UNI wrestling opens home dual action against North Dakota State

Saturday, January 22

Cedar Falls, IA

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

North Dakota State University

Photo by: Carla Wehmeyer

UNI wrestling opens home dual action against North Dakota State

1/18/2022 8:16:00 PM | Wrestling

UNI notes NDSU notes

(RV) UNI wrestling (2-5 / 1-2 Big 12) vs. (RV) NDSU (6-1 / 1-1 Big 12)
7 p.m. Jan. 22
West Gym | Cedar Falls, Iowa

TICKETS: Limited to current season ticketholders
WATCH: FloWrestling
STATS: Trackwrestling

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI opens home dual action this week and honors legendary coach Chuck Patten.

The Panthers host North Dakota State in the West Gym 7 p.m. Saturday. Fans are encouraged to wear white, and the team will be honoring Patten before the dual.

UNI was expected to open against Utah Valley Friday, but COVID-19 protocols within the UV program forced the Wolverines to pull out of the dual. UNI is coming off a 27-11 Big 12 dual win over Air Force, which replaced a postponed dual with Northern Colorado last week.

THE PANTHERS (2-5 / 1-2 Big 12)

Colin Realbuto's win at 149 pounds last week led to a spot at No. 33 on this week's Intermat poll. Austin Yant moved up a spot to No. 19 at 165 pounds.

Four Panthers are on a win streak. No. 31 Kyle Biscoglia (133 pounds) has won his last four bouts, all with bonus points. He now has five falls this season. Realbuto is on a five-match win streak with two dual wins and three extra bouts at 149 pounds. Yant has won the last three duals. No. 4 Parker Keckeisen was 10-0 before he was edged out by one point in a dual loss to No. 1 Aaron Brooks of Penn State. Keckeisen has won his last three matches, earning bonus points in two.

THE BISON (6-1 / 1-1 Big 12)

NDSU's sole loss is to then-ranked No. 3 Missouri with its only Big 12 win against Wyoming, 22-14 last week.

North Dakota State's Owen Pentz was voted Big 12 Wrestler of the Week by league coaches following an upset pin of No. 3 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming), who ranked No. 3 in the 197-pound weight class. No. 32-ranked Pentz recorded his ninth pin of the year in 4:49.
With the pin, Pentz moves into a tie with seniors Brandon Metz and Luke Weber for the NDSU active career lead in pins with 13. The sophomore moved up to No. 23 in the InterMat 197-pound weight class rankings.

THE SERIES

UNI is 23-3-1 against NDSU in a series that dates back to 1968. The teams last met in 2021, where UNI won 27-11.

LAST TIME AGAINST NDSU (DUAL)

125: Brody Teske (UNI) pinned McGwire Midkiff (NDSU), 4:36
133: #11 Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI) dec. Kellyn March (NDSU), 4-0
141: Dylan Droegemueller (NDSU) maj. dec. Drew Bennett (UNI), 12-2
149: Triston Lara (UNI) dec. Jaden VanMaanen (NDSU), 4-2
157: #15 Jared Franek (NDSU) dec. Cayd Lara (UNI), 5-1
165: Pat Schoenfelder (UNI) dec. Luke Weber (NDSU), 7-2
174: Lance Runyon (UNI) dec. Riley Habisch (NDSU), 7-0
184: Keegan Moore (UNI) dec. T.J. Pottinger (NDSU), 6-2
197: Michael Nelson (NDSU) maj. dec. Tyrell Gordon (UNI), 10-1
285: #10 Carter Isley (UNI) pinned #15 Brandon Metz (NDSU), 0:41

EXTRA MATCHES

125: Kyle Gollhofer (UNI) dec. Ryan Henningson (NDSU), 9-3
149: Gable Fox (UNI) dec. Michael Weber (NDSU), 6-1
174: Noah Glaser (UNI) maj. dec. Noah Cressell (NDSU), 15-6
197: Parker Keckeisen (UNI) maj. dec. Cole Witzig (NDSU), 13-3

HONORING CHUCK PATTEN

Prior to the dual, UNI will unveil a banner that displays the likeness of Coach Patten who coached at UNI from 1964-1982. The Waterloo, Iowa, native also competed at UNI in wrestling and golf. He earned a master's degree at Oregon and returned to coach UNI wrestling and golf in 1964.

