/news-archive/tag/wrestling/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Mon, 24 Jun 2019 15:51:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/06/24/cash-jones-wrestling/ Mon, 24 Jun 2019 15:51:22 +0000 /news/?p=74592 ... One of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 first wrestling recruits ready to make history]]> In the fall, Cash Jones will make his college debut as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock鈥檚 first official member of the university鈥檚 new NCAA Division I wrestling program. As one of the first members of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 debut wrestling cohort, the Bentonville native is coming off an impressive record at Bentonville High School and has plans to keep the momentum going at the college level. 鈥淚 want to be a national champion, and I want to be a conference champion,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚 want to make my family proud of me, and I want to make Arkansas proud.鈥� The applied communications major hopes to help establish Arkansas as a major wrestling state. 鈥淚 hope that we can begin to start establishing ourselves as a serious state in wrestling,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to build a good team at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock with good coaches and good wrestlers. I also want to establish more youth teams, so we can have more wrestlers compete at a higher level.鈥� Wrestling has been a major part of Jones鈥� life since he was a child. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been involved in combat sports like karate, jitsu, and boxing,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I was 9, my dad brought home a paper advertising the local youth wrestling league, and I鈥檝e been wrestling ever since.鈥� By the time he was in seventh grade, wrestling became Jones鈥� primary sport. Under Coach James Rappe, Jones became a three-time state champion at Bentonville High School. He helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back Class 6A/7A state titles in 2017 and 2018 and posted a career high school record of 227-11, including a mark of 62-1 as a senior. Jones recorded 15 individual championships during his high school career, all while serving two years as captain of the wrestling team and making the honor roll all four years. 鈥淚n high school, I had a very good support system. They kept me motivated and kept me doing the right thing so I could succeed,鈥� said Jones, adding his love of the sport comes from the rush he gets every time he steps on the mat. 鈥淲restling is one-on-one. It鈥檚 just me out there,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an individual expression. I don鈥檛 have to rely on anyone else but me. It鈥檚 high-risk, high-reward, and a gamble every time. I love it.鈥� It seems as if Jones was born to be an athlete, since his parents, David and Sheila Jones, named him after a rodeo star who was a friend of the family. 鈥淢y dad grew up these rodeo guys: Cash, Rope, and Ty. When I was born, Dad told my mom that she could choose between those three names,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淣o one is going to call their son Rope, and everyone is named Ty, so they decided on Cash.鈥� After high school, Jones originally committed to Campbell University in North Carolina, but transferred to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock after learning the university was starting the first college wrestling program in his home state. 鈥淚鈥檓 ecstatic to be at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not often that you get the opportunity to be the first at something, and here you can be the first person to do everything in wrestling. You can be the first person to win a match, the first person to be a national champion, and the first person to All-American. That鈥檚 an opportunity I鈥檇 really like to have.鈥� That鈥檚 an opportunity he hopes to achieve under the mentorship of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 head wrestling Coach Neil Erisman. 鈥淐oach Erisman is my mentor,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淗e is a great guy. He鈥檚 not just an on the mat coach, which is what you get at a lot of colleges. He genuinely cares about you on and off the mat. He does everything he can to shape you into a and make you a better person.” His advice for anyone who aspires to become a collegiate wrestling athlete is to work hard and prepare yourself for the challenges that come with being a college athlete. 鈥淭here is a lot that goes in wrestling at the college level, some good times and some bad times,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淲ork as hard as you can and make the right the decisions, because you have to make it through the bad times to make it to the good times.鈥� ]]> /news-archive/2019/05/13/little-rock-wrestling-teams-up-with-mattalk-online-to-produce-rocked-up-podcast/ Mon, 13 May 2019 15:33:37 +0000 /news/?p=74305 ... Little Rock Wrestling Teams Up with MatTalk Online to Produce Rocked Up Podcast]]> Little Rock Wrestling has teamed up with MatTalk Online, founded by Jason Bryant, to help produce the Rocked Up podcast, a serialized, storytelling format which will serve a dual purpose.