CEDAR FALLS – UNI’s Parker Keckeisen has been named the 2024 Big 12 Conference’s Wrestler of the Year, as announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon.
A native of Glendale, Wisconsin, Keckeisen, who won the NCAA’s Division I 184-pound national championship last weekend in Kansas City, joins former Panther and current assistant coach Drew Foster as the only two UNI wrestlers to receive the honor since the Panthers joined the Big 12 in 2017-18.
Other nominees for Big 12 Wrestler of the Year included Wyatt Henrickson (HWT | Air Force), Elijah Griffin (125 | Cal Baptist), David Carr (165 | Iowa State), Keegan O’Toole (165 | Missouri), Gaven Sax (174 | North Dakota State), Stephen Buchanan (197 | Oklahoma), Daton Fix (133 | Oklahoma State), Ty Watters (149 | West Virginia) and Jore Volk (125 | Wyoming).
Keckeisen compiled a perfect 31-0 record (28-0 against Division I opponents) to become UNI’s first undefeated Division I national champion since 1963 with his fourth All-American selection. A four-time medalist at the NCAA Championships, he is also Northern Iowa’s only four-time Big 12 Conference champion (2021-24), extending the program’s dominance over the 184-pound weight class as the conference tournament with its seventh consecutive Big 12 title. For his performance at the conference championships, he was also named the Big 12 Championships’ Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Keckeisen recorded bonus-point victories in all but three of his matches this season, including 14 major decisions, 12 technical falls and two pins. With a bonus-point percentage of 90.3%, he finished the season with 14 straight bonus-point wins, including bonus-point wins throughout the entirety of both the Big 12 and NCAA Championships.
Keckeisen is also one of five finalists for the 2024 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS. The wrestling equivalent of the Heisman Trophy awarded to the nation’s top wrestler. Fans can participate in a fan vote online until 5 p.m. CT on Friday, March 29.
PREVIOUS BIG 12 WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
2016 – Alex Dieringer (165 | Oklahoma State)
2017 – Dean Heil (141 | Oklahoma State)
2018 – Seth Gross (133 | South Dakota State)
2019 – Drew Foster (184 | UNI)
2020 – Noah Adams (197 | West Virginia)
2021 – David Carr (157 | Iowa State)
2022 – Keegan O’Toole (165 | Missouri)
2023 – Andrew Alirez (141 | Northern Colorado)
2024 – Parker Keckeisen (184 | UNI)
