NORMAN, Okla. – Tyler Brennan added win number 11 to his season with a dominant 12-0 major decision at #25 Oklahoma tonight, despite the home Sooners taking away the 37-3 overall team result. The Little Rock wrestling team will face their second ranked competition of the weekend this Sunday, hosting #13 Arizona State for one last homestand.
Brennan opened with a quick single leg takedown to take a lead he wouldn't give back, riding hard for nearly the entire first period. Choosing neutral for the second period, the Frisco native took the wind out of his Oklahoma opponent with a late takedown. Starting from bottom in the final two minutes, he turned for a reversal, collecting back points. Brennan tacked on a point for stalling and owned the riding time advantage for a 12-0 major decision. His second major decision of the season, the victory was the redshirt sophomore's 11 win of the season.
"Tyler did what he was supposed to do, and I'm proud of him," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "When he feels confident in himself, he's hard to beat. We hope he can continue to have that belief in himself."
After the Trojan win at 165, the arena got heated over the result of the 174 match.
Triston Wills started off aggressive right out of the gate, earning a takedown and back points early. As the period was drawing to a close, the referees gave a takedown and a pin to the Sooners, which the Little Rock coaching staff disputed with the reasoning that the fall was a result of an illegal choke hold. After review, the officials determined that there would be no change to the call, and the Trojans were charged with the deduction of a team point for their protest.
Little Rock continues to be right in the thick of their matches, dropping tight decisions at a handful of bouts.
Jayden Carson,
Jaylen Carson,
Joseph Bianchi, and
Josiah Hill each held their ranked foes within four points or less, as the Trojans continue to be inches away from splitting matches.
"It was a tough night, but it wasn't an effort issue," added Coach Erisman. "There's little moments in matchesthat we have to fix, and we'd probably have a lot different outcomes. But that doesn't happen until we choose to fight through those hard, little moments. The losing's not hard, it's the feeling that you're winning the match and then losing the moment that changes the direction of the match that's hard. It just takes one time for us to change that."
The Trojans will return to the Jack Stephens Center on Sunday, hosting defending Pac-12 champions Arizona State at 2:00 p.m. in their final home dual of the 2021-22 season.
RESULTS vs. #25 Oklahoma
125: #32 Joey Prata (OU) DEC
Jayden Carson, 5-2
133: #20 Anthony Madrigal (OU) DEC
Jaylen Carson, 6-4
141: Jacob Butler (OU) MD
Conner Ward, 9-0
149: #21 Willie McDougald (OU) DEC
Joseph Bianchi, 6-1
157: #14 Justin Thomas (OU) MD
Austin Keal, 20-7
165:
Tyler Brennan MD Troy Mantanona (OU), 12-0
174: #20 Anthony Mantanona (OU) F
Triston Wills, 2:44
184: Keegan Moore (OU) F
Brayden Dillow, 6:09
197: #14 Jake Woodley (OU) TF
Brooks Sacharczyk, 22-4 (3:44)
285: #28 Josh Heindselman (OU) DEC
Josiah Hill, 6-2
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