In nearly two decades, he racked up 218 wins as a coach, the most of any Panther wrestling coach. He was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in 1969 and 1978. Under the helm of Patten, UNI wrestling won two Division II NCAA National Championships in 1975 and 1978. Patten retired from coach in 1982 to assume the position of assistant to the athletics director.

Patten coach 12 champions, who combined for a total of 18 titles:

Gary Bentrim (three titles)
Kirk Myers (three titles)
Don Parker (two titles)
Kent Osboe (two titles)
Jim Miller
Ken Snyder
Clint Young
Tom Garcia
Randy Omvig
Keith Poolman
Ken Gallagher
Mike McCready – also won gold at the Pan American Games

UNI VS. NORTH DAKOTA STATE (overall / dual)

125 | No. 12 Brody Teske (6-2 / 3-1) or Kyle Gollhofer (2-5 / 1-1) vs. Ryan Henningson (0-4 / 0-2) or Lucas Rodriguez (0-1 / 0-1)

Teske has two top-25 wins this year. His only two losses have been to Corey Cabanban of Iowa State and No. 5 Vitali Arujau of Cornell. Teske is one of six Panthers who qualified for last year's NCAA national championships.
Gollhofer, a redshirt freshman, entered the dual lineup for the first time in his career this month, earning his first dual win last week.
Henningson was 2-8 in his debut season with NDSU last year, wrestling at 125 pounds and 133.
Rodriguez joined NDSU this year after competing for Edinboro since the 2017-18 season. He took seventh at the MAC Championships last year.

REMATCH: Gollhofer beat Henningson last year in a 9-3 decision.

133 | No. 31 Kyle Biscoglia (12-6 / 4-3) vs. No. 22 Kellyn March (11-5 / 5-2)

Biscoglia is on a bonus-point streak. Ten of his 12 wins have been earned with bonus points. He has five falls already this year, putting his career total at 15. He has won his last four matches, notching two major decisions, his season-fastest career fall and another fall last week over the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, Sidney Flores.
March has three wins over ranked opponent this year, pinning No. 33 Anthony Sobotker of Binghamton and earning decisions over No. 23 Derek Spann of Buffalo and No. 33 Job Greenwood of Wyoming. He was seventh at last year's Big 12 Championships.

141 | No. 25 Cael Happel (13-5 / 4-3) vs. No. 27 Dylan Droegemueller (9-2 / 6-1)

Happel knocked off No. 12 Allan Hart of Missouri in his opening dual. He bumped up in the rankings from No. 31 last week.
Droegemueller has one win over a top-25 opponent, beating No. 24 Marcos Polanco of Minnesota, 3-2. He is a two-time placewinner at the Big 12s, earning his first trip to the NCAA championships last year.

149 | Triston Lara (3-5 / 0-2) or No. 33 Colin Realbuto (10-5 / 2-3) vs. Gaven Sax (13-5 / 2-3) or Austin Braun (3-6 / 0-1)

Lara hasn't competed since Jan. 9. He qualified for the NCAA championships after he took fifth at the Big 12 Championships last season.
Realbuto competed for Italy at the Senior World Championships in Oslo, Norway. He went 2-0 last weekend in extra bouts, earning wins at 149 pounds against Jaron Jensen of Wyoming and 157 pounds against Kenny O'Neil of South Dakota State. He is on a five-match win streaks that includes extra bouts.
Sax is a redshirt freshman who didn't compete in the 2021 season.
Braun went 1-2 as a junior in the 2021 season.

157 | Cayd Lara (12-9 / 1-3) vs. No. 7 Jared Franek (15-1 / 7-0)

This is expected to Lara's first match since Jan. 9. He has jumped in the lineup at 165 pounds for two duals of his four duals.
Franek has five wins over four ranked opponents. He beat No. 9 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) in a 6-4 decision and No. 14 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) in a 12-0 major decision. Other wins were against No. 31 Dazjon Casto (The Citadel), No. 21 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) and a second decision over Jarrett Jacques, who dropped to No. 23 in the rankings in their second meeting. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier who took second place at last year's Big 12 Championships. His only loss this year is to No. 5 Brayton Lee of Minnesota.

