CLEVELAND, OH. — Little Rock Wrestling opened the NCAA Championships with a gritty and determined performance on Thursday, pushing all four qualifiers into day two of competition and highlighting the night with a quarterfinal berth from Stephen Little.
The Trojans showed resilience across Sessions 1 and 2 inside Rocket Arena, battling through tight matches, overtime thrillers, and clutch consolation wins to keep their national tournament hopes alive.
At 149 pounds, Cleveland native Brock Herman kicked off the championships for Little Rock in front of a hometown crowd. Herman dropped a tightly contested 3-1 decision to No. 14 Caleb Thjen of UNI in the opening round but quickly regrouped in Session 2. Facing No. 30 Dylan Layton of Rider in the consolation bracket, Herman took control early and never looked back, securing a 10-3 decision. With the win, he advances to Friday morning where he will face No. 4 Colin Gaj of Virginia Tech.
At 157 pounds, fellow Cleveland native and No. 24 seed Jaivon Jones faced a tough draw in No. 9 Daniel Cardenas of Stanford to open his tournament. Jones battled and found scoring opportunities but ultimately fell 7-2. In the consolation round, Jones responded with authority against No. 25 Mason Shrader, building an early lead and cruising to a 7-1 decision. He will continue his run in Session 4, where he is set to take on No. 10 Logan Rozynski in the wrestlebacks.
At 165 pounds, No. 8 seed and returning All-American Matty Bianchi delivered one of the most exciting matches of the day in his opener against No. 25 Mac Church of Virginia Tech. In a back-and-forth battle that extended into double overtime, Bianchi came through with a 5-2 decision victory to advance. He later faced No. 9 Bryce Hepner of North Carolina in Session 2, where he dropped a hard-fought 3-0 decision. Bianchi remains alive in the consolation bracket and will compete again in Session 4.
Closing out the night for the Trojans at 197 pounds, Stephen Little delivered a statement performance in championship round two. Taking on No. 19 Zayne Lehman of Ohio, Little built a 3-0 lead after the first period and controlled the match the rest of the way, earning a 7-1 decision. With the victory, Little advances to the NCAA quarterfinals, where he will take on No. 11 Camden McDaniel tomorrow.
"We get all four to the second day, it's great, but we had some tough matches and we lost some really close ones. We've got to find a way to flip those tomorrow," said Erisman. "You know, I believe in these guys, they look good, they look sharp. We just got to finish our shots. Super pumped for Stephen, you know. He's chipping his way. He's never won in that last round. He's always lost in the second round. So I'm super excited for him to go on to the quarterfinals tomorrow, right? And hope to punch his ticket first match."
Fans will be able to follow every moment of the NCAA Championships through extensive broadcast coverage across ESPN platforms. 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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