聽 The series will tell more than just the story of how wrestling came to Little Rock, but will outline how the sport surfaced in Arkansas and why building the sport at the high school level was crucial to the addition of the sport on the Little Rock campus. Season one of the podcast will include 12 episodes released every two to three weeks leading up to the start of the wrestling season in November. Those podcasts are available at聽,听and through the link on the wrestling home page at LRTrojans.com. The first two episodes of the series, “Where the Journey Begins” (episode one) and “The Chicken or the Egg” (episode two) are currently available. “Little Rock is unique in the aspect that while it’s not the first state school to add or reinstate a Division I wrestling program in recent memory, it is the first to do it in a state that didn’t even have high school wrestling not that long ago,” Bryant said. “The story isn’t just about the school, but about the entire wrestling community and how Little Rock is now poised to truly be a flagship institution for a sport within Arkansas.” Bryant, president of the National Wrestling Media Association and an 11-time Wrestling Journalism and Broadcasting Award winner, visited Little Rock in December 2018 to record much of the audio footage for the program. Those interviews encompassed a wide range of specialization 鈥� everything from Little Rock athletic and university administrators to community leaders and Little Rock sports media personalities, giving insight to the unique opportunity wrestling will play in Arkansas. “I am very excited about partnering with Mat Talk Online and Jason Bryant on this fantastic podcast,” said Little Rock head coach Neil Erisman. “To understand the significance of our program, it is important to know the history and culture of wrestling. This is what season one of Rocked Up is all about. I believe the story behind it embodies who we are, the direction we are already going and what being ‘Rocked Up’ is really all about. The story is fascinating and will leave listeners wanting to know more as we lead up to the Trojans stepping on the mat for the first time.” The idea for the podcast came in a meeting of the minds between coach Erisman and Bryant, giving a natural platform to promote the sport not just in the state of Arkansas, but throughout the national scene. “The relationship I’ve built with Coach Erisman over the years has been a good one, and he was really on board with giving me an opportunity to do something more creative to tell that story,” said Bryant. “There will be hundreds of other institutions nationwide following Little Rock’s lead. As a wrestling advocate, that’s beneficial to the entire health and longevity of the sport. We’ve seen how well Arkansas has taken to high school wrestling. Now we can document the story of how those kids now have an opportunity to compete at the highest level.” Little Rock’s wrestling program continues to build from the ground up 鈥� literally and figuratively. To date, five wrestlers are currently enrolled in classes on campus and training with a significant number of newcomers expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Construction continues on the Trojans’ 19,000-square foot state-of-the-art Hatcher Wrestling Complex, expected to be completed later this summer. Coach Erisman continues to build Little Rock’s inaugural schedule, which will also be released later this summer. Season tickets for the 2019 Trojan wrestling slate are currently on sale, beginning at $30 for general admission seats. Mat side seating is also available in limited quantities as tickets for the inaugural season of Little Rock wrestling can be secured by contacting聽聽in the Trojan ticket office at 501-569-3393 or e-mail at聽sajones3@ualr.edu.]]> /news-archive/2018/06/20/wrestling-coach/ Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:51:38 +0000 /news/?p=70835 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock announces Neil Erisman as Trojans’ first head wrestling coach]]> Erisman brings to Little Rock an impressive career both as a competitor and coach at the Division I level, encompassing two of the nation鈥檚 top programs in Oklahoma State and North Carolina. During his coaching career, Erisman has mentored 20 NCAA All-Americans and four NCAA individual champions. 鈥淭oday starts a new chapter for Little Rock Trojan Athletics with the hiring of Neil Erisman as our first head wrestling coach,鈥� Conque said. 鈥淲e had tremendous interest in the position and we feel coach Erisman is the right person to lead our program at Little Rock. Neil brings a deep understanding of the sport, a passion for leading young men and a commitment to doing things the right way, giving us great confidence that bright days are ahead for Little Rock wrestling.鈥� 鈥淢y family and I would like to thank Chasse Conque, Chancellor Andrew Rogerson, and the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock community for welcoming us to the Trojan family,鈥� Erisman said. 鈥淚 am very excited for this opportunity, and I鈥檓 looking forward to getting to Little Rock to begin my work as the Trojans鈥� first head wrestling coach.鈥� Erisman has spent the past four seasons at the University of North Carolina where he has played a key role in helping the Tar Heels improve on the national stage. In his four seasons in Chapel Hill, Erisman has helped guide UNC to an overall record of 41-28, finishing third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2015-16 and 2017-18. During his time in Chapel Hill, Erisman has mentored four ACC individual champions and four NCAA All-Americans, highlighted by the 2017-18 season when Troy Heilmann (149) and Ethan Ramos (174) both claimed ACC titles. Heilmann then went on to place fourth in the NCAA Championships in Cleveland with Chip Ness (184) placing seventh, earning the duo All-America honors as the Tar Heels tied for 20th, their highest finish since placing eighth in 1995. The Tar Heels also produced a pair of ACC champions in 2015-16 in Evan Henderson (149) and Ethan Ramos (174) with Joey Ward finishing seventh in the NCAA championships at 141. In his first season in Chapel Hill, Erisman worked closely with Ethan Ramos, who finished second in the ACC at 165 before placing sixth at NCAAs. Additionally, Erisman earned a reputation as a top recruiter, helping North Carolina post top-10 recruiting classes in his first three seasons. 