Tyrell Gordon earns at-large bid; UNI qualifies 8 for NCAA championships

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - UNI wrestling's Tyrell Gordon earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships, making it the most Panthers to qualify since 2008.

UNI's eight qualifiers surpasses head coach Doug Schwab's previous record of seven qualifiers from 2020, 2017 and 2014.

The NCAA announced the 44 at-large selections for the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Detroit March 17-19.

Gordon entered the Big 12 Championships ranked No. 32 and had an RPI of 31. He knocked off No. 20 Zachary Knighton-Ward of Hofstra earlier in the season and faced nine top-25 opponents, the most of any Panther this year.

Gordon re-entered the lineup for the Big 12 Championships after sitting out the final two duals of the season due to injury. He opened with a loss to Oklahoma State's Luke Surber, who took second at the tournament. He was knocked out of the championships by No. 29 Josh Heindselman of Oklahoma in a 2-1 decision.

Gordon had his redshirt pulled as a true freshman and then redshirted the 2020 season to compete unattached at 197 pounds. Having wrestled at 197 pounds in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore, Gordon moved up to the heavyweight division this year.

UNI will return to the national championships with one returning all-American in Parker Keckeisen. List of qualifiers:

125 pounds: No. 16 Brody Teske
133 pounds: No. 21 Kyle Biscoglia
149 pounds: Colin Realbuto
157 pounds: No. 33 Derek Holschlag
165 pounds: No. 13 Austin Yant
174 pounds: No. 20 Lance Runyon
184 pounds: No. 4 Parker Keckeisen
285 pounds: No. 32 Tyrell Gordon

Schwab took over the UNI wrestling program in the 2011 season. The highest finish for the Panthers under his helm was in 2019 with a 13th-place finish and six qualifiers.

Schwab at NCAAs:

2011: T41st - 4 qualifiers / 1 all-American
2012: 34th - 5 qualifiers / 0 all-Americans
2013: T15th - 4 qualifiers / 2 all-Americans
2014: 15th - 7 qualifiers / 3 all-American
2015: 34th - 4 qualifiers / 0 all-Americans
2016: 25th - 5 qualifiers / 1 all-American
2017: 18th - 7 qualifiers / 2 all-Americans
2018: T24th - 6 qualifiers / 1 all-American
2019: T13 - 6 qualifiers / 1 all-American
2020: N/A - 7 qualifiers / 5 all-Americans *
2021: 19th - 6 qualifiers / 1 all-American

* no tournament / seeded wrestlers earned all-America titles

Seeding and brackets for this year's event will be revealed 5 p.m. CT March 9, during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Selection Show on NCAA.com.

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