UNI wrestling heads into Big 12 finals with 7 NCAA qualifiers

No. 17 UNI wrestling at Big 12 Championships

BOK Center (19,199) | Tulsa, Oklahoma
7 p.m. finals (1 mat)
Watch: ESPN2
Live results: Trackwrestling

TULSA, Okla. - Two more UNI wrestlers secured spots at the NCAA championships, and four earned podium spots at the Big 12 Championships this morning.

Seven Panthers have earned automatic bids to nationals, tying the most head coach Doug Schwab has ever taken to the national tournament.

Colin Realbuto avenged a loss to Jarrett Degen of Iowa State to earn a bronze medal at 149 pounds and his first trip to the NCAAs. Austin Yant is UNI's other third-place finisher, which was also an automatic bid to the NCAA championships at 165 pounds. This will be his second trip to the NCAAs.

At 157 pounds, Derek Holschlag was edged out in sudden victory for fifth place. However, his sixth-place finish secured his first spot on the national stage. Lance Runyon medically forfeited his final placing match to also take sixth and one of the allocated spots for nationals at 174 pounds. He earned an at-large bid last year, but was unable to compete.

The team sits in fifth place heading into tonight's finals, which will include three Panther wrestlers: Brody Teske at 125 pounds, Kyle Biscoglia at 133 pounds and Parker Keckeisen at 184 pounds.

Oklahoma State and Missouri both lead the teams with four finalists. Oklahoma and Iowa State each have one.

West Virginia has two finalists. Air Force, Northern Colorado,, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Wyoming also each have one.

UNI's three finalists equals UNI's most finalists since the program joined the Big 12 for the 2018 championships when UNI had its highest finish as runner-up.

Teske (125 pounds) and Keckeisen (184 pounds) have the opportunity to become just the third and fourth Panthers behind Taylor Lujan and Drew Foster to earn two Big 12 titles. Foster won his titles back-to-back. Lujan won titles in 2018 and 2020 and placed second in 2019.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUPS

At 125 pounds, Teske will have the opportunity to avenge a 12-4 major decision loss to Cardinale of West Virginia. Cardinale is a returning all-American who was seventh last year at the national tournament.

At 133 pounds, Biscoglia will face reigning Big 12 champion Daton Fix, who is a two-time NCAA runner-up.

At 184 pounds, Keckeisen will face one of the few opponents he has not met in the Big 12 in No. 19 Jeremiah Kent of MIssouri. Kent was seeded sixth coming into the Big 12s. Kent went 2-2 at the NCAAs last year in his first trip as a redshirt sophomore.

TEAM SCORES

Missouri 127.5
Oklahoma 113
Iowa State 106
Oklahoma State 96.5
UNI 95
South Dakota State 66
North Dakota State 62
West Virginia 58
Wyoming 53.5
Air Force 40
Utah Valley 34
Northern Colorado 31.5

WEIGHT (SEED) #NCAA RANKING

149 | (5) Colin Realbuto - 3rd place / NCAA qualifier

W - (4) #18 Josh Edmond (Missouri) 3-1
L - (1) #15 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) 11-5
W - Dylan Martinez (Air Force) 13-4 MD
W - (3) #17 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) 8-6

157 | (7) #33 Derek Holschlag - 6th place / NCAA qualifier

W - Kenny O`Neil (South Dakota State) 4-1
L - (2) #5 Jared Franek (North Dakota State) 8-4
W - Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) 11-3 MD
W - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) 6-1
L - (5) #15 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 5-4
L - (4) #20 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) 3-1 SV

165 | (3) #13 Austin Yant - 3rd place / NCAA qualifier

W - Danny Snediker (Utah Valley) 4-1
L - (2) #8 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 4-1
W - (8) Joe Grello (Oklahoma) 2-0
W - (5) #17 Luke Weber (North Dakota State) 5-4

174 | (4) #20 Lance Runyon - 6th place / NCAA qualifier

W - Jackson Hemauer (Northern Colorado) 8-0 MD
W - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) 5-1
L - (1) #9 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 3-1
L - (3) #23 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) 8-4
MFF for 6th place

LATER TONIGHT

125 | (3) #16 Brody Teske

W - Jared Van Vleet (Air Force) 6:06 F
W - #18 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) 6-5
W - (7) #22 Joey Prata (Oklahoma) 6-3
NEXT - (1) #8 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia)

133 | (2) #21 Kyle Biscoglia

W - (7) #31 Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) 10-2 MD
W - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) 7-5 SV
NEXT - (1) #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State)

184 | (1) #4 Parker Keckeisen

W - Jake Thompson (Air Force) 14-5 MD
W - DJ Parker (North Dakota State) 12-4 MD
W - (4) #10 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) 19-7 MD
NEXT - (6) #19 Jeremiah Kent (Missouri)

OTHER NOTES

Keckeisen earned the top seed at 184 pounds. Biscoglia is the No. 2 seed, and Teske is seeded third at 125 pounds.
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 Big 12 champions: Taylor Lujan (two-time), Drew Foster (two-time), Bryce Steiert, Teske, Keckeisen
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.
No. 17 UNI was fifth at the conference championships in 2020. Prior to 2021, UNI's lowest finish was third.
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.

FROM DAY 1:

141 | (6) #23 Cael Happel - DNP

L - Andrew Alirez (UNC) 7-2
L - (5) #16 Carter Young (OSU) 10-5

197 | John Gunderson - DNP

L - Rocky Elam (Missouri) 14-3 MD
L - (3) #12 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 7-2

285 | #32 Tyrell Gordon - DNP

L - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 13-3 MD
L - (8) #29 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) 2-1

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