UNI wrestling qualifies seven for NCAAs on opening day of Big 12 Championships

TULSA, Okla. --- UNI wrestling's record setting season continued on Saturday during the opening day of the 2025 Big 12 Championships at the BOK Center with seven Panthers punching their tickets to the NCAA Championships.

Julian Farber, Cael Happel, Colin Realbuto, Ryder Downey, Jared Simma, Parker Keckeisen and Wyatt Voelker all secured automatic berths to the national championship tournament, set to kick off in Philadelphia in two weeks time.

Northern Iowa also set a new program record for team points scored at the Big 12 Championships (120.5) and will enter Sunday's final day of competition in firm control of second place. Oklahoma State leads UNI for first place with 137.5 points, 17 points ahead of the Panthers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Julian Farber matched up against Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) at 133 pounds, dropping a close 4-1 opening round bout. Battling back in the first round of the consolation bracket, Farber defeated Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) with a 10-4 decision. Farber followed up by clinching his ticket to the NCAA Championships for the second time during a head-to-head matchup against top-seeded Evan Frost (Iowa State) finishing the match in a high scoring 14-13 decision.

At 141 pounds, Cael Happel earned seven total takedowns en route to his first victory of the tournament against Peyton Moore (North Dakota State) with a 24-8 technical fall. In his quarterfinals match up against Sam Hillegas (West Virginia), Happel earned a 13-3 major decision bonus-point win before taking down Jacob Frost (Iowa State) for the third time this season in a 14-3 major decision. Happel's quarterfinal win earns the Libson, Iowa native his third consecutive NCAA Championship berth having won 12 of his last 14 matches.

Colin Realbuto (149 pounds) dominated on day one in Tulsa as he earned back-to-back victories by fall. In the first round after trailing 8-0 against Sam Hillegas (West Virginia), Realbuto put his opponent on his back, to secure the pin in the second period. In his quarterfinal matchup, Realbuto started out strong in his bout against Benji Alanis (Northern Colorado, scoring two takedowns in the first period, then carried his lead into the third period where he was able to pin Alanis to earn his third NCAA berth and first since 2023. Realbuto has now won 13 consecutive matches dating back to January.

Parker Keckeisen, UNI's four-time reigning Big 12 champion at 184 pounds, posted back-to-back technical falls with a 20-4 win over AJ Heeg (Northern Colorado) and 20-5 victory over Aidan Brenot (North Dakota State) with six total takedowns scored. In the semifinals against ninth-ranked Evan Bockman (Iowa State), Keckeisen would build a 13-2 lead before winning by injury default, securing his fifth national tournament berth. The reigning NCAA champion has now won 54 straight matches and has won 11 consecutive bonus point bouts dating back to last season.

After receiving a first round bye, Wyatt Voelker had an impressive run at 197 pounds. In the quarterfinals Voelker defeated Nathan Schon (Iowa State) in a 14-8 decision before upsetting second-seeded and tenth-ranked Joseph Novak (Wyoming) to punch his ticket to his first Big 12 title match. Voelker also earned his second straight NCAA Championship berth with his semifinal victory.

At 125 pounds, Trever Anderson defeated Tucker Owens (Air Force) in the first round with an 8-1 decision before falling to second-seeed and 12th ranked Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) in a 4-1 loss. Anderson's day would end with a 4-0 loss to Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma), setting up a seventh-place bout against Tanner Jordan on Sunday for the Big 12's final automatic qualifying spot.

Ryder Downey (157 pounds) came out strong with a technical fall win in the first round over Gabriel Schumm (North Dakota State), 15-0 with eight total nearfall points. In the quarterfinal matchup against Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado), Downey would score an early takedown for a 3-0 lead in the second period, but would give up a takedown and back points to Zerban, ultimately falling 8-7. Downey finished his first day of action against James Conway (Missouri) winning a 5-0 decision to earn his second career berth to the NCAA Championships.

At 174 pounds, Jared Simma started off his tournament action strong against Aydin Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado), earning an 18-3 technical fall victory. In the quarterfinals, Simma battled Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) in a narrow match up. Ending the first period scoreless, Simma escaped but gave up the lone takedown to DeVos, falling 5-1. Simma would bounce back with a quick pin of Mark Takara (Utah Valley) in just 41 seconds, and finished with a 13-2 major decision over Devin Wasley (North Dakota State) to secure his second automatic NCAA berth.

Jack Thomsen (165 pounds) opened his Big 12 Championships with a 7-2 decision over Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) with a pair of early takedowns in the opening period. In a tightly contested match in the quarterfinals, Thomsen would take second-seeded and fourth-ranked Peyton Hall to overtime, but would come up short in a 9-6 loss in sudden victory. Thomsen dropped his final match of the day, dropping a 10-0 major decision to Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State) and will return to action on Sunday for seventh place and the conference's final automatic qualifying berth.

Lance Runyon faced off against Jose Valdez (Northern Colorado) in his first round match at heavyweight with a narrow 6-4 win. After being pinned by second-seeded Daniel Herrera (Iowa State) in the quarterfinals, Runyon faced Jack Forbes (Utah Valley) finishing with a 5-1 victory. Runyon closed out the day with a 13-5 major decision loss to Luke Rasmussen and will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday.

UP NEXT
The third session of the Big 12 Championships will begin at 12 p.m. CT with the continuing consolation round. Championship matches will begin at 8 p.m. CT during the fourth and final session and can be watched live on ESPNU. Full access to live streams for all matches and mat, brackets and live results can be found on UNI's Big 12 Championship Hub.

TEAM STANDINGS (Thru Day One)

1st - Oklahoma State (137.5)
2nd - UNI (120.5)
3rd - South Dakota State (87.5)
4th - Iowa State (84)
T5th - Northern Colorado (63)
T5th - West Virginia (63)
7th - Oklahoma (60.5)
8th - Missouri (55)
9th - North Dakota State (52)
10th - Wyoming (42.5)
11th - Arizona State (36.5)
12th - Utah Valley (17)
13th - Cal Baptist (15)
14th - Air Force (11.5)

UNI'S BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS [SEED] (NCAA Coaches) #Intermat/Flowrestling ranking

125 | [7] (26) #29/23 Trever Anderson (2-2)

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

133 | [3] (19) #17/20 Julian Farber (3-1)

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

141 | [2] (4) #4/5 Cael Happel (3-0)

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

149 | [1] (10) #10/8 Colin Realbuto (3-0)

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

157 | [3] (5) #6/6 Ryder Downey (3-1)

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

165 | [7] (19) #21/19 Jack Thomsen (2-2)

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

174 | [4] (18) #17/18 Jared Simma (3-1)

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

184 | [1] (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (3-0)

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

197 | [3] (12) #12/11 Wyatt Voelker (2-0)

W - [6] Nathan Schon (Iowa State), 14-8
W - Joseph Novak (Wyoming), 4-2

HWT | [3] (14) #15/14 Lance Runyon (2-2)

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

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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