Little Rock Proves Competitive Worth vs. No. 20 Oklahoma

Little Rock gave Oklahoma all it could handle during Friday's dual, but the 20^th-ranked Sooners pulled out some key last-minute victories to hand the Trojans a 26-10 loss in an entertaining night of wrestling at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
The Trojans totaled three victories that contributed to the team score and another extra match, but it was the Sooners' ability for late-match heroics that proved to be the difference. Seven of the 10 matches were decided by five points or less, Little Rock recorded one win by technical fall while the Sooners earned a majority decision and scored the only win by fall in the evening's final match.

"We had a lot of great moments tonight, not just tough matches but moments where we were winning matches and our immaturity showed up a little bit ... we rose to the occasion early in the matches but as they went on we didn't continue to match that," head coach Neil Erisman said. "We're gonna keep fighting, keep getting better, in better shape and I think you'll see a different team every time." 
 
For Little Rock, Matty Bianchi earned a 10-2 majority decision over No. 33 John Wiley in the 157-pound division, No. 23 Nasir Bailey won a 6-2 decision over No. 26 Jace Koelzer, and – in the biggest win of the night for the Trojans – Tyler Brennan scored at the buzzer to upset No. 15 Tate Picklo with a 4-3 decision.
 
A few others had good chances to win in the final moments until the visiting Sooners earned points at the latest moments. Triston Wills went to the final round of his 184-pound match tied at 1-1 before a late takedown gave Oklahoma a 4-1 decision. In a battle of Top 15 wrestlers, Oklahoma's Stephen Buchanan scored a takedown in the final 10 seconds for a 4-1 decision over Stephen Little. Josiah Hill fell 5-3 to Josh Heindselman in the heavyweight division and Jeremiah Reno suffered a late takedown, falling 9-6 to Conrad Hendrikson in the 125-pound division.
 
Little Rock will have to put the loss behind them quickly as they head to St. Charles, Mo. tomorrow to compete in the Lindenwood Open with a smaller squad, then invade the Cougar Clash hosted by SIUE on Dec. 2.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
149 – Willie McDougald (OU) def. Jacob Adams (LR) by technical fall, 19-4 (6:38)
157 – Matty Bianchi (LR) def. John Wiley (OU) by majority decision, 10-2
165 – Cael Carlson (OU) def. Brendon Abdon (LR) by decision, 13-8
174 – Tyler Brennan (LR) def. Tate Picklo (OU) by decision, 4-3
184 – Giuseppe Hoose (OU) def. Triston Wills (LR) by decision, 4-1
197 – Stephen Buchanan (OU) def. Stephen Little (LR) by decision, 4-1
285 – Josh Heindselman (OU) def. Josiah Hill (LR) by decision, 5-3
125 – Conrad Hendriksen (OU) def. Jeremiah Reno (LR) by decision, 9-6
133 – Nasir Bailey (LR) def. Jace Koelzer (OU) by decision, 6-2
141 – Mosha Schwartz (OU) def. Brennan Van Hoecke (LR by fall (6:09)
 
Extra 165 – Bilal Bailey (LR) def. Mannix Morgan (OU) by decision, 6-3)
Extra 133 – Kaden Smith (OU) def. Josh Sarpy (LR) by fall (5:00)