Teske, Keckeisen Win Big 12 Titles, Lara, Yant Qualify for NCAAs

Saturday, March 6

Tulsa, Okla.

University of Northern Iowa

Big 12 Championship

Photo by: Mark Lundy

Teske, Keckeisen Win Big 12 Titles, Lara, Yant Qualify for NCAAs

3/7/2021 10:01:00 PM | Wrestling

Final Brackets

TULSA – Parker Keckeisen and Brody Teske won Big 12 titles and Austin Yant and Triston Lara finished fifth to earn qualifying spots at the NCAA Championship.

Teske battled through an early deficit to capture the win. Taylor LaMont picked up a takedown and back points on a headlock toss for a 4-0 lead.

Teske bounced back with a quick escape and a takedown before the end of the first period. LaMont extended his lead to 5-3 after an escape in the second. Teske grabbed a takedown to tie the match at 5-5 heading into the third.

Teske took a 6-5 lead with an escape to start the third, but LaMont earned a takedown and a 7-6 lead. With under 30 seconds remaining in the match, Teske reversed LaMont to take an 8-7 lead. He was awarded a ride time point to give him the 9-7 win. He became UNI's sixth Big 12 Champion and the first at 125.

Keckeisen went on the attack immediately. Within seconds he had a takedown and a 2-0 lead over Wyoming's Tate Samuelson. Samuelson quickly escaped and the first period ended with Keckeisen leading 2-1.

He extended the lead with a quick escape in the second period. He added to his lead with a takedown later in the second to extend his lead to 5-1. Samuelson escaped and earned another escape to start the third cut the lead to 5-3. Keckeisen held off Samuelson's attacks to close out the 5-3 win.

Keckeisen won the fourth consecutive title at 184 for UNI (Foster 2018 and 2019 and Lujan 2020). It was the seventh Big 12 title for the Panthers.

It is the third time in four years that UNI had earned two Big 12 titles. (2018, 2020 and 2021).

The two championships capped a day that saw UNI capture four NCAA Championship bids and six top-eight finishes.

Joining Teske and Keckeisen in St. Louis will be Yant and Triston Lara.

Yant, who wrestled just one match this season before this weekend, battled through the consolation bracket to earn a chance at the fifth-place bout. He topped Troy Monatanona 9-3 to earn fifth place and punch his ticket to St. Louis.

Lara won his fifth-place match in impressive fashion. Racking up the 18-8 major decision. He went 2-2 on the tournament and won his quarterfinal bout against eventual third-place finisher Kyle Parco.

Carter Isley finished sixth in the tournament, outside of the automatic bids to the NCAA championship, but he entered the weekend ranked seventh in the NWCA Coaches poll with four wins against wrestlers in the top-33 in the NWCA poll.

Cayd Lara finished eighth in the tournament after entering the tournament without a seed.

The Panthers learn their fate Wednesday when the NCAA releases the At-Large sections and brackets for the championship at 5 p.m. Ct. The Championship will take place March 18-20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.