LITTLE ROCK – The final pair of duals for the Little Rock wrestling team are set for tomorrow, as the Trojans take on two MAC opponents in Edwardsville, Illinois. Little Rock will wrestle Ohio at approximately noon before facing hosts SIUE around 2 p.m.
Ohio and SIUE will compete at 10 a.m. and the following two duals will follow with just a 10-minute break between matches. The duals are slated to be
streamed on ESPN+.
Live stats will be available on TrackWrestling. Trojan fans can also follow live tweets via the team page
@LittleRockWRES.
"It's our last regular season competition, and we're looking for our guys to score a lot of points," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "When we do that, we find success."
"They have worked hard and jumped levels this season," Coach Erisman added. "They need to be excited about that and go out and show it."
Double Dual Day, Take Two
Once again, the Little Rock wrestling team is going into a day of back-to-back duals. Last weekend, the Trojans fell to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California before driving across the state to Bakersfield to pick up a 30-6 win handily. This weekend, there is luckily no travel between duals, but that means there is also less rest between the two competitions.
Little Rock will wrestle Ohio (4-7, 3-2 MAC) first at noon, who will be coming off a dual against hosts SIUE at 10 a.m. The Bobcats and the Trojans have not met before, and only share one common opponent this season, a 6-33 loss against Oklahoma in which their only wins were decisions at 184 and 197 pounds. Ohio has three wrestlers in the
NCAA Coaches Ranking.
The Trojans turn around quickly for a match against SIUE (4-7, 1-6 MAC) at 2 p.m. This year, the teams have two opponents in common: both have beaten Chattanooga and Lindenwood, although Little Rock did so more handily. However, SIUE does also boast three ranked wrestlers in the most recent
NCAA Coaches Ranking.
Little Rock hasn't faced SIUE in two years, with the Cougars leading the series 2-0 following a 12-26 win in 2020 and a 13-21 result in 2021. With the program's maturation, along with their opponent's growth in the past two years, tomorrow's showdown should be an exciting matchup.
Goodbye to the Regular Season
This weekend marks the final competition for the Trojans ahead of the Pac-12 Championships. Going 2-0 could be a helpful padding to several Little Rock wrestlers' records, especially since both
Triston Wills and
Josiah Hill have dropped out of the
NCAA Coaches Ranking in its second rendition following a tough Pac-12 slate. Notably, these two matchups will be Little Rock's just fifth and sixth dual opponents that are not ranked nor receiving votes in the NCAA Coaches Poll, as the Trojans have claimed wins over every team they have wrestled that are not in the poll.
Four Trojans have wins in the double digits going into this weekend, led by
Jeremiah Reno's 14-7 record which also includes a team high 8-4 mark in duals.
Triston Wills and
Josiah Hill are not far behind, with 13 wins each and three ranked wins between the pair, while
Matty Bianchi rounds out the group with an 11-10 record and two ranked wins of his own.
Both regular starters
Joseph Bianchi and
Tyler Brennan are on the cusp of double digit dubs and will be looking for those this weekend, while true freshman
Stephen Little could also reach 10 wins if he should appear in the lineup. Check out full probables below.
Little Rock Probables
125:
Jeremiah Reno, So. (14-7) or
Reid Nelson, R-Fr. (7-7)
133:
Josh Sarpy, R-So. (6-14)
141:
Brennan Van Hoecke, Fr. (8-3) or
Jaylen Carson, R-Jr. (2-6)
149:
Joseph Bianchi, R-Jr. (9-10)
157:
Matty Bianchi, R-Fr. (11-10) or
Austin Keal, R-So. (4-8)
165:
Tyler Brennan, R-Jr. (9-5)
174:
Triston Wills, R-Jr. (13-9)
184:
Mason Diel, R-Fr. (7-13)
197:
Stephen Little, Fr. (9-3) or
Matthew Weinert, R-Fr. (5-10)
285:
Josiah Hill, R-So. (13-10)
Ohio Probables:
125: Oscar Sanchez
133: Paul Woo
141: Kyran Hagan or Aidan Waszak
149: #31 Aleck Hagan
157: #26 Peyton Kellar
165: Jordan Slivka
174: #24 Sal Perrine or Kamal Adewumi or Garrett Thompson
184: Zayne Lehman
197: Carson Brewer
285: Jacob Padilla or Drew Harris
SIUE Probables:
125: Austin Macias or Davian Guanajuato
133: Aaron Shulist
141: #30 Saul Ervin or Eric Almarinez
149: #21 Caleb Tyus or Drew Doehring
157: Caine Tyus or Jorden Johnson
165: Cardi Wilson or Hayden Shepherd
174: Chase Diehl
184: Sergio Villalobos
197: Ryan Yarnell or Bryson Buhk
285: #13 Colton McKiernan or Dan McKiernan
Rankings via NCAA Coaches Ranking.
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
