Panther Train travels to Tulsa for Big 12 Championships

No. 4 UNI wrestling at Big 12 Championships

BOK Center (19,199) | Tulsa, Okla.
March 8 | 10 a.m. CT - Prelims & Quarterfinals / 5 p.m. CT - Semifinals & Consolation Quarterfinals
March 9 | 12 p.m. CT - Consolation Semifinals & Seventh-Place Matches / 8 p.m. CT - Finals
ESPN+ (Sessions 1-3)
ESPNU (Finals)
LIVE RESULTS (TrackWrestling)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI wrestling's 2025 postseason will begin on Saturday morning as the Panther Train kicks off competition at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma with automatic berths to the NCAA Championships up for grabs.

The two-day tournament will be held March 8-9 at the BOK Center. Live coverage will be carried on ESPN+ for the first three sessions, with the championship round being broadcast on Sunday night on ESPNU. Viewing links for all matches during the tournament, as well as live results can be found on UNI's 2025 Big 12 Championship Hub.

All ten Panthers scheduled to compete earned top-seven seeds earlier this week during the conference's unveiling of the tournament bracket. Click HERE to see the full set of brackets.

Parker Keckeisen will have the chance to continue re-writing Panther wrestling history as he chases his fifth Big 12 title at 184 pounds. Seeded first in his weight class this weekend, Keckeisen is riding a 51-match winning streak dating back to the start of last season and will look to continue his streak of bonus point victories. The redshirt senior has won 13 consecutive matches in bonus points, won in bonus points in all but two bouts this season and notably defeated all of his postseason challengers in bonus points last year in the Big 12 and NCAA Championships en route to a national title. UNI has won the 184-pound crown at the Big 12 Championships every year since joining the conference in 2018.

Ryder Downey will also look to defend his Big 12 crown at 157 pounds. The three-seed in the 157-pound bracket has won 29 of his last 32 regular season matches, with his lone three losses coming against Antrell Taylor at the 2024 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals, against Caleb Fish and Cody Chittum in dual competition.

The Big 12s reigning runner-up at 141 pounds in Cael Happel was seeded second after a 20-2 regular season behind top-seeded Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado). Happel has won ten of his last 11 bouts and will open his tournament against Peyton Moore (North Dakota State) in round one

Colin Realbuto will be the top seed at 149 pounds as he seeks his first conference title. The redshirt senior, who placed third in Tulsa in 2022 and fifth in 2023, heads to the Big 12 Championships in the midst of an 11-match winning streak. Realbuto will match up with Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) in the opening round.

UNI'S BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP LINEUP [SEED] (NCAA Coaches) #Intermat/Flowrestling ranking (Rankings as of 3/3/25)

125 | [7] (26) #29/23 Trever Anderson
133 | [3] (19) #17/20 Julian Farber
141 | [2] (4) #4/5 Cael Happel
149 | [1] (10) #10/8 Colin Realbuto
157 | [3] (5) #6/6 Ryder Downey
165 | [7] (19) #21/19 Jack Thomsen
174 | [4] (18) #17/18 Jared Simma
184 | [1] (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen
197 | [3] (12) #12/11 Wyatt Voelker
HWT | [3] (14) #15/14 Lance Runyon

Last week, the NCAA announced its pre-conference tournament allocations ahead of the NCAA Championships, scheduled to be held at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20-22.The top-seven finishers in five weight classes (125, 141, 157, 165, 184) will punch their tickets to Philadelphia, while the top six athletes in the 133, 149 and 174-pound weight classes will also advance. Top four finishers at 197 pounds and heavyweight will also earn automatic NCAA qualification. The remaining 47 at-large qualifying spots across all ten weight classes will be announced on March 11, while brackets and seeding for the NCAA Championships will be announced on March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS (Seeds listed)

125 | (7) Trever Anderson (UNI) vs. Bubba Wright (Air Force)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Anderson and Wright.

