UNI wrestling has chance to even record with Big 12 duals in Oklahoma

UNI wrestling at the Loras Open

9 a.m. Jan. 29
Graber Sports Center | Dubuque, Iowa

UNI wrestling (3-5 / 2-2 Big 12) at No. 4 Oklahoma State (10-0 / 4-0 Big 12)

7 p.m. Jan. 29
Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) | Stillwater, Oklahoma
LISTEN: Stillwater Radio
WATCH: ESPN+
STATS: Trackwrestling

UNI wrestling (3-5 / 2-2 Big 12) at No. 21 Oklahoma (6-3 / 2-2 Big 12)

2 p.m. Sunday
McCasland Field House (4,640) | Norman, Oklahoma
WATCH: Sooner TV
STATS: Trackwrestling

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI wrestling faces both co-champions of last year's Big 12 Championships in a road swing through Oklahoma this weekend.

UNI faces its fifth and sixth top-20 opponents of the season in No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 21 Oklahoma in back-to-back duals Saturday and Sunday.

UNI is 11-8 against Oklahoma in a series that dates back to 1926. Under head coach Doug Schwab, the Panthers are 6-1 against the Sooners. UNI is 3-28 against Oklahoma State in a series that dates back to 1962. Schwab is 1-5 against the Cowboys.

Oklahoma's two Big 12 losses have come at the hands of OSU and Missouri. The Sooners will open the weekend against Iowa State Jan. 28.

About a dozen Panthers, wrestling attached and unattached, are also expected to compete at the Loras Open starting at 9 a.m. Saturday in Dubuque, Iowa.

PROBABLE STARTERS (NCAA rankings):

125 pounds

UNI: Kyle Gollhofer, RFr. (3-5) / No. 11 Brody Teske, RSo. (7-2): Teske is coming off his third fall of the season and is on a two-match win streak. He's the reigning Big 12 champion and already has two top-25 wins this season over Missouri's No. 18 Noah Surtin and No. 12 Sam Latona of Virginia Tech.
Gollhofer stepped into the dual lineup twice so far this season, most recently getting a win over Air Force's Quinn Melofchik. He is on a three-match win streak with a decision over Ryan Henningson of North Dakota State in extra matches.
OSU: No. 6 Trevor Mastrogiovanni, So. (10-0): Mastrogiovanni's only dual loss last year was to Teske. He was the 2021 starter as a true freshman for the Cowboys. He was fifth at last year's Big 12s and qualified for the NCAAs.
OU: Joey Prata, R-Sr. (9-5): A transfer from Virginia Tech, he was third at the ACC Championships in 2020 and knocked off No. 22 Justin Cardani of Illinois earlier this year.

REMATCH: Teske over Mastrogiovanni (1-0), winning 6-0 last year.

133 pounds

UNI: No. 29 Kyle Biscoglia, RSo. (13-6): Biscoglia is on a five-match bonus-point win streak. He has earned bonus points in 11 of his 13 wins. He is coming off a major decision win over No. 22 Kellyn March of North Dakota State.
OSU: No. 2 Daton Fix, RJr. (10-0): A two-time U.S. World Team member (in the Junior and Senior divisions) and a two-time NCAA championship runner-up. He is the reigning Big 12 champion, having won it two times.
OU: Tony Madrigal, Sr. (8-3): Madrigal is a two-time NCAA qualifier and a Big 12 Championship finalist, losing to Fix last season.

REMATCH: Biscoglia knocked off No. 11 Madrigal in a 3-1 decision Jan. 24, 2021.

141 pounds

UNI #20 Cael Happel, Fr. (14-5): Happel is looking for his third consecutive win and is coming. He has top-20 wins over No. 12 Allan Hart of Missouri and No. 21 Dylan Drogemueller of North Dakota State.
OSU: 141: No. 21 Carter Young, Fr. (6-2): Took third at the 2021 Senior World Team Trials and is a three-time Oklahoma high school state champion.
OU: Zack Zeamer, R-Jr (3-5) / Jacob Butler R-Jr. (4-7): Zeamer is coming of the second major decision win of his career. Butler has two major decisions and a fall this season.

149 pounds

UNI: #31 Colin Realbuto, RSo. (11-5) / Triston Lara, RJr. (3-5): Realbuto cracked the rankings after a win over Dylan Martinez of Air Force. The week prior to the dual, he earned wins at 149 pounds and 157 pounds in extra matches against South Dakota State and Wyoming. Realbuto is on a six-match win streak and competed for Italy at the Senior World Championships. Lara is a returning NCAA qualifier with two top-10 wins last season.
OSU: No. 14 Kaden Gfeller, RSr. (8-1): Gfeller is a 2018 NCAA qualifier who has battled injuries in recent years. He was second in the 141-pounds weight class at the Southern Scuffle in 2020 and took eighth at the 2021 Big 12 Championships at 141 pounds.
OU: Willie McDougald, R-Fr. (7-3): Opened his dual career this year with a win over No. 21 Josh Edmond.

