Six years after its formation, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock wrestling team has won the Pac-12 wrestling championship.
Six of UA Little Rock’s wrestlers will advance to the NCAA national tournament.
The Trojans scored 86.5 points, finishing 5 points ahead of host team Oregon State – half a point more than they scored over the Beavers last year in a race for second place.
“What a day, what a tournament,” Head Coach Neil Erisman said. “The guys wrestled their tails off. So proud of them and all that they’ve accomplished. It took a lot of grit to do what we’ve done not just today but since the inception of this program.”
Five wrestlers – Nasir Bailey, Jordan Williams, Matty Bianchi, Joseph Bianchi and Tyler Brennan – claimed individual Pac-12 champion titles. They will be advancing to the national tournament along with second-place finisher Stephen Little.
For Bailey and Joey Bianchi, they repeated as champions in their respective weight classes: 133 pounds and 165 pounds. Matty Bianchi (157 pounds), Williams (149 pounds) and Brennan (174 pounds) are each first-timers in the championship.
Brennan’s 11-0 major decision, along with a pin in the first round, contributed the most team points to the Trojans in the championship meet. Williams and Bailey were both named Wrestler of the Meet. Williams went 2-0 against two top-10 opponents in the 149-pound weight class, and Bailey took out the No. 7 wrestler in the nation in the finals following a first-period pin in the preliminary round. It marks the second time in as many years that Bailey has received the award.
Little and Brennan Van Hoecke finished as runners-up in their respective brackets. Little’s weight class featured three top-10 wrestlers, including Little himself, and the redshirt sophomore only allowed a 2-0 decision to the top seed in the final.
The six Trojans will compete at the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from March 20-22. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will select the remaining 43 at-large qualifiers and announce full brackets and seeding on March 11.
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