UNI wrestling: Keckeisen, Yant, Gordon earn NCAA bids at Big 12 Championships

TULSA, Okla. — UNI's Parker Keckeisen, Austin Yant and Tyrell Gordon all secured return trips to Oklahoma for this year's NCAA Championships as the second session of the Big 12 Championships concluded on Saturday night at the BOK Center.

At the end of the first day of competition, the Panthers sit in eighth place in the team standings with 57 points. Missouri leads the field with 135 points with Iowa State in second (112 points) and Oklahoma State in third (full team standings listed below).

Keckeisen, a two-time All-American and winner of the last two Big 12 titles at 184 pounds, will have the chance to become UNI's first-ever three-time Big 12 champion after taking down fourth-seeded Colton Hawks of Missouri in a narrow 7-5 decision. Earning his 15th consecutive win of the season, Keckeisen, the top-seed in the 184 pound bracket, will face off against second-seeded Marcus Coleman of Iowa State for the second time this year. Keckeisen defeated Coleman 7-5 back on Feb. 10 in dual competition and looks to stay unbeaten against the Cyclone All-American (3-0).

After falling to second-seeded David Carr (Iowa State) earlier today in the quarterfinals, Yant bounced back with a 10-0 major decision over Seamus Casey (Air Force). With the top-eight finishers in the Big 12's at 165 pounds qualifying for the national championships, Yant punched his ticket to the big dance for the third time in his career. Yant secured his spot in Sunday's consolation semifinals with a 2-0 decision over Oklahoma's Gerrit Njenhuis, guaranteeing at least a top-six finish.

Gordon became UNI's fifth NCAA qualifier at 285 pounds after a 9-2 victory against Josh Heindselman of Oklahoma. Gordon won his third round consolations against Cal Baptist's Chris Island in a 2-0 decision, securing his second trip to the national championships after qualifying as an at-large selection in 2022.

After qualifying for the NCAA Championships earlier on Saturday, Kyle Biscoglia fell in the semifinal round at 133 pounds in an aggressive 4-1 decision against third-seeded Zach Redding of Iowa State. Biscoglia will face North Dakota State's McGwire Midkiff on Sunday in the consolation semifinals.

While battling hard against ISU's Paniro Johnson, Colin Realbuto, who qualified earlier today for the national championships at 149 pounds, dropped a narrow match by a final score of 3-2. Realbuto's next match will come against fourth-seeded Kellyn March (North Dakota State) in the consolation semifinals.

Kyle Gollhofer dropped his second match of the weekend to second-seeded Jore Volk (Wyoming) in the consolation quarterfinals, while Derek Holschlag fell to Jarrett Jacques of Missouri in a 5-1 decision. At 174 pounds, Lance Runyon battled but came up shorts against Julien Broderson (ISU) in a 6-2 bout in the consolation quarterfinals, while Noah Glaser also bowed out of the Big 12 Championships with a loss to Utah Valley's Evan Bockman.

Consolation semifinals and seventh place matches will begin at noon CT on Sunday, with the finals getting underway at 8 p.m. CT. Third session matches can be watched live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, and the finals on ESPNU.

UNI RESULTS (Thru Session II)

(Seed) NCAA/RPI rank listed

125 | (8) NR/#25 Kyle Gollhofer (0-2)

Round 1 | L - Reece Witcraft (OSU), 8-2
Cons. Quarterfinal | L - (2) #19/21 Jore Volk (WYO), 6-2

133 | (2) #16/16 Kyle Biscoglia (1-1)

Quarterfinal | W - Derrick Cardinal (SDSU), 12-2 MD
Semifinal | L - (3) #18/13 Zach Redding (ISU), 3-1

141 | (3) #8/5 Cael Happel (0-1)

Quarterfinal | L - #13/23 Allan Hart (MIZZ), 10-4
Semifinal | L - NR/#33 Casey Swiderski (ISU), 8-6

149 | (2) #14/6 Colin Realbuto (2-1)

Round 1 | W - Alek Martin (SDSU), 8-2
Quarterfinal | W - (7) Chris Sandoval (UNC), 14-1 MD
Semifinal | L - (3) #10/13 Paniro Johnson (ISU), 3-2

157 | (5) #23/14 Derek Holschlag (1-2)

Round 1 | L - NR/#33 Jared Hill (OU), 5-4
Cons. Round 1 | W - Nolan Miller-Johnston (CBU), Fall 0:58
Cons. Round 1| L - (3) #10/10 Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ), 5-1

165 | #18/14 Austin Yant (3-1)

Round 1 | W - Baylor Fernandez (UNC), 9-0 MD
Quarterfinal | L - (1) #2/2 David Carr (ISU), 21-6 TF (6:33)
Cons. Quarterfinal | W - Seamus Casey (AFA), 10-0 MD
Cons. Semifinal | W - (5) #21/22 Gerrit Njenhuis (OU), 2-0

174 | (7) Lance Runyon (1-2)

Round 1 | W - Gaven Sax (NDSU), 7-3
Quarterfinal | L - #10/6 Dustin Plott (OSU), 6-2
Cons. Quarterfinal | L - #27/29 Julien Broderson (ISU), 6-2

184 | (1) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (3-0)

Round 1 | W - Quayin Short (WYO), 22-6 TF (6:49)
Quarterfinal | W - (8) #31/17 Anthony Carman (WVU), 16-3 MD
Semifinal | W - (4) #25/32 Colton Hawks (MIZZ), 7-5

197 | Noah Glaser (0-2)

Round 1 | L - (4) #20/13 Luke Surber (OSU), 16-4 MD
Cons. Quarterfinal | L - (6) #23/18 Evan Bockman (UVU), 10-3

285 | (7) #13/21 Tyrell Gordon (3-1)

Round 1 | W - Xavier Doolin (UNC), 5-0
Quarterfinal | L - (2) #7/5 Sam Schuyler (ISU), 6-0
Cons. Round 1 | W - Chris Island (CBU), 2-0
Cons. Quarterfinal | W - (6) #17/11 Josh Heindselman (OU), 9-2

UPCOMING MATCHES FOR UNI

133 | Kyle Biscoglia vs. McGwire Midkiff (North Dakota State) - Consolation Semifinal
141 l Colin Realbuto vs. Kellyn March (North Dakota State) - Consolation Semifinal
165 l Austin Yant vs. Michael Caliendo III (North Dakota State) - Consolation Semifinal
184 l Parker Keckeisen vs. Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) - Finals
285 l Tyrell Gordon vs. AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) - Consolation Semifinals

TEAM SCORES (Thru Session II)

1st - Missouri (135)
2nd - Iowa State (112)
3rd - Oklahoma State (102.5)
4th - Oklahoma (78)
5th - South Dakota State (69.5)
6th - North Dakota State (67.5)
7th - Air Force (57.5)
8th - UNI (57)
9th - Northern Colorado (42)
10th - West Virginia (31.5)
11th - Wyoming (30)
12th - Utah Valley (26)
13th - Cal Baptist (1)

Calendar

Upcoming Events