University of Northern Iowa
Big 12 Championships
Panther wrestling places second at Big 12 Championships with three individual titles
3/10/2025 12:15:00 AM | Wrestling
Happel, Keckeisen and Voelker all top podium as UNI ties its best Big 12 Championship team finish.
TULSA, Okla. --- The UNI wrestling team rounded out its most dominant performance at the Big 12 Championships in program history at the BOK Center on Sunday night as the Panthers captured three individual conference championships and finished second in the team standings.
Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) became only the second wrestler in Big 12 history and first in Northern Iowa history to win five conference crowns, as Cael Happel (141 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds) each claimed their first conference titles, each the first Big 12 title at each respective weight class in team history.
Northern Iowa finished this year's conference championships with nine automatic NCAA qualifiers with Trever Anderson (125 pounds) and Jack Thomsen (165 pounds) securing automatic berths in the consolation bracket. UNI's nine NCAA qualifiers are the most in the Doug Schwab era (since 2010-11) and most for the program since 2008.
The team race came down to the final match of the tournament as Oklahoma State narrowly edged out UNI by four points with South Dakota State finishing third and Iowa State in fourth. The runner-up finish ties the Panthers' best ever finish at the Big 12 Championships, who previously placed second at the competition in 2018, UNI's first year as an affiliate member of the league.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
In the 141-pound championship, Happel went toe-to-toe with fifth-ranked Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) with Happel scoring an early escape in the second period before Jamison forced overtime with an escape of his own. After a scoreless first overtime period, Jamison would take a one-point lead in the second overtime, but Happel would escape in the third overtime period in under 14 seconds, securing the match on criteria and capturing his first Big 12 championship.
In a rematch of last year's Big 12 and NCAA Championship bouts, Keckeisen scored a first period takedown on Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) in a tightly contested bout early. After giving up and an escape, Keckeisen would get his second takedown of the match in the second period and add an escape in the third frame for a 7-1 win. Keckeisen, who is in search of a second straight national title, has now won 55 consecutive matches dating back to the start of last season. UNI has won the 184-pound title at the Big 12 Championships in each of the last eight seasons dating back to the Panthers' first year in the conference in 2017-18.
At 197 pounds, Voelker kept Panthers fans on the edge of their seat in a bout against fifth-ranked and top-seeded Luke Surber (Oklahoma State). Voelker would score an escape in the second period after a scoreless first two minutes, letting Surber out for an escape in the third before and taking the lead for good with the winning takedown for a 4-1 decision for his and UNI's first-ever Big 12 title at 197 pounds.
Colin Realbuto (149 pounds) faced off with ninth-ranked Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) in a highly anticipated rematch from last month's home dual. Realbuto would score the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period with Johnson escaping for a 3-1 lead. In the third period, after Johnson scored a second period escape, Realbuto added an escape of his own before Johnson notched the winning takedown to defeat his Panther challenger by a score of 5-4.Â
Trever Anderson locked in seventh place as he battled Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) at 125 pounds in the consolation bracket. The duo entered the third period even at 1-1 before Anderson caught Jordan and turned him for a pin with two seconds left on the clock.Â
Julian Farber (133 pounds) advanced to the third-place match after receiving a medical forfeit during the consolation semifinals, setting up a matchup with Kade Moore. Farber would secure a 10-6 win and notch his highest Big 12 Championship finish in his career.
In a rematch of last year's Big 12 title match, Ryder Downey (157 pounds) squared off against top-seeded Cody Chittum (Iowa State), who also beat Downey in dual competition last month. After an early lead, Downey would build his lead throughout the third period before falling behind by one point in the final 30 seconds of the match. Downey would turn the tables however in the final seconds with a reversal to pick up a 7-6 win. In the third-place bout against second-seeded Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State), Downey lifted his opponent for his lone takedown of the match for a 4-1 win.
Jack Thomsen (165 pounds) won his seventh-place match, besting Clayton Ulrey (Northern Colorado) by a 4-0 score, while Jared Simma (174 pounds) finished in sixth following consolation losses to Gaven Sax (Oklahoma) and Cade DeVos (South Dakota State).
Lance Runyon (heavyweight) dominated in his final match of the tournament against Andrew Blackburn-Frost (North Dakota State) earning a 13-0 major decision locking in seventh place.
