UALR wrestlers defeat Cal Poly

No. 20 Arkansas-Little Rock knocked off No. 23 Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo 21-12 in a Pac-12 Conference wrestling showdown Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

It marked the first time UALR (12-5, 3-1 Pac-12) has defeated Cal Poly (5-3, 1-2) and the third time this season that the Trojans have defeated a nationally ranked program. It was also the third conference dual win for UALR, with the previous two wins coming against Arizona State and Oregon State.

“It went a lot of how I expected in terms of coming down to the wire, going into overtime and just knowing that our guys were going to have to win a lot of close matches,” UALR Coach Neil Erisman said. “That’s a big moment. That’s a fun win. Getting a win where everything was just tough. It was hard, it was gritty. That is what really makes you excited.”

Cal Poly was last year’s Pac-12 champion.

UALR freshman Nasir Bailey picked up his program-leading 20th win of the season, defeating Cal Poly freshman Zeth Romney 7-1 in a matchup of top-10 competitors at 133 pounds. Bailey enter the match ranked No. 7 nationally in his weight class, while Romney was No. 9.

“My opponent was pretty good and I feel like that was just an opportunity for me to separate myself and show that I’m one of the top-tier guys in my weight class and it’s not just a fluke,” Bailey said. “We came in here thinking we were going to win and we won. We did what we were supposed to do.”

Joseph Bianchi also picked up a 7-1 win for the Trojans at 165 pounds. Joseph Bianchi is now 18-6 on the season and has yet to lose a match against Pac-12 competition.

Matty Bianchi (157 pounds) and Brennan Van Hoecke (141 pounds) both picked up dramatic overtime victories. UALR’s Triston Wills defeated Kendall La Rosa 8-6 at 184 pounds to break a 12-12 tie and give the Trojans the edge.

Stephen Little picked up a 7-2 win over Jarad Priest at 197 pounds for UALR, and Josiah Hill capped off the victory for Trojans by defeating Trevor Tinker 4-2 in a highly-anticipated match of two nationally-ranked heavyweights.

“It was really big for us to go out there and do what we were supposed to do and we really put an exclamation point on it today,” Hill said. “It feels great, obviously, but at the same time it feels the same because I have to go back tomorrow and get back to work. I have to do the same thing for about four more weeks to get the results that I really want.”

With the regular season winding down and postseason competition on the horizon, UALR is looking to build off what has already been a historical season for the program.

“You have to give them [Cal Poly] credit. They’re a really well-coached, tough, gritty team,” Erisman said. “We’re very similar institutions when it comes to resources and what we have to do to be a team. They led the way. They won the Pac-12 last year and beat everybody. They showed that teams like us can do it.”