TULSA, Okla. – The UNI wrestling team rounded out its most dominant performance at the Big 12 Championships in program history at the BOK Center on Sunday night as the Panthers captured three individual conference championships and finished second in the team standings.
Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) became only the second wrestler in Big 12 history and first in Northern Iowa history to win five conference crowns, as Cael Happel (141 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds) each claimed their first conference titles, each the first Big 12 title at each respective weight class in team history.
Northern Iowa finished this year’s conference championships with nine automatic NCAA qualifiers with Trever Anderson (125 pounds) and Jack Thomsen (165 pounds) securing automatic berths in the consolation bracket. UNI’s nine NCAA qualifiers are the most in the Doug Schwab era (since 2010-11) and most for the program since 2008.
The team race came down to the final match of the tournament as Oklahoma State narrowly edged out UNI by four points with South Dakota State finishing third and Iowa State in fourth. The runner-up finish ties the Panthers’ best ever finish at the Big 12 Championships, who previously placed second at the competition in 2018, UNI’s first year as an affiliate member of the league.
