LITTLE ROCK – It's finally time for the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, and the Little Rock wrestling team is ready to compete this Sunday, March 5 at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. It will be somewhat of a full circle moment for the Trojans, returning to Stanford for the conference tournament for the fourth time in the program's short history, just a few years removed from the team's inaugural season in 2020.
"It's exciting being back in Stanford. Our team looks completely different," said head coach
Neil Erisman when comparing the inaugural season and now. "We are not just a better team, we're a more mature team and we've got some good wins under our belt. I believe it'll put us in a good position to compete well."
"We've got a great conference and it's going to be great tournament," Coach Erisman added. "Our guys have worked hard and changed a lot this year. My hope for them is that they go out there, show off all that hard work, and go above and beyond what it takes to accomplish their goals."
The first round of the Pac-12 Championships will begin at 12 p.m. CT. The first two sessions will be streamed through Stanford's platform while the championship round will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. Fans can also watch the tournament via Pac-12.com and on Pac-12 Now.
Be sure to also follow the Trojans on social media throughout the weekend. You can find the team on social media at @LittleRockWRES on
Facebook,
Instagram, and
Twitter.
WATCH LINKS & SCHEDULE
Session 1: First Session, 12 p.m. CT
Watch Mat 1* |
Watch Mat 2*
Session 2: Second Session, 6:45 p.m. CT
Watch Mat 1 |
Watch Mat 2
Session 3: Championship Round, 7:45 p.m. CT
Watch Championship Round
*Two mats will be utilized throughout the tournament. Opening rounds will commence on the mats as they become available.
Top Trojans
This year, half of Little Rock starters enter the Pac-12 tournament with winning records, the most that the Trojans have ever had going into the conference championships.
Newcomer
Jeremiah Reno leads the way at 125 pounds with a record of 16-7, also notching the greatest number of wins that any Trojan has ever recorded in a single season. The previous high was current 149-pound starter
Joseph Bianchi, who reached 15 victories last year. Before that, it was older brother
Paul Bianchi with 13 in the program's first year. Reno was also a force for Little Rock in duals, going 10-4 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 matches.
Another Trojan in his first year appearing in the starting lineup,
Matty Bianchi checks in with 13 wins on the year. He has also notched the most ranked wins throughout the season on the Little Rock roster, with three under his belt. Like Reno, the younger Bianchi had a strong dual slate, finishing 3-2 in Pac-12 matches and 9-6 overall. He also was the sole Little Rock wrestler to earn a Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honor this year.
Triston Wills and
Josiah Hill both claimed 14 wins on the season as the two other wrestlers to claim ranked victories. Both also emerged in national rankings themselves throughout the year, making this the first time that two Little Rock wrestlers have appeared in the top 33 during the regular season at the same time. Wills and Hill are also the only Trojans on the championship roster to have made the podium at the Pac-12 tournament. They both placed in the top four, while Wills has finished third in back-to-back years coming into this season's championships.
Tyler Brennan rounds out the group, checking in with an 11-5 record despite sitting out for an entire month due to injury. The 165-pound wrestler came back without a hitch, tallying a dual record of 8-5 in the process. Notably, Brennan is also the sole Trojan that appeared at the first Pac-12 Championships in Stanford and will also be competing for Little Rock in the lineup four years later.
Four Years of Moving Forward
The Trojans concluded their fourth season of competition with a 5-10 record, tallying as many dual wins this year as they had in the previous three years combined. As usual, they had a loaded schedule, competing against three teams ranked in the top 20 as well as six receiving votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll. Little Rock defeated every unranked team they faced except one.
Based on seeds, Little Rock is projected to finish fifth over CSU-Bakersfield, a move up from sixth that would mark another first for the program. The Pac-12 is as strong as ever, with four teams showing up in the
final NWCA Coaches Poll compared to three last year, but the Trojans have no qualms facing tough opponents. Arizona State leads the way again, checking in at 19
th in the country, followed by Cal Poly at 25. Oregon State and Stanford were also on the list receiving votes.
Depth will help the Trojans. Aside from Brennan, Wills, and Hill, two others return to the Pac-12 Championships for back-to-back appearances. Like Wills,
Joseph Bianchi is set for his third conference tournament, while
Jaylen Carson bumps up a weight class from the year prior to fill the role at 141 pounds. Between the five of them, it makes the most experienced Little Rock lineup yet.
Breaking Out of the Bracket
This year, 19 automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA tournament were granted to the Pac-12 conference. Three weight classes will send three wrestlers to Nationals immediately: 125, 133 and 197. At 149, 165, and 174, the top two finishers will qualify. For every other weight class, only the champion will be sent automatically.
View all allocations here.
This year's field features quality and quantity, as several weight classes will have multiple ranked wrestlers competing for the Pac-12 title. The 125-pound weight class includes Arizona State's No. 8 Brandon Courtney and Oregon State's No. 12 Brandon Kaylor as the 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. Four of the six wrestlers in the 133-pound weight class are ranked, with the highest being No. 4 Michael McGee, the 1-seed from Arizona State.
Two former NCAA finalists will be wrestling this weekend as well. The No. 3 wrestler in the 165-pound weight class and 2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith from Stanford is back after taking second place in 2022, and Cohlton Schultz, the No. 5 heavyweight in country and 2022 NCAA runner-up from Arizona State, searches to make it a three-peat at the Pac-12 championships.
While no Little Rock wrestlers earned byes, a handful of first-round bouts for the Trojans will feature rematches from earlier in the season.
Joseph Bianchi,
Matty Bianchi, and
Tyler Brennan will look to go 2-0 against their foes while
Triston Wills and
Mason Diel have the chance to avenge losses. Meanwhile,
Josiah Hill, who is 1-1 against his Stanford opponent, will look to settle the score.
For more insight going into this weekend, view
Pac-12 brackets here and
Little Rock notes here.
Little Rock Lineup
125:
Jeremiah Reno, So. (16-7)
133:
Josh Sarpy, R-So. (7-15)
141:
Jaylen Carson, R-Jr. (2-6)
149:
Joseph Bianchi, R-Jr. (9-12)
157:
Matty Bianchi, R-Fr. (13-10)
165:
Tyler Brennan, R-Jr. (11-5)
174:
Triston Wills, R-Jr. (14-10)
184:
Mason Diel, R-Fr. (7-15)
197:
Matthew Weinert, R-Fr. (5-11)
HWT:
Josiah Hill, R-So. (14-11)
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
