UNI wrestling: Keckeisen finishes career as NCAA runner-up

Thursday, March 20

Philadelphia, Pa.

11 a.m. / 6 p.m. / 11 a.m. / 7 p.m. / 10 a.m. / 6 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

NCAA Championships

Photo by: Allyson Schwab

UNI wrestling: Keckeisen finishes career as NCAA runner-up

3/22/2025 9:51:00 PM | Wrestling

FINAL RESULTS (TrackWrestling)PHOTO GALLERY Photo Gallery

Keckeisen concludes historic career as the third-winningest wrestler in Panther history. UNI places ninth as a team.

SESSION 1 ATTENDANCE - 18,085
SESSION 2 ATTENDANCE - 18,088
SESSION 3 ATTENDANCE - 18,091
SESSION 4 ATTENDANCE - 18,099
SESSION 5 ATTENDANCE - 18,806
SESSION 6 ATTENDANCE - 18,826
TOTAL ATTENDANCE - 109,995

PHILADELPHIA --- Parker Keckeisen's historic Panther wrestling career came to its conclusion on Saturday night as the five-time All-American fell just short in his NCAA title repeat bid in a 4-3 loss to top-seeded Carter Starocci of Penn State at Wells Fargo Center on the final night of the national championships.

Keckeisen, a five-time Big 12 champion and only five-time Division I All-American in program history, finishes the season with a 28-1 record and with the highest career winning percentage in program history (.956). He also became the first Northern Iowa wrestler to appear in three consecutive NCAA championship bouts since Bill Koll (1946-48).

The Panthers as a team finished the 2025 NCAA Championships with a ninth place performance in the team standings, the program's highest Division I tournament finish since placing fifth in 1962.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Keckeisen went on the attack early in a scoreless first period, but was unable to takedown his opponent. Starocci opened the second stanza with a quick escape as both hand fought throughout the period with Starocci holding a one-point lead. Keckeisen evened the match at 1-1 with an immediate escape in the third period, but Starocci would score the go-ahead takedown with under a minute, prompting an unsuccessful challenge from the Panther coaching staff. Keckeisen would score again on an escape and a stalling point, but would run out of time to close the gap in the one-point loss.

KECKEISEN'S CAREER BY THE NUMBERS

133 career wins - Third-most in UNI history, trailing only Kirk Myers (1978-82) and Rich Powers (1988-92) with 134 victories.
95.6% career winning percentage - Program record for wrestlers with at least 50 wins.
Five-time All-American - Only five-timer in the Division I era in program history. Joins Kirk Myers and Jim Miller as the only Panthers to earn five or more All-American nods across multiple divisions.
Five-time Big 12 champion - Only Panther in program history to win five Big 12 titles, and only the second five time-time champion in Big 12 history.
Five best single seasons - Holds five of the top ten best single-season winning percentages in team history for athletes with at least 19 wins, including an undefeated 2023-24 season (31-0) and this season (28-1).
59 consecutive wins - Began streak at the start of the 2023-24 season at the Grand View Open and ended in the semifinals of the 2025 NCAA Championships.
90 career bonus point victories - Recorded 47 major decisions, 34 technical falls and nine pins, having never given up bonus points to any opponent.
47 career dual wins - Went 47-1 in 48 career duals, including a perfect 37-0 mark in Big 12 duals, plus 244 team duals points scored.

ALL-AMERICANS IN THE DOUG SCHWAB ERA (since 2011)

David Bonin - 2013
Ryan Loder - 2013
Joe Colon - 2014
Joey Lazor - 2014
Dylan Peters - 2014, 16
Max Thomsen - 2017, 20*
Drew Foster - 2017, 19
Jacob Holschlag - 2018
Bryce Steiert - 2019, 20*
Taylor Lujan - 2020*
Carter Isley - 2020*
Michael Blockhus - 2020*
Parker Keckeisen - 2021, 22, 23, 24, 25
Cael Happel - 2025

* 2020 championships canceled due to COVID-19 / All-American honors determined by pre-championship seeds

CAREER WIN PERCENTAGES (Minimum 50 wins at UNI)

.956 - Parker Keckeisen (2020-25) | 133-6
.912 - Joe Colon (2011-12; 2013-14) | 62-6
.878 - Joel Greenlee (1985-89) | 127-16-4
.857 - Randy Pugh (1998-00) | 54-9
.853 - Mark Schwab (1985-90) | 112-18-3
.841 - Rich Powers (1988-92) | 134-25-1
.834 - Taylor Lujan (2015-20) | 112-22
.809 - Ryan Loder (2009-14) | 114-27
.808 - Dylan Long (2001-04) | 101-24
.800 - Joe Gormally (1977-82) | 111-27-2

SINGLE-SEASON WIN PERCENTAGES (Minimum 19 wins)

1.000 - Parker Keckeisen (2023-24) | 31-0
.965 - Parker Keckeisen (2024-25) | 28-1
.964 - Tony Davis (1999-00) | 27-1
.957 - Joel Greenlee (1988-89) | 44-2
.952 - Parker Keckeisen (2020-21) | 21-1
.946 - Joe Colon (2013-14) | 35-2
.938 - Parker Keckeisen (2021-22) | 30-2
.933 - Taylor Lujan (2019-20) | 28-2
.931 - Kurt Shedenhelm (1987-88) | 33-2-1
.929 - Parker Keckeisen (2022-23) | 26-2

UNI at NCAAs under Schwab

2011: T46th - 3 qualifiers
2012: 34th - 5 qualifiers
2013: T15th - 4 qualifiers / 2 All-Americans
2014: 15th - 7 qualifiers / 3 All-Americans
2015: 34th - 4 qualifiers
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 / 2 All-Americans / 1 Champion
2020: N/A - 7 qualifiers / 5 All-Americans *
2021: 19th - 6 qualifiers / 1 All-American
2022: T20th - 8 qualifiers / 1 All-American
2023: T16th - 7 qualifiers / 1 All-American
2024: 14th - 7 qualifiers / 1 All-American / 1 Champion
2025: 9th - 10 qualifiers / 2 All-Americans

* no tournament due to COVID-19 / seeded wrestlers earned All-America honors

FINAL UNI RESULTS

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 - [5] (4) #4/7 Richard Figueroa (Arizona State), 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 (4-2) | 5th Place

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
L - [21] (10) #9/15 CJ Composto (Penn), 7-2
W - [4] (8) #5/8 Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 7-2

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 (4-1) | 2nd Place

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
L - [1] (1) #1/1 Carter Starocci (Penn State), 4-3

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

FINAL TEAM SCORES (TOP-15)

1st - Penn State (177)
2nd - Nebraska (117)
3rd - Oklahoma State (102.5)
4th - Iowa (81)
T5th - Minnesota (51.5)
T5th - Ohio State (51.5)
7th - Cornell (50)
8th - North Carolina State (46.5)
9th - UNI (45.5)
10th - Illinois (44.5)
11th - Virginia Tech (41)
12th - Michigan (35.5)
13th - Purdue (34.5)
14th - Missouri (32)
15th - Lehigh (29)

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.