165 | No. 19 Austin Yant (9-2 / 3-1) vs. No. 14 Luke Weber (13-3 / 6-1)

Yant is a 2021 NCAA qualifier. He took fifth at last year's Big 12 Championships and has placed at two open tournaments this season. He is coming off three dual wins, including wins over No. 26 Creighton Edsell of Penn State and a major decision over Air Force's Trey Brisker.
Weber's ranked wins include a fall over No. 21 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota and a 10-5 decision over No. 15 Cole Moody of Wyoming. The reigning Big 12 champion earned his first trip to the NCAA championships last year.

174 | Pat Schoenfelder (10-7 / 3-3) or Dajun Johnson (3-12 / 0-4) vs. No. 23 Austin Brenner (16-8 / 4-2) or Riley Habisch (9-6 / 1-0)

Schoenfelder moved up from 165 pounds and already has a top-10 win with an 11-9 decision over No. 9 Peyton Mocco of Missouri. After taking second at the UNI Open, Schoenfelder dropped two duals to top-15 wrestlers but picked up a win over Ross McFarland of Hofstra. He is coming off a loss to No. 11 Cade DeVos of South Dakota State. Schoenfelder has faced five opponents in the top 15.
Johnson has jumped in the dual lineup at 184 pounds three times this year, facing two top-10 wrestlers. After not competing last year, the freshman has gone 3-12 this season and took fourth at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. He competed in his first at 174 pounds last week against Air Force.
Brenner took seventh at last year's Big 12 Championships. He has one win over a top-30 opponent this year, beating No. 29 Jacob Nolan of Binghamton, 3-1.
Habisch, a sophomore, went 4-4 last season at 174 pounds.

REMATCH: Brenner had to forfeit against Schoenfelder at the Daktronics Open this year.
.
184 | No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (13-1 / 4-1) vs. DJ Parker (15-8 / 2-2) or Michael Nelson (5-9 / 0-3)

Keckeisen was third at last year's NCAA championships. He is the highest-placing freshman UNI has had since 1952. He was the first redshirt freshman to place at nationals for the Panthers since 2017. He has notched bonus points in seven of his 12 matches this season. Keckeisen's only career losses are to top-ranked Aaron Brooks of Penn State. He's on a three-match win streak.
Parker is a freshman from Bettendorf, Iowa. He was a two-time state qualifier for the Illinois high school championships competing for Moline High School.
Nelson is a sophomore who compiled a 5-6 record last year wrestling at 184 and 197 pounds.

REMATCH: Keckeisen beat Parker by major decision (11-2) earlier this year at the Daktronics Open.

197 | Noah Glaser (7-9 / 1-5) vs. No. 23 Owen Pentz (11-4 / 5-2)

Over his UNI career, Glaser has appeared in the Panther lineup at 174 pounds, 184 pounds and now at 197 pounds. He won the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open earlier this year. Glaser is coming off his first career Big 12 dual win with 15-8 decision over Air Force's Kayne Hutchison.
Pentz earned an at-large bid for the NCAA championships last year with a seventh-place finish at the Big 12 Championships. He is coming off a fall over No. 3 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming.

285 | Tyrell Gordon (9-9 / 1-6) vs. No. 21 Brandon Metz (14-3 / 5-2)

Gordon moved up from 197 pounds to wrestle in the heavyweight division this season. He competed as a true freshman for UNI before redshirting in 2020. He had his first top-20 win with a 4-2 decision over Hofstra's Zachary Knighton-Ward. He was edged out 9-4 in last week's dual to No. 6 Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force. It was Hendrickson's first time not scoring bonus points this season.
Metz is a two-time NCAA qualifier who was fifth at last year's Big 12 Championships. He pinned No. 18 AJ Nevills of South Dakota State in the first period (1:52). He also beat No. 20 Owen Trephan of North Carolina State in the second tiebreaker, 3-2.

TICKETS

Due to a capacity issue, there are no walk-up sales for home duals in the West Gym. Seating is limited to those who have already bought season tickets. A limited number of tickets have been reserved for UNI students, who can scan their IDs at the door. There are no more sales for season tickets. However, single-dual tickets are on sale for the final two duals set in the McLeod Center against Iowa State on Feb. 11 and Wisconsin on Feb. 17.