Rathjen, Farber qualify secure NCAA berths on opening day of Big 12 Championships

TULSA, Okla. --- The UNI wrestling team locked up a pair of NCAA qualifying spots on Friday during the opening day of the 2026 Big 12 Championships at BOK Center, with three athletes still in contention for placement heading into Saturday.

Julian Farber (133 pounds) and Caleb Rathjen (149 pounds) both secured their spots with automatic qualifying spots at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, with Rathjen upsetting two of the top-three seeds to reach the 149 pound final on Saturday. Farber, along with Ryder Downey (165 pounds) and Nick Fox (184 pounds) will continue action in the consolation brackets tomorrow as well.

After the first day of action, the Panthers sit in ninth place in the team race with 41 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Julian Farber kicked off his tournament with a win over Carter Schmidt (Oklahoma) at 133 pounds. After sweeping the first takedown Farber carried the momentum until the final seconds to finish a takedown and conclude the match 8-3. In the quarterfinals, Farber defeated No. 15 Gunner Andrick (West Virginia) in a tight battle, finishing on top with a 2-1 victory. Farber took on top seed No. 5 Jax Forrest in the semifinals, in a tough battle Farber dropped the match in a 21-6 technical fall, sending Farber to the consolation bracket. Despite the loss, Farber was able to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career by virtue of a guaranteed top-eight finish.

At 149 pounds, Caleb Rathjen picked up his first Big 12 Championship win with a major decision over Bryce Shelton (Air Force) in an 11-2 major decision. In the quarterfinals, Rathjen picked up a close win over No. 10 David Evans (Utah Valley) in sudden victory with a final takedown to finish 4-1. Rathjen followed it up with an impressive upset over No. 8 Jacob Frost (Iowa State). Avenging a loss from the dual earlier in the season, Rathjen finished with a 4-3 decision over Frost to earn himself a spot in Saturday's finals and earned an automatic berth to his second career NCAA Championships.

Ryder Downey kicked off his competition with a pin against Sasha Gavronsky (West Virginia) after an 11-point lead in the third period to advance into the quarterfinals where he topped Sloan Swan (Wyoming), 5-1. In the semifinals, Downey took on No. 10 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) in a neck-and-neck battle to the final seconds of the match when he gave up a takedown and ultimately dropped the match 6-5, sending him into the consolation round.

Making his Big 12 Championship debut for the Panthers, Maximus Brady dropped his first bout against No. 30 Carter Nogle (Air Force) in a tough battle in the opening round of the tournament. In the following round, Brady defeated David Saenz (Wyoming) to stay alive on the back side. Brady rounded out his final match of the day ultimately falling to Jordan Titus (West Virginia) 9-5.

At 157 pounds, Cael Rahnavardi dropped his first bout to No. 15 Teague Travis (Missouri) 14-1. Rahnavardi received a bye in the first round consolations and battled to stay alive against Jared Hill (Wyoming) but fell in overtime after conceding a takedown finishing the match 5-2.

Jared Simma dominated in the first round at 174 pounds, sticking Gunner Cramblett (Air Force) to his back in the second period earning a fall in three minutes, twenty five seconds, but fell to No. 12 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) after getting pinned in the second period. On the backside Simma took on Hudson Rogers (Utah Valley), dropping his final match of the tournament 7-3.

In his first Big 12 Championship, Nick Fox defeated Mahonri Rushton (Northern Colorado), 4-1 in the first round of the 184-pound bracket, but came up short against No. 20 Ian Bush (West Virginia) in a 7-1 loss. In the second round of consolations, Fox tied up with Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley) 2-2 into sudden victory, but after taking a shot was taken down to drop the match 5-2. Fox took on David Alonso (California Baptist), rolling into sudden victory tied 7-7 Fox attacked and snagged a takedown to Alonso's back to win with a fall in overtime.

