CLEVELAND, OH. - The stage is set for one of the biggest weekends in college wrestling as Little Rock prepares to compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, held March 19–21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Little Rock will send four qualifiers to the national tournament, highlighted by a mix of first-time competitors and experienced All-Americans. Representing the Trojans are Brock Herman (149), Jaivon Jones (157), Matty Bianchi (165), and Stephen Little (197).
For Herman and Jones, the moment carries extra significance. Both will make their first NCAA Championship appearances while also returning home to compete in Cleveland, giving them the rare opportunity to wrestle on the sport's biggest stage in front of a hometown crowd.
Herman enters the tournament at 149 pounds as the No. 19 seed and will open against No. 14 Caleb Rathjen of UNI. He has been a consistent force for the Trojans all season and brings a strong 13–3 record into his first NCAA appearance.
At 157 pounds, Jaivon Jones earned the No. 24 seed and will face No. 9 Daniel Cardenas of Stanford in the opening round. After putting together an impressive season, Jones looks to carry that momentum into his first national tournament.
Returning to the NCAA stage are two of the most accomplished wrestlers in program history. At 165 pounds, Matty Bianchi enters as the No. 8 seed and will take on No. 25 Mac Church of Virginia Tech in his opening match. A returning All-American, Bianchi has put together an outstanding 19–2 season and will look to make another deep postseason run.
At 197 pounds, Stephen Little, the most decorated wrestler in Little Rock history, returns as the No. 3 seed. Also a returning All-American, Little will face No. 30 Kade Rule of Chattanooga in the first round as he aims to build on his past success and contend for a national title.
The championships span three days, beginning Thursday and concluding Saturday night with the national finals. Sessions are scheduled for noon and 7 p.m. on Thursday, noon and 8 p.m. on Friday, and 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. All times are Eastern.
Fans will be able to follow every moment of the NCAA Championships through extensive broadcast coverage across ESPN platforms. Session 1 will air Thursday at noon on ESPN2, with Session 2 following at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Friday's action continues with Session 3 at noon on ESPNU and Session 4 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. Saturday begins with Session 5 at 11 a.m. on ESPNU before concluding with the championship finals in Session 6 at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
In addition to the main broadcasts, every mat throughout the tournament will be streamed live on ESPN+, allowing fans to watch individual matches in real time from all eight mats. A dedicated "MatCast" option on ESPN+ will also provide continuous coverage across the tournament.
All broadcast times and networks are subject to change, with full coverage spanning from the opening matches through the crowning of national champions.
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.
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