In an interview at the end of the match, head coach Niel Erisman expressed his thoughts. 

“Even though it was a tough night, we had some individuals that I thought did pretty well,” he said. “Guys like Triston closed the gap and learned a lot about what they can and can’t do. It was a good experience, it was a tough experience, and it was hard, but it was much needed.”

ÌÇÐÄVlog´«Ã½-Little Rock is home to the one and only NCAA Division 1 wrestling program in Arkansas. The program began in 2018, and this year, they won their first D1 match in the history of the program against Fresno State. 

The team has seen ongoing success including the NCAA Coaches Ranking of Paul Bianchi, a senior on the team, at number 26. On Jan 31, senior day, Bianchi gave the team some recognition with his 3-0 win against some of the best teams in the conference. 

Now the team is preparing for the 2021 Pac-12 Championships. This year, the conference tournament will take place in Corvallis, hosted by Oregon State. 

The conference tournament begins this Sunday, Feb 28 at 1:30 p.m. central time. Don’t miss out on the Trojans as they wrestle for that championship. 

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Bianchi received a bye for his class’ first round and won his semifinal match against Cal Poly wrestler Cole Reyes 7-4. In the championship match, Bianchi faced Oregon State’s Devan Turner. Bianchi and Turner dueled earlier in the year, with Turner taking a close two-point win. Despite notching three escapes, Bianchi failed to complete a takedown and lost to Turner 5-3.

Ward lost his first-round match, but won the consolation semifinals, notching a place in the third-place match. Facing Arizona State wrestler Cory Crooks, Ward lost 4-1.

Four other Trojans won matches at the Championships, finishing in fifth place in their classes. Juniors Jose Champagne and Dylan Johnson and freshmen Jayden Carson and Matthew Muller notched victories in their respective brackets.

LR finished their first season of competitive play with a 1-8 record. Their only victory came in their first home match in program history, Nov. 24 against the University of the Ozarks. At invitationals, the Trojans placed fourth at the Cougar Clash Invitational on Dec. 7 and 25^th at the Southern Scuffle on New Years’ Day.

Recruiting for the 2020-21 season is well underway with nine commitments already announced.

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