Little Rock Wrestling Begins Home Stretch with Lindenwood Friday, Oregon State Sunday

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock wrestling is set to host four duals this month, opening their home stretch with a pair of matches this weekend while looking to keep their momentum going strong. The Trojans begin the busy weekend with a Friday night dual against Lindenwood at 7 p.m. before hosting their first conference match of the season, a battle with Pac-12 foes Oregon State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Both duals will be streamed online through Little Rock All-Access and live stats will be available on TrackWrestling. Trojan fans can also follow live tweets via the team page @LittleRockWRES. 


Coach's Thoughts
"We are excited to have our first OVC team here," said head coach Neil Erisman on Lindenwood (1-7), which like Little Rock's athletic department, is part of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). Despite schools being in the same conference, the OVC does not sponsor wrestling, and Little Rock remains affiliated with the Pac-12 Conference.

"Our expectations are to go out and wrestle at a high pace and score points this weekend," Coach Erisman continued. "I believe our training has gone well and prepared us for both duals Friday and Sunday. We had a great momentum shift after the Southern Scuffle, and we've seen lot of confidence and excitement in the room. As a team, our goal is to keep that going from tomorrow to our first Pac-12 opponent this year."

"Oregon State is a tough team," Erisman added of the Beavers (3-5), who are receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll. "I believe we match up well with them and can fight them hard as long as we go out and stick to the plan. It's going to be a great weekend."

More Firsts for the Trojans
As Coach Erisman alluded to, the Trojans are hot off a successful tournament to open the new year and plan to keep rolling with the momentum. Three Little Rock wrestlers stood on the podium and received awards for their performances at the prestigious Southern Scuffle, the first three to ever medal at the tournament. The team finished 10th overall out of 21 total teams, outscoring several big programs in the process and ending up 11 places higher than last season. Although the Trojans are on season four, there clearly are still firsts to be had.

Triston Wills and Josiah Hill received rankings in recognition of their success following the tournament, the first time in program history that two wrestlers have been nationally ranked at the same time. WIlls is #25 on Intermat and has earned an honorable mention (#HM) via FloWrestling, while Hill collected his first-ever ranking at #33 last week, bumping up to #32 this week in Intermat's standings.


Little Rock Probables
125: Jeremiah Reno, So. (10-4)
133: Josh Sarpy, R-So. (4-9) or Jayden Carson, R-Jr. (9-8)
141: Jayden Gomez, R-Fr. (4-6) or Brennan Van Hoecke, Fr. (8-3)
149: Joseph Bianchi, R-Jr. (6-7) or Chase Tebbets, Sr. (5-7)
157: Matty Bianchi, R-Fr. (7-7)
165: Tyler Brennan, R-Jr. (3-1)
174: #25/#HM Triston Wills, R-Jr. (12-4) or Warren Hoyt, R-Fr. (1-4)
184: Mason Diel, R-Fr. (5-8) or Tanner Mendoza, Jr. (4-7)
197: Stephen Little,  Fr. (7-3) or Ty Lukens, R-Fr. (5-8) or Matthew Weinert, R-Fr. (5-7)
285: #32 Josiah Hill, R-So. (10-6) or Apollo Gothard, R-Fr. (3-4)

Lindenwood Probables
125: Austin Kegley (1-10)
133: Ben Lindley (3-8)
141: Kalen Napier (2-10)
149: Ben Bohr (0-8)
157: Alex Pitsch (2-4)
165: Kaden Charboneau (5-9)
174: Luke Dickhaus (2-8) or Jared Shafer (8-5)
184: Cody Thurston (0-4) or Zach Russell (6-4)
197: Ryan Golnick (2-8)
285: David Hernandez (3-10)

(RV) Oregon State Probables
125: #19 Brandon Kaylor (16-5)
133: #18 Jason Shaner (17-8)              
141: #26 Cleveland Belton (11-6) or Nathan Aguilar (2-2)               
149: Riley Gurr (0-1) or Noah Tolentino (10-7)            
157: Isaiah Crosby (0-2) or Graham Gambrall (6-9)     
165: #21 Matthew Olguin (17-5)           
174: #29 Aaron "Mateo" Olmos (5-6) or Mason Reiniche (4-0)             
184: #11 Trey Munoz (15-3) or Jackson McKinney (6-3)     
197: #18 Tanner Harvey (16-5)           
285: J.J. Dixon (6-5) or Charley Hastriter (6-4)


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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