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UP NEXT
At-large selections for the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be announced on Tuesday, March 11, with tournament seeds and brackets set to be released on Wednesday, March 12. This year's NCAA Championships will run March 20-22 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
- 1st - Oklahoma State (153.5)
- 2nd - UNI (149.5)
- 3rd - South Dakota State (110)
- 4th - Iowa State (107.5)
- 5th - Northern Colorado (79.5)
- 6th - West Virginia (77.5)
- 7th - Oklahoma (72.5)
- 8th - Missouri (65.5)
- 9th - North Dakota State (58.5)
- 10th - Wyoming (58)
- 11th - Arizona State (43)
- 12th - Utah Valley (21.5)
- 13th - Cal Baptist (15)
- 14th - Air Force (11.5)
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UNI'S BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS [SEED] (NCAA Coaches) #Intermat/Flowrestling ranking
125 | [7] (26) #29/23 Trever Anderson (3-2) | 7th Place
- W - Tucker Owens (Air Force), 8-1
- L - [2] (26) #6/9 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado), 5-1
- W - [8] #14/12 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State), 11-3 MD
- L - [6] (25) #28/22 Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma), 4-0
- W - [5] (16) #18/20 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State), Fall 6:28
133 | [3] (19) #17/20 Julian Farber (5-1) | 3rd Place
- L - Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist), 3-1
- W - Kase Mauger (Utah Valley), 10-4
- W - [4] (18) #20/17 Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma State), 6-3
- W - [1] (3) #3/3 Evan Frost (Iowa State), 14-13
- W - Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist), MFF
- W - [8] Kade Moore (Missouri), 10-6
141 | [2] (4) #4/5 Cael Happel (4-0)
- W - Peyton Moore (North Dakota State), 24-8 TF
- W - [7] (18) #18/19 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley), 13-3 MD
- W - [3] (9) #11/9 Jacob Frost (Iowa State), 14-3 MD
- W - [4] (6) #5/6 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), 2-2
149 | [1] (10) #10/8 Colin Realbuto (3-1) | 2nd Place
- W - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia), Fall 4:46
- W - [8] Benji Alanis (Northern Colorado), Fall 5:27
- W - [5] Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State), 14-4 MD
- L - [2] (9) #8/9 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State), 5-4
157 | [3] (5) #6/6 Ryder Downey (5 -1) | 3rd Place
- W - Gabriel Schumm (North Dakota State), 15-0 TF
- L - [6] (17) #25/22 Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado), 8-7
- W - Ryker Fullmer (Utah Valley), 12-1 MD
- W - James Conway (Missouri), 5-0
- W - [1] (8) #12/10 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), 7-6
- W - [2] (11) #14/13 Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State), 4-2
165 | [7] (19) #21/19 Jack Thomsen (3-2) | 7th Place
- W - Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming), 7-2
- L - [2] (4) #4/4 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), 9-6 SV-1
- W - #30/NR Tate Picklo (Oklahoma), 14-5 MD
- L - [4] (6) #6/6 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State), 10-0 MD
- W - Clayton Ulrey (Northern Colorado), 4-0
174 | [4] (18) #17/18 Jared Simma (3-3) | 6th Place
- W - Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado), 18-3 TF
- L - [5] (11) #7/10 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State), 5-1
- W - Mark Takara (Utah Valley), Fall 0:41
- W - Davin Wasley (North Dakota State), 13-2 MD
- L - [3] (15) #14/17 Gaven Sax (Oklahoma), 2-0
- L - [5] (11) #7/10 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State), 9-4
184 | [1] (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (4-0) | 1st Place
- W - AJ Heeg (Northern Colorado), 20-4 TF
- W - #31/NR Aidan Brenot (North Dakota State), 20-5 TF
- W - [4] (10) #9/13 Evan Bockman (Iowa State), Inj. Default
- W - [2] (3) #3/3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), 8-1
197 | [3] (12) #12/11 Wyatt Voelker (3-0) | 1st Place
- W - [6] Nathan Schon (Iowa State), 14-8
- W - Joseph Novak (Wyoming), 4-2
- W - [1] (6) #6/5 Luke Surber (Oklahoma State), 4-1
HWT | [3] (14) #15/14 Lance Runyon (3-2) | 7th Place
- W - Jose Valdez (Northern Colorado), 6-4
- L - [6] (25) #NR/21 Daniel Herrera (Iowa State), Fall 5:37
- W - Jack Forbes (Utah Valley), 9-1 MD
- L - Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State), 13-5 MD
- W - Andrew Blackburn-Forst (North Dakota State), 13-0 MD
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UNI wrestling action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (University of Northern Iowa Wrestling), X (@UNI_wrestling) and on Instagram (@uni_panther_wrestling). Check out the latest Panther news and information online at UNIpanthers.com.
Players Mentioned
