UNI wrestling: Three advance from opening session of NCAA Championships

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- Jared Simma recorded an upset of a top-five seed as Parker Keckeisen and Ryder Downey both advanced in the championship brackets following the opening session of the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Center.

Five Panthers made their NCAA Championship debuts in Thursday's first session with UNI splitting its first eight matches of the day. All seven Northern Iowa athletes will return to action in Thursday night's second session, with four looking to stay alive in the consolation brackets.

With six team points, UNI sits in 18th place in the team standings.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Simma (174 pounds) provided the upset of the opening session for the purple and gold against 5-seed Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), challenging his opponent in a scoreless first period. Adding four nearfall points late in the second frame, Simma tacked on a two-point reversal in the third and riding time to secure the 7-0 win, his biggest win against a ranked opponent. Simma will face off with 21-seed Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) in tonight's second round.

At 184 pounds, top-seeded Keckeisen made quick work on 32-seed Anthony D'alesio (Long Island), jumping on his opponent with a late first period takedown. The four-time Big 12 champion and three-time All-American added on to his score with two penalty points and escape and another takedown to cruise to a 10-0 major decision, his 24th bonus-point win of the season and 27th straight victory. Keckeisen will take on 17-seed Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) in the second round this evening.

Downey (157 pounds) overcame a scoreless first two periods and grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the third frame against 28-seed Jared Hill (Oklahoma). The Big 12 champion would add on a later takedown and hold on for a 4-1 victory, securing his first NCAA Championship win in his tournament debut. Downey will square off tonight in the second round against 12-seed Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech).

Jack Thomsen (165 pounds) opened this year's tournament in the pigtail round with an impressive 14-3 major decision over 33-seed Jake Logan (Lehigh), scoring a pair of late takedowns in the third period to win in his NCAA Championship debut. Thomsen would come up short in the following round against top-seeded and defending national champion Keegan O'Toole (Missouri), being pinned in two minutes, 55 seconds. Sitting at 1-1 in the tournament, Thomsen will take on 17-seed Tyler Lillard (Indiana) in Thursday's consolation round.

Julian Farber also made his NCAA debut, taking on 14-seed Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska). After giving up and early takedown, Farber struggled to establish his attack against his Big Ten challenger, falling in a 5-1 decision. Farber will face off against the winner of 32-seed Cayden Rooks (Indiana) and 30-seed Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) tonight.

Making his second straight NCAA Championship appearance, Cael Happel (141 pounds) grabbed an early lead on 26-seed Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) with a first period takedown. Leading 4-2 early in the third, Vombaur tied the match at 5-5 and secured a sudden victory takedown of Happel, knocking the Big 12 runner-up into the consolation bracket. Happel will match-up with 10-seed Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) in a rematch of the Big 12 Championship semifinals this evening.

Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds) rounded out the afternoon for UNI in his NCAA debut in a back-and-forth battle with 14-seed John Poznanski (Rutgers). After surrendering an early escape in the second period, Voelker tied the match early in the third with an escape of his own, but gave up the go-ahead takedown to his opponent with under a minute to go in regulation, falling 4-2. Voelker drops to the consolation bracket and will face the winner of 32-seed John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) and 30-seed Sam Mitchell (Buffalo).

The second session of this year's national championships will begin tonight at 6 p.m. CT with second round and consolation matches. Fans can catch all the action on the networks of ESPN with links to all matches on UNI's NCAA Championship Hub.

UNI RESULTS (THROUGH SESSION I)
[Seed] (NCAA Coaches rank) #Intermat/FloWrestling ranking listed

133 | [19] (19) #25/25 Julian Farber

L - [15] (15) #10/10 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 5-1

141 | [7] (6) #6/6 Cael Happel

L - [26] (27) #24/22 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota), 8-5 SV-1

157 | [5] (4) #4/4 Ryder Downey

W - [28] (31) #29/28 Jared Hill (Oklahoma), 4-1

165 | [33] Jack Thomsen

W - [32] (31) #33/27 Jake Logan (Lehigh), 14-3 MD
L - [1] (1) #1/1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri), Fall 2:55

174 | [28] (30) #29/25 Jared Simma

W - [5] (5) #12/9 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 7-0

184 | [1] (1) #1/1 Parker Keckeisen

W - [32] #26/31 Anthony D'Alesio (Long Island), 10-0 MD

197 | [19] (22) #21/19 Wyatt Voelker

L - [14] (17) #20/21 John Poznanski (Rutgers), 4-2

TEAM SCORES (TOP-20 THROUGH SESSION I)

1st - Penn State (15.5)
2nd - Nebraska (14)
3rd - Michigan (13.5)
4th - Iowa State (13)
5th - Ohio State (12.5)
6th - Virginia Tech (11.5)
T7th - Cornell (11)
T7th - NC State (11)
9th - Iowa (10.5)
10th - Oklahoma State (10)
11th - Missouri (9)
T12th - Arizona State (8)
T12th - Wisconsin (8)
T14th - Rutgers (7)
T14th - Stanford (7)
T16th - Lehigh (6.5)
T16th - South Dakota State (6.5)
18th - UNI (6)
T19th - Appalachian State (5)
T19th - Minnesota (5)

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