285: #28 Josh Heindselman
#13 Arizona State Probables
125: #4 Brandon Courtney (15-1)
133: #4 Michael McGee (15-2)
141: Mykey Ramos -or- Ethan Pickren (3-8)
149: #9 Kyle Parco (15-1)
157: #3 Jacori Teemer (13-0)
165: #7 Anthony Valencia (14-1)
174: Zane Coleman (8-8)
184: Josh Nummer (3-9)
197: #11 Kordell Norfleet (8-2)
HWT: #2 Cohlton Schultz (12-0)
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