John Gunderson fell 3-0 in the first round against No. 11 DJ Parker (Oklahoma) at 197 pounds. Fighting on the backside, Gunderson picked up a 7-0 win over Tyler Perry (Northern Colorado). In the second round of consolations, Gunderson fell short in a 1-0 decision against Karson Tompkins (Air Force) to finish out his tournament competition. Rolling for ninth place, Gunderson fell in a near 2-1 finish against Rune Lawrence (West Virginia) finishing his Big 12 run.

Adam Ahrendsen fell to Rylan Kuhn (Air Force) 8-1 in the first round, and dropped his match on the backside to Brock Kehler (West Virginia), 11-5, marking the end of his Big 12 competition.

Trever Anderson picked up a major decision victory over Cooper Shore (Cal Baptist), 8-0. Anderson faced an injury in his second match of the tournament ultimately dropping the match and ending his run at the tournament.

UP NEXT
The third session of the 2026 Big 12 Championships will begin at 12 p.m. CT with the continuing consolation round. Championship matches will begin at 7 p.m. CT during the fourth and final session. 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)

Oklahoma State, 154.5
Iowa State, 122.5
Arizona State, 78.5
Missouri, 70.5
South Dakota State, 65.5
Wyoming, 64.5
West Virginia, 55
Oklahoma, 53
UNI, 41
North Dakota State, 39.5
Air Force, 24
Utah Valley, 23
Cal Baptist, 19.5
Northern Colorado, 12

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

125 | [7] (29) #27/18 Trever Anderson (1-0) | DNP

W - Cooper Shore (Cal Baptist), 8-0 MD
L - [2] (10) #10/10 Stevo Poulin (Iowa State), DEF
L - Tucker Owens (Air Force), MFF

133 | [5] (24) #20/19 Julian Farber (2-1)

W - Carter Schmidt (Oklahoma), 8-3
W - [4] (19) #19/15 Gunner Andrick (West Virginia), 2-1
L - [1] (4) #5/6 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State), 21-6 TF

141 | Maximus Brady (1-2) | DNP

L - [7] (30) #32/30 Carter Nogle (Air Force), 9-4
W - David Saenz (Wyoming), 9-6
L - Jordan Titus (West Virgina), 9-5

149 | [6] (24) #21/16 Caleb Rathjen (3-0)

W - Bryce Shelton (Air Force), 11-2
W - [3] (13) #10/15 David Evans (Utah Valley), SV-1 4-1
W - [2] (10) #12/8 Jacob Frost (Iowa State), 4-3

157 | Cael Rahnavardi (0-2) | DNP

L - [7] (29) #16/17 Teague Travis (Missouri), 14-4 MD
L - [8] Jared Hill (Wyoming), 5-2

165 | [2] (6) #6/6 Ryder Downey (2-1)

W - Sasha Gavronsky (West Virginia), 5:40 Fall
W - [7] Sloan Swan (Wyoming), 5-1
L - [3] (11) #12/10 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State), 6-5

174 | [5] (13) #13/14 Jared Simma (0-2) | DNP

W - Gunner Cramblett (Air Force), 3:25 Fall
L - [4] (12) #12/12 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State), 4:40 Fall
L - Hudson Rogers (Utah Valley), 7-3

184 | [5] (19) #21/19 Nick Fox

W - Mahonri Rushton (Northern Colorado), 4-1
L - [4] (17) #20/24 Ian Bush (West Virginia), 7-1
L - Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley), 4-1 SV-1
W - David Alonso (California Baptist), 6:37 Fall SV-1

197 | John Gunderson | DNP

L - [5] (10) #11/12 DJ Parker (Oklahoma), 3-0
W - Tyler Perry (Northern Colorado), 7-0
L - Karson Tompkins (Air Force), 1-0
L - Rune Lawrence (West Virginia), 2-1

HWT | [8] (32) #32/28 Adam Ahrendsen (0-2) | DNP

L - Rylan Kuhn (Air Force), 8-1
L - Brock Kehler (West Virginia), 11-5

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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