WRESTLING
UALR names first coach
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock named Neil Erisman as the first head coach of its new wrestling program, Athletic Director Chasse Conque said Wednesday.
Erisman has coached six seasons at the Division I level, including at Oklahoma State and North Carolina, while coaching 20 NCAA All-Americans and four NCAA individual champions.
The Trojans' inaugural season is 2019-2020, and UALR said a news conference to formally introduce Erisman will be held in the coming weeks.
In the last four seasons, Erisman led North Carolina to an overall record of 41-28. Troy Heilmann and Ethan Ramos both won ACC titles in the 2017-2018 seasons, and Heilmann went on to place fourth in the NCAA Championships.
Erisman is from DeSoto, Kan., where he wrestled and won both a state and cadet national championship while compiling a 150-5 record. He competed at Oklahoma State, where he earned an overall record of 92-36 from 2007-2011, winning the individual Big 12 championship at 157 pounds in 2011.
Erisman began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State from 2011-2013, and in those two years under Coach John Smith, the Cowboys won the Big 12 championship in 2013 and finished second at the NCAA Championships that same season.
Erisman then spent one season as the assistant wrestling coach at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, where he helped the Pioneers to the 2014 Oklahoma 6A state championship.
-- Brooks Kubena
SOCCER
Fayetteville finds boys coach
Brent Crenshaw took over the Siloam Springs soccer program in the summer of 2015 with zero state championships on his resume. Three years later, he leaves with a combined five boys and girls titles.
Crenshaw submitted his resignation as coach and teacher to the school district Monday after accepting an offer to become the head boys soccer coach at Fayetteville.
Crenshaw posted a combined record of 112-33-7 in three years of coaching the Panthers and Lady Panthers, including five state championships and one state runner-up.
Crenshaw was 59-14-3 as the Siloam Springs girls coach, winning the past three Class 6A state championships in the Lady Panthers' string of five in a row.
He was 53-19-4 as the boys coach, winning state titles in 2016 and 2017 before coming up short in the 2018 title game.
Fayetteville's boys have struggled in recent years, including going 10-14 overall in 2018 and 7-7 in the 7A-West.
-- Graham Thomas
Sports on 06/21/2018