UNI wrestling preps for Big 12 Championships, brackets released

No. 17 UNI wrestling at Big 12 Championships
BOK Center (19,199) | Tulsa, Oklahoma

MARCH 5

11 a.m. CT prelims / quarterfinals (4 mats)
5 p.m. CT semifinals / 2 rounds of consolations
Watch: ESPN+

MARCH 6

Noon CT consolation semis / 7th place matches / 3rd-5th place matches / true matches
Watch: ESPN+
7 p.m. finals (1 mat)
Watch: ESPN2

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - UNI wrestling's Parker Keckeisen and Brody Teske have the opportunity to become the third and fourth Panthers to earn two Big 12 titles this weekend.

Keckeisen earned the top seed at 184 pounds, while Teske is seeded third at 125 pounds. A total of 58 wrestlers will advance automatically from the Big 12 Championships. At-large bids will be awarded March 8. Brackets and seeding for the NCAA championships will be revealed at 5 p.m. CT March 9 during an NCAA.com selection show.

UNI crowned two Big 12 champions in its first year with the league in 2018. Taylor Lujan (two-time) and Drew Foster (two-time) both won in UNI's first year in the Big 12 and remain the only two Panthers with two league titles. Bryce Steiert, Teske and Keckeisen are UNI's other champions.

No. 17 UNI is looking to improve on its fifth-place finish from last year at the conference championships. Prior to 2021, UNI's lowest finish was third. This year sees the addition of Missouri and the absence of Fresno State, which cut its wrestling program.

Teams competing in addition to UNI: No. 5 Iowa State, No. 9 Missouri, No. 24 Oklahoma, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 25 South Dakota State, Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Utah Valley, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Nine UNI wrestlers who competed at the Big 12 Championships in 2021 returned to the 2022 team. However, only four will be competing at this year's Big 12 Championships: Teske (125 pounds), Austin Yant (165 pounds), Lance Runyon (174 pounds), Keckeisen (184 pounds). UNI, Iowa State, North Dakota State and Wyoming are the only teams with more than one returning finalist, each with two.

This year's conference championships include 12 returning finalists and 13 all-Americans from last year's tournament. It also includes heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force, who tops the NCAA list for Most Dominant Wrestler in Division I. Keegan O'Toole (165 pounds) of Missouri is fourth, Daton Fix (133 pounds) of Oklahoma State is sixth and David Carr (157 pounds) of Iowa State is eighth on the same list.

Hendrickson is second in the nation for the most pins. Owen Pentz (197 pounds) of North Dakota State is third in the nation for most falls, while South Dakota State's Tanner Cook (165 pounds) is fifth.

Returning Big 12 finalists from 2021:

125: Brody Teske (UNI) - 1st / Taylor LaMont (UVU) - 2nd
133: Daton Fix (OSU) - 1st / Tony Madrigal (OU) - 2nd
141: Ian Parker (ISU) - 2nd
157: David Carr (ISU) - 1st / Jared Franek (NDSU) - 2nd
165: Luke Weber (NDSU) - 1st
174: Jackson Hemauer (UNC) - 2nd
184: Parker Keckeisen (UNI) - 1st / Tate Samuelson (Wyo) - 2nd
197: Stephen Buchanan (Wyo) - 2nd

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS FROM 2021

At 125 pounds, Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley was fifth, and top-seed Killian Cardinale, West Virginia, took seventh. Daton Fix of Oklahoma State was second in the 133-pound weight class last year at the NCAAs. Clay Carlson of South Dakota State took eighth at 141 pounds. David Carr of ISU is the reigning national champion, and Wyatt Sheets of Oklahoma State took eight at 157 pounds.

At 165 pounds, Keegan O'Toole, Missouri, and Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State finished third and fourth at the national championships. UNI's Parker Keckeisen finished third, and Dakota Geer of Oklahoma State was fifth last year.

Three all-Americans return at 197 pounds: fifth-place finisher Rocky Elam, Missouri, sixth-place finisher Jake Woodley of Oklahoma and Stephen Buchanan, Wyoming, who took eighth.

FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS FOR UNI

125 POUNDS: Allocated 6 qualifiers (seed) #NCAA ranking - RPI

(3) #16 Brody Teske (UNI) vs. Jared Van Vleet
Last meeting Feb. 4: Teske dec. Van Vleet, 8-5

133 POUNDS: Allocated 6 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(2) #21 Kyle Biscoglia (UNI) - 7 vs. BYE
Winner: (7) #31 Tony Madrigal (OU) - 11 vs. Sidney Flores (AF) - 32

141 POUNDS: Allocated 7 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(6) #23 Cael Happel (UNI) - 18 vs. BYE
Winner of: (3) #7 Andrew Alirez (UNC) - 8 vs. Cody Phippen (AF)

149 POUNDS: Allocated 4 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(5) Colin Realbuto (UNI) - 24 vs. BYE
Winner of: (4) #18 Josh Edmond (MIZ) - 14 vs. Cameron Hunsaker (UVU)

157 POUNDS: Allocated 6 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(7) #33 Derek Holschlag (UNI) - 32 vs. Kenny O'Neil (SDSU)
Last meeting Jan. 9: Holschlag dec. O'Neil, 7-1

165 POUNDS: Allocated 4 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(3) #13 Austin Yant (UNI) - 3 vs. BYE
Winner of: (6) #29 Tanner Cook (SDSU) vs. Danny Snediker (UVU)

174 POUNDS: Allocated 8 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(4) #20 Lance Runyon (UNI) vs.Jackson Hemauer (UNC)
First meeting

184 POUNDS: Allocated 4 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

(1) #4 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) - 1 vs. Jake Thompson (AF) - 24
Last meeting Feb. 4: Keckeisen tech fall Thompson, 20-5

197 POUNDS: Allocated 7 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

John Gunderson/Noah Glaser (UNI) vs. (5) #6 Rocky Elam (MIZ) - 4
Last meeting Dec. 4: Elam maj. dec. Glaser, 12-4

HEAVYWEIGHT: Allocated 6 qualifiers (#NCAA ranking) - RPI

#32 Tyrell Gordon (UNI) - 31 vs. (7) #31 Luke Surber (OSU) - 32
Last meeting Jan. 30 Surber dec. Gordon, 3-1

TICKETS / HOW TO WATCH

Tickets to the Big 12 Wrestling Championship can be purchased at TicketMaster.

This is the seventh neutral-site conference championship for the sport and the sixth in Tulsa. Last year, the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Oklahoma Sooners split the title, posting 124 points each.

Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will broadcast the first three sessions of the event while the championship round will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Sunday.

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