157 pounds

UNI: Derek Holschlag, RJr (13-6): Holschlag had his three-match win streak busted by No. 7 Jared Franek of North Dakota State. He has also competed at 165 pounds in dual meets this season.
OSU: No. 13 Wyatt Sheets, RSr. (8-2): Sheets is a two-time NCAA qualifier. He became the lowest seed to earn all-America honors last season with an eighth-place finish. He earned an at-large bid when a wrestler backed out due to injury.
OU: Justin Thomas Gr. (13-4): Thomas took seventh at the Cliff Keen Invite. This is his fifth year as a started for the Sooners. He has the most wins on the active roster with 87. He's a three-time NCAA qualifier and placed third at last year's Big 12 Championships.

REMATCH: Holschlag will have the opportunity to avenge a loss to then-ranked No. 11 Thomas, who won 7-3 Jan. 24, 2021.

165 pounds

UNI: #17 Austin Yant, RJr. (10-2): Yant is on a four-match win streak having knocked off the reigning Big 12 champion last week in No. 13 Luke Weber of North Dakota State. He qualified for his first NCAA championships last year.
OSU: No. 6 Travis Wittlake, RJr. (7-1) / Jalin Harper, RJr. (13-7): Wittlake is a two-time NCAA qualifier, taking fourth place last year. Harper moved up from 157 pounds and went 7-2 last season.
OU: Joe Grello Gr. (3-4) / Troy Mantanona, Jr. (5-5): Grello is a Rutgers transfer where he qualified for the NCAA championships in 2019. Mantanona was sixth at last year's Big 12s.

REMATCH: Yant is 0-3 against Wittlake with two losses to him in the 2021 and 2020 Big 12 Championships and in a dual at Oklahoma State in 2020. However, Yant has closed the scoring gap in each matchup. Wittlake won 11-4 at 2021 Big 12s, 14-5 in the dual and 17-1 in the 2020 Big 12 tournament.
Yant beat Mantanona in a 9-3 decision to take fifth at the 2021 Big 12 Championships.

174 pounds

UNI: Lance Runyon, RFr. (1-0) / No. 29 Pat Schoenfelder, RJr. (10-7): Runyon got injured his opening match at the Big 12 Championships. He withdrew from the 2021 NCAA Championships and made his season debut last week after having not wrestled since March 6, 2021. He opened with a decision over No. 20 Austin Brenner of North Dakota State. Schoenfelder cracked the first NCAA coaches rankings at No. 29. He knocked of No. 9 Peyton Mocco of Missouri in a dual.
OSU: No. 8 Dustin Plott, So. (9-0): Plott was fourth at the 2021 Big 12 Championships, earning his first berth to the NCAAs.
OU: Anthony Mantanona, R-Sr. (11-4): The 2020 Big 12 runner-up and finished fifth last year to earn his second trip to the NCAAs.

REMATCH: Runyon's only top-10 win is a 2:10 fall against Mantanona in last year's dual. Runyon lost to then-ranked No. 17 Plott, 8-5, in the Jan. 30, 2021 dual.

184 pounds

UNI: No. 4 Parker Keckeisen, RFr. (14-1): 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 nine of his 14 matches this season. Keckeisen's only career losses are to top-ranked Aaron Brooks of Penn State. He's on a four-match win streak.
OSU: No. 9 Dakota Geer, RSr. (9-1): Geer is No. 7 in the nation for number of tech falls in the fastest time with five in 27:35. The NCAA three-time all-American surpassed 100 wins in 2021 and was fifth at last year's NCAAs.
OU: Keegan Moore, R-Sr. (2-0) / Darrien Roberts, Jr. (12-6): Moore transferred to Oklahoma from UNI in the 2021 season. He was third at the 2018 Big 12 Championships, competing for Oklahoma State.

REMATCH: Keckeisen beat then-ranked No. 9 Geer in sudden victory, 4-2, in last year's dual. Keckeisen took down Roberts in a 21-8 major decision at last year's dual.

197 pounds

UNI: unknown
OSU: Gavin Stika, RJr., (11-3): Posted a 3-1 record in extra matches last year.
OU: Jake Woodley, R-Sr. (15-5): A three-time NCAA qualifier, Woodley was sixth at last year's NCAAs. He took fourth at this year's Cliff Keen Invite.

285 pounds

UNI: Tyrell Gordon, RSo. (9-10)
OSU: No. 29 Luke Surber, So. (7-3) / Austin Harris, RSr. (10-3): Harris earned an at-large bid to last year's NCAAs, knocking off No. 3 Matt Stencel of Central Michigan and pinned No. 11 Zach Elam of Missouri at the tournament. Surber went 8-0 in extra matches as a true freshman last season.
OU: Josh Heindselman, R-So. (9-7): Heindselman was fourth at the Big 12 Championships last year to earn a spot at the NCAAs.

REMATCH: Gordon and Surber met at 197 pounds last year with Surber edging out Gordon, 3-1.

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