UNI, ISU have high hopes at nationals

By DANA BECKER

dbecker@messengernews.net

PHILADELPHIA — A city known for making history could see even more this coming week from the Northern Iowa wrestling program.

The Panthers, under head coach Doug Schwab, qualified in all 10 weight classes for the NCAA Championships, which begin here Thursday.

Only UNI, Penn State, Cornell and Ohio State punched all 10 tickets, with the Panthers seeking their first Top-5 team finish since 1962 behind returning national champion Parker Keckeisen.

Last year, Keckeisen won the 184-pound bracket for Northern Iowa. The last Panther to repeat at the Div. I level was Keith Young in 1951. Kirk Myers won three straight Div. II titles ending in 1980.

Keckeisen, who is 24-0 on the year and has won 55 straight matches overall, is a four-time All-American and five-time Big 12 Conference champion. He faces Colton Hawks of Missouri — Keckeisen has a 7-0 record against Hawks in his career — in the opening round.

Joining Keckeisen will be Cael Happel, Ryder Downey, Wyatt Voelker, Colin Realbuto, Julian Farber, Lance Runyon, Jack Thomsen, Jared Simma and Trever Anderson.

Happel, an Iowa native in his third NCAAs, has picked up five wins over his previous two trips. He brings a 24-2 record into the tourney, and will face Danny Pucino of Illinois first at 141 pounds.

Realbuto is also making his third trip to nationals, and first since 2023 after taking an Olympic redshirt last season. He faces Carson DesRosier from The Citadel at 149.

Runyon will be competing in his third NCAA Championships. Downey, Thomsen, Simma and Voelker are here for a second time.

The Panthers were one of four teams featured on ESPN’s E60 series “Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championships.” The series followed UNI, Oklahoma State, defending national champion Penn State and Missouri, providing interviews and behind the scenes footage of practice and competition.

Northern Iowa’s best finish under Schwab was in 2019 when they had six qualifiers, a champion and two All-Americans, tying for 13th. They were 14th last season and have six other Top-15 performances.

Iowa State qualified eight for nationals, led by No. 4 seed Paniro Johnson, who won his second Big 12 Conference crown earlier this month. Johnson, 25-4 on the year, faces Jack Gioffre of Virginia in the first round at 149 pounds.

Joining Johnson in action will be twin brothers Evan and Jacob Frost, along with Cody Chittum, Aiden Riggins, MJ Gaitan, Evan Bockman and Daniel Herrera.

Evan Frost is the lone returning qualifier to have secured All-American status, placing sixth last year. This is the first trip to nationals for Jacob Frost, Riggins and Herrera.

Four wrestlers, including three previous All-Americans, were lost to injury during the season in Casey Swiderski, Anthony Echemendia, Connor Euton and Yonger Bastida.

The Cyclones were fourth last year with four All-Americans under head coach Kevin Dresser, a former state champion at Humboldt. It was the best finish for the team since 2010, and 45th trophy finish in program history.

Live coverage of the NCAA Championships begins Thursday with the morning sessions airing live on ESPNU and the evening sessions on ESPN or ESPN2. Coverage of every mat will be streamed live on ESPN+.