LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock wrestling program is nationally ranked. The team is receiving votes for the first time in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, as well as earning nods from wrestling media FloWrestling, InterMat, The Open Mat, and WIN Magazine. The most impressive part? It only took head coach
Neil Erisman and associate head coach
Javier Maldonado five years to get here.
"We stuck to our values and the things that make us Trojans," explained Coach Erisman on the development over the past five seasons. "We set a plan and a vision, and then we went to work for it."
What Going to Work Looks Like
This year's success, from
nearly defeating a top-15 nationally ranked team to producing a program-high number of individually ranked wrestlers, has been the product of hard, non-stop effort.
From day one, Coach Erisman built his team from the ground up: adding
Javier Maldonado to the staff and then current assistant coaches
Albert White and
Austin Schafer. The first Little Rock wrestler, Conner Ward, committed to the program in early fall 2018.
"On the coaching side it's been an absolute grind," said Coach Erisman. "We've had to be a workhouse, say yes to a lot of things, and show up and be who we said we were."
"That's been a tireless amount of work," he continued. "But we pride ourselves on that. We believe that we can outwork anyone."
The workhorses are still in the shed: out of the first complete Little Rock roster introduced in the 2019-20 season, today's roster still features current ranked starter
Tyler Brennan at 174 pounds, then the starter at 149 pounds.
Three other Trojans remain from the inaugural season:
Joseph Bianchi,
Jayden Carson, and
Jaylen Carson. All four have been starters at the Pac-12 Championships over the past four seasons, totaling over 140 wins between themselves.
"The perseverance it's taken these guys has been outstanding," noted Coach Erisman. "They've stayed the course and that says a lot about their character and ability to buy in. We're unbelievably grateful for them."
The Embodiment of Grit
As a whole, the team set a standard of competition from the very first season, competing against three top-25 ranked teams. Although the losses hurt, the expectations were clear: this would be a team that strives to become the best, and wrestling the best was one way to learn.
However, every step of the way was heavy. The Trojans went 1-8 in their first year and finally secured their first Division I dual win halfway through their second year.
Despite producing the program's first NCAA qualifier in 2021, Paul Bianchi, the grind still continued in the third year with yet another singular dual win throughout their long, 14-dual season - which included six ranked opponents.
The tide began to shift in year four as the team tallied five wins on the season, more than the previous three years combined. Now, their development is starting to attract national attention, helped by several strong performances and win against those top programs that they have been matched up against since the beginning.
"The guys have really embraced the toughness," said Coach Erisman of the entire squad's willingness to struggle through their ascent - from a single-win team to a nationally recognized program.
"They believe in us as well as themselves and understand the direction we need to go to be successful. They've been professional about it and that has really elevated our team."
"They had a lot of faith in us and themselves," he added, acknowledging both the guys that fought through being low on the totem pole to recruits that had to envision the possibilities that the coaches offered.
At the end of the day, the program's fighting mentality isn't going anywhere, as there are still several goals and firsts that the team aims to reach. Coach Erisman highlighted their focus for not just the rest of the season, but the future: "Double down on yourself and bet on yourself. You don't need extras to win - it's what you control on a daily basis."
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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