KANSAS CITY, Mo. – UNI’s Parker Keckeisen will have the chance to become UNI’s 23rd Division I national champion after he punched his ticket to the NCAA Championship finals on Friday night with a bonus-point victory in the semifinal round at T-Mobile Center.
Improving to a perfect 30-0 on the season with his 27th bonus-point win of the year, Keckeisen rolled past 4-seed Trey Munoz (Oregon State) in the semifinals for his fourth bonus-point victory of the tournament, setting up the opportunity to cap an undefeated national championship season during Saturday’s final session. A national title by Keckeisen would be the program’s 45th all-time (Division I and Division II) and first since Drew Foster’s 184-pound championship in 2019.
The Panthers also saw three hard fought consolation matches from Cael Happel (141 pounds), Ryder Downey (157 pounds) and Jared Simma (174 pounds), with all three ending their tournaments with multiple wins under their belts.
Through four sessions of competition, UNI sits in 14th place in the team standings with 34.5 points.
In a rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinals, Keckeisen battled Munoz to a draw in the first two minutes before Keckeisen went on the attack with his first takedown of the match with under a minute to go in the first period. Looking to wear down his opponent, Keckeisen, who became Northern Iowa’s first-ever four-time Division I All-American after his quarterfinal win on Friday, opened the second frame with an escape and again brought down Munoz for a 7-1 lead and scored once again in the final seconds to secure a bonus-point win in a 10-2 major decision.
Keckeien’s win sets up a rematch with 2-seed Dustin Plott in Saturday’s night’s national championship match with Keckeisen having beaten Plott in dual competition earlier this season and again earlier this month in the Big 12 Championship finals. Keckeisen also grabbed his 104th career victory, moving him into a tie with Bob Hallman (1981-84) for 19th on UNI’s all-time wins list.
Taking on an in-state challenger in 3-seed Real Woods (Iowa), Happel struggled to combat his opponent’s speed and quick attack, falling behind 3-0 early following a takedown in the first minute of the match. Despite a pair of escapes of his own, Happel would be unable to establish an attack against the Big Ten’s third-place finisher, falling to Woods in a 5-2 decision. Concluding his second NCAA Championship appearance, Happel finishes the season with a 22-9 record.
In the 157-pound consolation bracket, Downey battled 10-seed Jared Franek down to the final whistle, taking a 1-0 lead in the second period after a scoreless first frame. Franek would respond and take the lead with a takedown with Downey escaping in the second as the match went down to the wire. Downey would give up an escape in the final frame and struggled to take Franek down in the final seconds falling to the Hawkeye in a 4-2 decision. The 2024 Big 12 champion, Downey finishes the year with a 23-6 record.
Simma’s magical tournament came to an end in the blood round of the 174-pound consolation bracket despite a hard fought bout with 18-seed Benjamin Pasiuk (Army). Jumping out to a 4-0 lead on a first-period escape and takedown, Pasiuk responded with his own takedown to cut Simma lead to one point. Simma responded with a two-point reversal in the second period, but soon fell behind on a four-point swing with an escape and takedown by Pasiuk to give him a 7-6 lead. Pasiuk would score once more in the third period on a two-point reversal with Simma pulling within one point with an escape and stalling penalty, but could not score in the final seconds in a 9-8 loss. Entering the tournament as the 28-seed, Simma finishes the season with an 18-10 record.
The championship finals of this year’s NCAA Championships will begin at 6 p.m. CT with live coverage available on ESPN.
UNI RESULTS (THROUGH SESSION 4)
[Seed] (NCAA Coaches rank) #Intermat/FloWrestling ranking listed
133 | [19] (19) #25/25 Julian Farber (0-2) | DNP
L – [15] (15) #10/10 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 5-1
L – [32] Cayden Rooks (Indiana), Inj. def. 3:17
141 | [7] (6) #6/6 Cael Happel (3-2) | DNP
L – [26] (27) #24/22 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota), 8-5 SV-1
W – [10] (8) #10/11 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), 4-2
W – [8] (10) #7/7 Sergio Lemley (Michigan), 14-5 MD
W – [18] (14) #13/9 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh), 4-2
L – [3] (3) #3/3 Real Woods (Iowa), 5-2
157 | [5] (4) #4/4 Ryder Downey (3-1) | DNP
W – [28] (31) #29/28 Jared Hill (Oklahoma), 4-1
L – [12] #10/11 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), 9-6
W – [22] (23) #25/26 DJ McGee (George Mason), 15-0 TF [7:00]
W – [13] (3) #5/5 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota), 11-3 MD
L – [10] (5) #6/6 Jared Franek (Iowa), 4-2
165 | [33] Jack Thomsen (1-2) | DNP
W – [32] (31) #33/27 Jake Logan (Lehigh), 14-3 MD
L – [1] (1) #1/1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri), Fall 2:55
L – [23] #19/23 Tyler Lillard (Indiana), Fall 7:43
174 | [28] (30) #29/25 Jared Simma (2-2)
W – [5] (5) #12/9 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 7-0
W – [21] (23) #19/19 Tyler Eischens (North Carolina), 6-4
L – [4] (3) #3/3 Shane Griffith (Michigan), 8-7
L – [18] (12) #10/12 Benjamin Pasiuk (Army), 9-8
184 | [1] (1) #1/1 Parker Keckeisen (4-0)
W – [32] #26/31 Anthony D’Alesio (Long Island), 10-0 MD
W – [17] (10) #12/10 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State), 19-4 TF [6:52]
W – [25] #23/26 David Key (Navy), 22-6 TF [6:21]
W – [4] (4) #4/4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State), 10-2 MD
197 | [19] (22) #21/19 Wyatt Voelker (2-2) | DNP
L – [14] (17) #20/21 John Poznanski (Rutgers), 4-2
W – [30] (28) #30/30 Sam Mitchell (Buffalo), 19-3 TF [6:22]
W – [20] (14) #23/24 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley), 3-2
L – [5] (8) #6/5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), 11-2 MD
TEAM SCORES (TOP-20 THROUGH SESSION 4)
1st – Penn State (148)
2nd – Michigan (64.5)
3rd – Iowa (60)
T4th – Arizona State (59.5)
T4th – Iowa State (59.5)
6th – Cornell (58.5)
7th – Ohio State (57)
8th – Oklahoma State (55)
9th – Virginia Tech (53)
10th – Nebraska (52)
11th – NC State (48.5)
12th – South Dakota State (43)
13th – Missouri (40)
14th – UNI (34.5)
15th – Lehigh (31)
16th – Stanford (28.5)
17th – West Virginia (25)
18th – Minnesota (21)
19th – Rutgers (20.5)
20th – Wisconsin (20)
