Little Rock Wrestling Lands Two All-Americans for the Second Year in a Row

PHILADELPHIA – One brand new All-American and a newly crowned a back-to-back All-American have etched their names into Little Rock wrestling history tonight. Safe to say, the second day of the NCAA Division I Championships ended with a bang this evening thanks to the duo of Matty Bianchi and Stephen Little.

"It's been a great tournament full of serious ups and downs," commented head coach Neil Erisman. "Incredibly happy for our two All-Americans. They wrestled their tails off and fought hard."

Bianchi became the program's third ever All-American, joining the two from last season, and will be competing for seventh place in tomorrow's medal matches. Despite dropping his Quarterfinal match by just one point, he bounced back at night to claim a victory in tiebreakers over the no. 9 seed from Minnesota in another upset.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Little Rock Wrestling (@littlerockwres)

It marked his tightest win yet in a thrilling tournament for the redshirt junior, having won in sudden victory overtime and by a one-point decision with a last-second takedown yesterday. While Bianchi's next match was a loss in overtime, it goes to show that his strategy of always moving forward kept him doing exactly that.

For the second year in a row, Little will come home with some hardware, and this time around will end up higher than his previous appearance, a seventh place finish in 2024. He's still working his way through the wrestlebacks after winning four straight matches today in the consolation bracket, meaning the redshirt sophomore has a chance to advance to the third-place bout tomorrow or move to the fifth-place match.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Little Rock Wrestling (@littlerockwres)

The pair of Nasir Bailey and Jordan Williams ended their tournament run today with 2-2 records. Earlier in the day, Bailey claimed a decision in the third session to move forward in the consolation bracket. However, a late takedown by his next opponent cut his dreams of becoming a back-to-back All-American short.

Meanwhile, Williams fought bravely against the no. 1 seed in his Quarterfinal match, even taking him down to bring the match to overtime. However, the redshirt sophomore fell to the consols and then couldn't put up points in the blood round at night to stay alive.

"Really heartbroken for those who fell short of their dreams," Coach Erisman added. "I know they will come back stronger and better, but regardless, this week has been full of a lot of great Trojan wrestling and a lot of GRIT. We're so grateful for all the athletes, coaches, staff, and of course the 100+ Little Rock fans in attendance."

The two Trojans left standing will wrestle tomorrow morning, with the medal matches beginning at 11 p.m. EST. Little has two matches left while Bianchi has one bout remaining.
 
 
Day Two Results

Cons. Round 2 - Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) won by decision over Tyler Ferrara (Cornell) (Dec 2-1)

Cons. Round 3 - Evan Frost (Iowa State) won by decision over Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) (Dec 5-3)

Quarterfinal - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) won in sudden victory - 1 over Jordan Williams (Little Rock) (SV-1 8-5)

Cons. Round 4 - Sammy Alvarez (Rider) won by decision over Jordan Williams (Little Rock) (Dec 5-0)

Quarterfinal - Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) won by decision over Matty Bianchi (Little Rock) (Dec 4-3)

Cons. Round 4 - Matty Bianchi (Little Rock) won in tie breaker - 1 over Tommy Askey (Minnesota) (TB-1 2-1)

Cons. Round 5 - Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado) won in sudden victory - 1 over Matty Bianchi (Little Rock) (SV-1 4-1)

Cons. Round 2 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) won by major decision over Michael Dellagatta (Cornell) (MD 16-5)

Cons. Round 3 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) won by decision over Trey Munoz (Oregon State) (Dec 4-2)

Cons. Round 4 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) won by tech fall over Seth Shumate (Ohio State) (TF-1.5 7:00 (15-0))

Cons. Round 5 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) won in sudden victory - 1 over Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) (SV-1 4-1)


 
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 X.

#LittleRocksTeam