鈥淚 have been privileged to spend four seasons at the University of North Carolina, working with my great friend and head coach Coleman Scott,鈥� Erisman said. 鈥淚 want to give a very special thank you to coach Coleman Scott, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, Vince Ille, the Tar Heel coaching staff, and the entire support staff for their constant support during my time at UNC. Chapel Hill will always hold a special place in our hearts and is a place we were proud to call home.鈥� Prior to his time in Chapel Hill, Erisman spent one season as the assistant wrestling coach at Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He helped guide the Pioneers to the 2014 Oklahoma 6A state championship while also being named the 2014 Oklahoma High School National Team Coach. Erisman鈥檚 coaching career began at his alma mater, serving as a graduate assistant coach at Oklahoma State from 2011-13 under legendary coach John Smith. One of his main priorities was helping with the development of the Cowboys鈥� freshman wrestlers while helping continue the tradition of Oklahoma State wrestling. During his two years as a graduate assistant, OSU placed sixth at the 2012 NCAA Championships, followed by a Big 12 championship in 2013 while finishing second at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Erisman put together a stellar collegiate career in Stillwater, compiling an overall record of 92-36 and was a four year letterwinner for the Cowboys from 2007-11 under coach Smith. He was the 2011 Big 12 Champion at 157 pounds after placing second in 2010 and third in 2009, being named an Academic All-Big 12 selection in 2008. A native of DeSoto, Kansas, Erisman compiled a 150-5 prep record at DeSoto High School and was both a state and cadet national champion. He earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration from Oklahoma State in 2011. He and his wife, Kelli, have three children 鈥� Duke, 6, Oakley, 5, and Zane, 1. Erisman is now tasked with the challenge of beginning to compile the Trojans鈥� first recruiting class, leading up to the program鈥檚 inaugural season in 2019-20. A press conference to formally introduce coach Erisman will be held in the coming weeks.  ]]> /news-archive/2018/03/19/wrestling-team/ Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:23:55 +0000 /news/?p=69832 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock announces addition of wrestling team]]> Chancellor Andrew Rogerson said 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock plans to add wrestling as its 15th sport, becoming the only NCAA Division I wrestling program in the state. The news was announced at the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, March 17. Pending board approval, Little Rock wrestling will begin competition in fall 2019. “This is exciting news for the university as we continue to elevate and grow our athletics program and find opportunities for enrollment growth,” said Rogerson. “Our student-athletes as a group have the highest Division I graduation success rate in the state, so we’re confident this program will bring in additional students with high GPAs and success in the classroom.” The addition of wrestling is a major milestone for both the athletics department and the sport. Arkansas has seen tremendous growth with about 200 high schools across the state supporting a wrestling program. “Little Rock Athletics is thrilled to announce the addition of Division I wrestling to our campus,” said Director of Athletics Chasse Conque. “This serves as an exciting milestone for our department, adding a program that will complement and enhance the profile of our existing 14 sports.” The idea came to fruition after a recent $1.4 million pledge from Greg Hatcher to secure funding to begin the program. The gift from Hatcher, a prominent Little Rock businessman and supporter of youth sports, will help 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock build a wrestling facility, purchase equipment, and fund operational expenditures. “Thanks to Chancellor Andrew Rogerson and Athletic Director Chasse Conque, Little Rock and the state of Arkansas will now be the home to Division I wrestling,” Hatcher said. “This will now bring wrestling at the highest level to our city in the grandest way possible, and I couldn’t be happier for our city and state.” “Trojan Athletics is most grateful to Greg Hatcher for his generous commitment, helping take this from a concept to a reality,” Conque said. “Greg’s passion for wrestling has been felt across the entire state as interest in the sport has gained tremendous momentum in Arkansas over the last decade.” Little Rock will begin the process of seeking the program’s first head coach, who will then begin recruiting student-athletes. With the addition of wrestling, as well as increased scholarship opportunities in a number of female sports, the Trojans will bring the number of student-athletes competing for Little Rock to more than 250 in the next few years. Wrestling is not new to the Jack Stephens Center, which has served as the host venue for the Arkansas State Wrestling Championships since 2008. The Little Rock Trojans will host their home meets at the Jack Stephens Center with the first meet anticipated to take place in late 2019. Bringing a Division I wrestling program to Little Rock has been a conversation that has been ongoing for a number of years. The decision was reached independently of the ongoing feasibility study, which is expected to conclude in late spring 2018. The possibility of adding a football and marching band program remains viable.]]>