Keckeisen advances to third straight NCAA final in semifinal thriller

SESSION 1 ATTENDANCE - 18,085
SESSION 2 ATTENDANCE - 18,088
SESSION 3 ATTENDANCE - 18,091
SESSION 4 ATTENDANCE - 18,099
TOTAL ATTENDANCE - 72,363

PHILADELPHIA --- Parker Keckeisen brought the Wells Fargo Center crowd to its feet on Friday night as he punched his ticket to his third consecutive NCAA title bout at 184 pounds during the semifinal round of the national championships in a sudden victory performance.

Locked in a tied match, Keckeisen would score the winning takedown after nearly being taken down himself by Minnesota's Max McEnelly. With the win, Keckeisen picks up his 133rd career win, one shy of tying Northern Iowa's career record alongside Kirk Myers (1978-82) and Rich Powers (1988-92) and becomes the first Panther to reach three straight national title matches since Bill Koll from 1946 to 1948.

Cael Happel (141 pounds) dropped his semifinal bout to top-seeded Brock Hardy of Nebraska and will compete in the medal round on Saturday, while Trever Anderson (125 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker's (197 pounds) tournament runs came to an end in the consolation round.

With two athletes still in action, the Panthers sit in seventh-place in the team standings, one and one-half points behind sixth-place Cornell and one-half point ahead of Ohio State.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Keckeisen secured his spot in the 184-pound finals with a thrilling overtime victory against McEnelly (Minnesota) in the semifinals. After both wrestlers earned escapes in the second and third periods, they entered overtime tied 1-1. McEnelly took a late shot, but Keckeisen defended, applied pressure, and re-attacked to secure the decisive takedown, winning 4-1. Keckeisen's win sets up a matchup with top-ranked and seeded Carter Starocci of Penn State, a four-time NCAA champion (previously at 174 pounds) in the final match of his historic career. Starocci defeated Keckeisen at the NWCA All-Star Classic in an exhibition match earlier this season by a 4-1 score.

In the 141-pound semifinals, Happel faced a tough test in top-seeded Hardy, looking for consecutive wins over his Big Ten opponent after besting him in dual action earlier this season. After surrendering the first takedown, Happel escaped, followed by another takedown-escape exchange, putting him trailing 6-2 heading into the second period. Happel managed an escape as the only score of the period but gave up another escape and a final takedown in the third, falling 11-4. Happel returns on Saturday in the medal round where he will face tenth-seeded CJ Composto (Penn).

In the consolation bracket, Anderson took on top-ranked and second-seeded Matt Ramos (Purdue) in the blood rounds at 125 pounds. Ramos, the 2023 NCAA runner-up, secured an early takedown and added four nearfall points, putting Anderson behind 7-1 going into the second period. Despite limiting Ramos' offense down the stretch and earning an escape, Anderson's strong defense would not be enough, ultimately dropping the match 8-2 and coming up short of All-American status by one win.

Voelker ended his tournament with a hard-fought 4-2 loss to Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) in the fourth round of consolation matches at 197 pounds. After surrendering a first-period takedown, Voelker battled to close the gap but was ultimately unable to overcome Stout's lead.

UP NEXT
The final day of this year's national championships will begin at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday with Happel competing in the medal round. Keckeisen will take to the mat in the finals, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT. 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 4)

125 | [22] (23) #23/17 Trever Anderson (3-2) | DNP

L - [11] (12) #11/15 Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin), 4-2
W - [27] (29) #31/29 Tristan Daugherty (North Dakota State), 2-1
W - [13] (17) #16/23 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 17-8 MD
W - [19] (15) #21/21 Cooper Flynn (Minnesota), 4-3
L - [2] (1) #1/2 Matt Ramos (Purdue), 8-2

133 | [18] (14) #18/18 Julian Farber (1-2) | DNP

W - [15] (16) #16/20 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), 9-8
L - [2] (2) #2/2 Drake Ayala (Iowa), 13-4 MD
L - [17] (15) #17/15 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 4-2

141 | [6] (3) #4/5 Cael Happel (3-1)

W - [28] (16) #19/32 Danny Puchino (Illinois), Fall 5:51
W - [21] (20) #24/18 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 5-4
W - [4] (8) #5/8 Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 2-1 TB-1
L - [1] (1) #2/2 Brock Hardy (Nebraska), 11-3 MD

149 | [10] (10) #11/11 Colin Realbuto (1-2) | DNP

W - [23] (32) Carson DesRoiser (Citadel), 11-6
L - [7] (7) #9/8 Kannon Webster (Illinois), 8-3
L - [25] (29) #31/32 Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 10-7

157 | [6] (7) #10/10 Ryder Downey (2-2) | DNP

W - [27] (26) #31/24 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), 12-1 MD
L - [11] (13) #12/18 Matty Bianchi (Little Rock), 5-4
W - [21] (25) #23/31 Logan Rozynski (Lehigh), 1-0
L - [14] (21) #20/21 Jude Swisher (Penn), 4-2

165 | [19] (17) #22/18 Jack Thomsen (2-2) | DNP

W - [14] (15) #12/10 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State), 13-8
L - [3] (2) #2/2 Mike Caliendo (Iowa), 15-3 MD
W - [20] (18) #16/20 Gunner Filipowicz (Army), 13-5 MD
L - [11] (12) #13/14 Braeden Scoles (Illinois), Fall 2:01

174 | [19] (20) #18/20 Jared Simma (1-2) | DNP

L - [14] (14) #15/15 Matthew Singleton (North Carolina State), 4-2
W - [30] (30) #NR/33 Avery Bassett (Lock Haven), 11-0 MD
L - [4] (4) #5/4 Garrett Thompson (Ohio), 8-1

184 | [2] (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (4-0)

W - [31] (19) #25/26 Colton Hawks (Missouri), 19-4 TF
W - [15] (12) #13/12 Dylan Fishback (North Carolina State), 14-3 MD
W - [10] (7) #7/7 Edmond Ruth (Illinois), 13-5 MD
W - [3] (3) #3/4 Max McEnelly (Minnesota), 4-1

197 | [7] (8) #7/7 Wyatt Voelker (3-2) | DNP

L - [26] (33) #28/NR Brock Zurawski (Rider), 5-2
W - [10] (12) #12/11 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), 4-1 SV-1
W - [25] (24) #32/28 Patrick Brophy (Citadel), 8-6
W - [18] (19) #22/23 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell), 8-6
L - [6] (9) #6/12 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh), 4-2

HWT | [18] (21) #17/22 Lance Runyon (1-2) | DNP

L - [15] #18/27 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 15-2 MD
W - [31] Max Vandilla (Michigan State), 11-1 MD
L - [16] (12) #10/10 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers), 4-3

TEAM SCORES (TOP-10 THROUGH SESSION 4)

1st - Penn State (135.5)
2nd - Nebraska (101.5)
3rd - Oklahoma State (91)
4th - Iowa (73.5)
5th - Minnesota (47)
6th - Cornell (46)
7th - UNI (44.5)
8th - Ohio State (44)
9th - Illinois (40.5)
10th - Virginia Tech (40)

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.

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