UNI wrestling gears up for key weekend at the Big 12 Championships

CEDAR FALLS – UNI wrestling’s 2024 postseason will begin on Saturday morning as the Panther Train kicks off competition at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma with automatic berths to the NCAA Championships up for grabs.

The two-day tournament will be held March 9-10 at the BOK Center. Live coverage will be carried on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ for the first three sessions, with the championship round being broadcast on Sunday night on ESPN2. Watch links for all matches and mats during the tournament, as well as live results can be found on UNI’s 2024 Big 12 Championship Hub.

Eight Panthers earned top-eight seeds earlier this week during the conference’s unveiling of the tournament bracket. Click HERE to see the full set of brackets.

Parker Keckeisen will have the chance to continue re-writing Panther wrestling history as he chases his fourth Big 12 title at 184 pounds. Seeded first in his weight class this weekend, Keckeisen will also have the opportunity to win his 100th career match in Tulsa. UNI has won the 184-pound crown at the Big 12 Championships every year since joining the conference in 2018, the second-longest active streak of any Big 12 school at any weight class behind Oklahoma State (Nine straight titles at 149 pounds).

Ryder Downey will be the two-seed in the 157 pound bracket, looking to capitalize on a stellar first season in the Panther lineup. Downey has won his last ten matches which includes a pair of top-ten victories over No. 3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) and No. 9 Cody Chittum (Iowa State).

Cael Happel was seeded third at 141 pounds, aiming to return to the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive season. Julian Farber (133 pounds), Jared Simma (174 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds) were all seeded fifth in their respective weight classes, with Tyrell Gordon seeded sixth in the heavyweight division and Trever Anderson eighth at 125 pounds.

No. 15 UNI wrestling at Big 12 Championships

BOK Center (19,199) | Tulsa, Okla.
March 9 | 10 a.m. CT – Prelims & Quarterfinals / 5 p.m. CT – Semifinals & Consolation Quarterfinals
March 10 | 12 p.m. CT – Consolation Semifinals & Seventh-Place Matches / 7:30 p.m. CT – Finals
Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Sessions 1-3)
ESPN2 (Finals)

UNI’S BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP LINEUP [SEED] (NCAA Coaches) #Intermat/Flowrestling ranking

Last week, the NCAA announced its pre-conference tournament allocations ahead of the NCAA Championships, scheduled to be held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, March 21-23. The top-six finishers in Tulsa in seven weight classes (125, 133, 149, 157, 165, 174, 197) will automatically qualify for the national championships, while the top-five placewinners at 141, 184 and 285 pounds will advance. The remaining 47 at-large qualifying spots across all ten weight classes will be announced on March 12, while brackets and seeding for the NCAA Championships will be announced on March 13. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (Seeds listed)

125 | (8) Trever Anderson (UNI) vs. Elijah Griffin (Cal Baptist)

Anderson rallied to pin then No. 22 Griffin in six minutes, 15 seconds in UNI’s Feb. 9, 2024 dual win in Riverside in the only meeting of the series.

133 | (5) Julian Farber (UNI) vs. Davin Rhoads (West Virginia)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Farber and Rhoads.

141 | (3) Cael Happel (UNI) vs. Rudy Lopez (Northern Colorado)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Happel and Lopez

149 | Adam Allard (UNI) vs. (6) Maxwell Petersen (North Dakota State)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Allard and Petersen.

157 | (2) Ryder Downey (UNI) vs. Alex Emmer (Utah Valley)

Downey scored a 14-2 major decision in his only prior meeting against Emmer back on Jan. 13 in a neutral site dual in Ames.

165 | Jack Thomsen (UNI) vs. (7) Tanner Cook (South Dakota State)

Thomsen will face off against his former SDSU teammate after winning the only prior meeting by medical forfeit at the 2022 Daktronics Open in Brookings.

174 | (5) Jared Simma (UNI) vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Simma and Rix-McElhinney

184 | (1) Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs. Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) OR Ethan Ducca (Wyoming)

With a first-round bye, Keckeisen will face the winner of Britten and Ducca in the quarterfinals, having never faced either challenger before.

197 | (5) Wyatt Voelker (UNI) vs. Eli Sheeren (Cal Baptist)

Voelker rolled past Sheeren back on Feb. 9 in California with a 15-0 technical fall win in the only meeting of the series.

HWT | (6) Tyrell Gordon (UNI) vs. Chase Trussell (Utah Valley)

Gordon is 1-0 all-time against Trussell, winning earlier this season in a 3-1 decision in Ames.

BIG 12 FIELD BY THE NUMBERS

14 total All-Americans from both 2023 and years prior are scheduled to compete this weekend in Tulsa.
Missouri is the reigning Big 12 champion and will look to become the conference’s first repeat champion since Oklahoma State won eight straight team titles from 2013 to 2020.
Seven of the reigning Big 12 champions from 2023 return this year to Tulsa to defend their crowns or capture a title at a new weight class.
Air Force’s Wyatt Henrickson (HWT) leads all of Division I wrestling with 14 pins.

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS

Missouri (5)

3x | Brock Mauller (149) – 6th in 2019, 5th in 2021, 7th in 2023
3x | Keegan O’Toole (165) – 3rd in 2021, 1st in 2022 and 2023
3x | Rocky Elam (197) – 5th in 2021, 4th in 2022, 3rd in 2023
1x | Peyton Mocco (174) – 8th in 2023
1x | Zach Elam (HWT) – 6th in 2023
Oklahoma State (3)

3x | David Carr (165) | 1st in 2021, 3rd in 2022 (157 pounds), 2nd in 2023 (165 pounds)
1x | Younger Bastida (HWT) | 5th in 2022 (197 pounds)
South Dakota State (2)

2x | Clay Carlson (141) | 8th in 2021, 5th in 2023
1x | Tanner Sloan (197) | 2nd in 2023
UNI (1)

3x | Parker Keckeisen (184) | 3rd in 2021 and 2022, 2nd in 2023
West Virginia (1)

1x Peyton Hall (165) | 8th in 2022

REIGNING BIG 12 CHAMPIONS RETURNING