133 | (3) Julian Farber (UNI) vs. Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist)

Farber is 2-0 all-time against Leake, most recently winning an 8-6 decision in a dual in California last season.

141 | (2) Cael Happel (UNI) vs. Peyton Moore (North Dakota State)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Happel and Moore.

149 | (1) Colin Realbuto (UNI) vs. Sam Hillegas (West Virginia)

Realbuto is 2-0 all-time against Hillegas, most recently winning a 15-8 decision in a road dual this season at West Virginia.

157 | (3) Ryder Downey (UNI) vs. Gabriel Schumm (North Dakota State)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Downey and Schumm.

165 | (7) Jack Thomsen (UNI) vs. Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming)

Thomsen faced off against Voorhees in a pair of extra bouts during his time at South Dakota State, winning his first matchup in 2021 by a 12-7 score and falling to Voorhees in 2002 in a 6-4 decision in sudden victory.

174 | (5) Jared Simma (UNI) vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado)

Simma is 2-0 all-time against Rix-McElhinney. This will be a rematch of last year's Big 12 Championship first round won by Simma by a 17-2 technical fall score. Simma also bested Rix-McElhinney this season with a 15-7 major decision during the NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships in the UNI-Dome.

184 | (1) Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs. AJ Heeg (Northern Colorado)

Keckeisen and Heeg have met just once before, coming this season in the NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships, where Keckeisen won a 12-2 major decision.

197 | (3) Wyatt Voelker (UNI) vs. (6) Nathan Schon (Iowa State) OR Jacob Meissner (Arizona State)

Voelker will face the winner of Schon and Meissner following a first-round bye. He has never faced either opponent before.

HWT | (3) Lance Runyon (UNI) vs. Jose Valdez (Northern Colorado)

This will be the first all-time meeting between Runyon and Valdez. Valdez spent the 2023-24 season on the UNI roster, going 6-5 overall.

BIG 12 FIELD BY THE NUMBERS

11 total All-Americans from the 2024 season are scheduled to compete this weekend in Tulsa.
Iowa State is the reigning Big 12 champion and will look to become the conference's first repeat champion since Missouri won back-to-back team titles in 2022 and 2023.
Four of the reigning Big 12 champions from 2024 return this year to Tulsa to defend their crowns or capture a title at a new weight class. Keckeisen and Downey are two of the four defending champions, while Cade DeVos (174 pounds) returns for South Dakota State. Missouri's Keegan O'Toole is the reigning Big 12 champion at 165 pounds, but is competing at 174 this season.
Parker Keckeisen is tied for fourth in Division I with eight technical falls this season. Air Force's Carter Nogle (HWT) is tied for sixth in the country with eight pins on the year.

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS AT 2025 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

South Dakota State (3)

1x | Tanner Jordan (125) | 8th in 2024
1x | Cade DeVos (174) | 5th in 2024
1x | Bennett Berge (184) | 4th in 2024

Arizona State (2)

1x | Richard Figueroa (125) | 1st in 2024
4x | Cohlton Schultz (HWT) | 4th in 2021, 2nd in 2022, 7th in 2023, 6th in 2024

Iowa State (1)

1x | Evan Frost (133) | 6th in 2024

Missouri (1)

4x | Keegan O'Toole (165) - 3rd in 2021 and 2024, 1st in 2022 and 2023

** Now wrestles at 174 pounds

UNI (1)

3x | Parker Keckeisen (184) | 3rd in 2021 and 2022, 2nd in 2023, 1st in 2024

Oklahoma State (1)

3x | Dustin Plott (184) | 6th in 2022 and 2023 (174 pounds), 2nd in 2024 (184 pounds)
1x | Wyatt Hendrickson (HWT) | 3rd in 2023 (at Air Force)

West Virginia (1)

1x | Peyton Hall (165) | 8th in 2024

REIGNING BIG 12 CHAMPIONS RETURNING

125 | Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado)
157 | Ryder Downey (UNI)
165 | Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) ** Now wrestles at 174
174 | Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
184 | Parker Keckeisen (UNI)

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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