LITTLE ROCK - The Little Rock wrestling team brought home another Pac-12 conference win and another ranked win today, defeating #23 Cal Poly handily 21-12 in the friendly confines of the Jack Stephens Center. It is the third conference dual win for the Trojans this year and their first-ever win over Cal Poly.
The dual was a dogfight, as Little Rock had to scrap their way to every win. Ultimately, the Trojans proved their ability to bounce back and be gritty against another top-25 team, collecting every bout by decision, including two overtime victories.
"It's great when you challenge your athletes and they respond positively," said head coach
Neil Erisman. "We challenged them this week to get back to being the tough, gritty team they are and they embraced it. We were facing a really tough, talented team in a match that could've gone either way, and I was proud that we could get it done tonight, especially on Senior & Alumni Day in front of family and friends. Overall, it was just a great day for us."
Nasir Bailey continues to be a force in his freshman year, defeating #9 Zeth Romney 7-1 to get the ball rolling for the Trojans. He didn't allow his opponent a single takedown, earning a his own early in the match to hold the lead before finishing with another in the third period to secure the win. Bailey notched his 20
th win of the season today, a program-high.
Brennan Van Hoecke and
Matty Bianchi followed with clutch overtime wins, both going into extra time tied 1-1 before securing the final takedown for the win. Both wrestlers needed their wins today – Van Hoecke gets back in the win column to bring his winning percentage to .500 , while Bianchi took down a ranked opponent in a match that should keep him in the rankings himself. It's Bianchi's first win over a Pac-12 opponent and his 12
th win this year.
Joseph Bianchi followed his brother with another match where his opponent was unable to produce any offense. On his own Senior Day, Bianchi put away a solid 7-1 decision to move to 18-6 on the year as well as undefeated in Pac-12 competition.
Going into the 184 match, the teams were tied 12-12, and from there the Trojans took over. Like Bianchi,
Triston Wills earned a win on his Senior Day, piecing together crucial takedowns in the first period and the third period for the 8-6 decision and allowing his opponent only one.
Getting the job done as usual,
Stephen Little's win by decision put Little Rock in a position that, even if
Josiah Hill got pinned in the heavyweight bout, the team would win by criteria.
And Hill did not get pinned, instead collecting his second upset victory in as many weeks. Tied at 1-1 in the final period like the bouts at 141 and 157, the heavyweight decided to end it in the final seconds instead of going to overtime, giving the Trojans the team win by nine points over the visitors.
With just one conference matchup to go next weekend, the Trojans are in a position where they could win the conference regular season, depending on how Stanford wrestles against the rest of the Pac-12. Despite the Cardinal besting Little Rock last weekend, Stanford has not gone up against any other conference team yet.
Cheer Little Rock on in their final home competition of the season next Sunday, February 11. The Trojans will wrestle CSU-Bakersfield at 12 p.m. before going head-to-head with SIUE right after, in back-to-back duals.
#20 Little Rock 21, #23 Cal Poly 12
125: #30 Dom Mendez (Cal Poly) DEC
Jeremiah Reno, 10-5
133: #7
Nasir Bailey DEC #9 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), 7-1
141:
Brennan Van Hoecke DEC Abe Hinrichsen (Cal Poly), 4-1, SV-1
149: #5 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) win by injury default over
Kyle Dutton (6:08)
157: #31
Matty Bianchi DEC #32 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), 4-1, SV-1
165: #25
Joseph Bianchi DEC Michael Goldfeder (Cal Poly), 7-1
174: #10 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) DEC #24
Tyler Brennan, 3-2
184:
Triston Wills DEC Kendall La Rosa (Cal Poly), 8-6
197: #9
Stephen Little DEC Jarad Priest (Cal Poly), 7-2
285:
Josiah Hill DEC #22 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 4-2
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
