LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – To see how popular Little Rock wrestling has become, one only had to look as far Pleasant Valley Country Club Monday. Twenty-four teams played in an afternoon tournament which
benefitted the Trojans, who finished No. 15 in the NWCA Coaches Poll this season. Little Rock head coach
Neil Erisman, his staff and entire team were on the course mingling with golfers getting know attendees.
"Anything Neil touches is going do well," said Greg Hatcher, who was the driving force in starting the Little Rock wrestling program in 2018. "It's going to keep getting better and better with more sponsors and more excitement. People like winners.
"The program is winning and relationships are being developed in Arkansas."
As golfers checked in before the tournament, one of the first wrestlers they met was junior All-American
Stephen Little.
"It's awesome, I think having a golf event, you meet a lot of good people and make a lot of good connections," Little said.
As Hatcher built the foundation of the program, including a wrestling center that bears his name, he included friends and clients from his successful insurance business who are wrestling enthusiasts. Two of those associates were the co-chairs of the tournament, Barry Simon and Mike McClellan.
Simon is from the Chicago area and wrestled at Southern Illinois. He's built office machine company,
Datamax, and McClellan is a former Iowa high school wrestler, who attended Iowa State. The Cyclones won the national title while he was a student there. He's enjoyed success in the air conditioning business.
"It's fun to just be able to contribute," McClellan said. "It's really nice to meet the young men. The goal is to build young men and get them into the community and give them the kind of work ethic to build a business. This is just a foundation of that. Wrestling does all that."
Simon said he's enjoyed seeing supporters that have not been around wrestling but are eager to learn. Some of them were on the golf course Monday.
"A good group of people have come together and backed it," Simon said. "Some don't really know what wrestling its. They ask a lot of questions about things in the matches, but it shows they are passionate about learning different things. The program has brought an entirely different dimension they haven't seen before. To see the people come to a small sport like that and see the crowds is phenomenal."
All-American
Matty Bianchi has been around the program since he was 16. Two of his older brothers have wrestled at Little Rock. He's seen the support swell.
"We couldn't do it without them," he said. "I have seen it grow from nothing. We have a lot of fans that come out now. I think that is going to keep growing. Events like this help."
Hatcher, Simon and McClellan all point to
Erisman and his staff for being able to start a program, and six years later compete at the national level and draw interest from the casual fans.
"I didn't think it was going to be this good," Hatcher said. "I always tell people when you hire someone, they are going to be either better or worse than you thought. Neil was a lot better than we could envision."
Adds McClellan.
"It's pretty impressive, the acceleration the program has had," McClellan said. "The things that they have done are a tribute to [head coach
Neil Erisman] and [the assistant coaches] - the talent they attract. Their personalities attract talent."
Simon and McClellan agree the next stop for Erisman and Co. is the Top 10.
If the Trojans do reach that pinnacle next season, Little expects support like most of his teammates haven't seen in their careers.
"We weren't getting that many people here for the duals, but this year it was loud in there for the first time," Little said. "The guys were feeding off that energy, and I am looking forward to see what next year is like."
It's a sure bet the staff and team made some more new fans Monday.
"Having a tournament is a good fundraiser, but what I really like is that every wrestler is out here at every hole," Simon said. "They get to meet everybody, and they get to putt. They all get to see different groups and not just one. That is game changer, normally you don't see that. Normally, it's a foursome with one guy, and that is all they get to see. Having these guys on each hole and getting to meet them is great and when [the golfers] go to a meet, they can recognize them. That makes it better and more fun."
