By Joel Wauters/UNI Athletics
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee on Thursday afternoon announced the pre-allocation spots for the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, due to take place at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20-22.
A total of 61 wrestlers will automatically qualify for the NCAAs from the Big 12 Championships, scheduled to be held March 8-9 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 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.
2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship Allocations
| CONFERENCE | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | HWT | TOTAL |
| Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 38 |
| Big 12 Conference | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 61 |
| Big Ten Conference | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 87 |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 22 |
| Mid-American Conference (MAC) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 23 |
| Pacific-12 Conference | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| Southern Conference (SoCon) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| PRE-ALLOCATIONS | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 287 |
| AT-LARGE | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 47 |
HOW ALLOCATIONS WORK
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 23. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches’ rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches’ ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference is awarded a minimum of one automatic qualification per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 43 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 11, while brackets and seeding will be announced on March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
UNI IN THE RANKINGS (NCAA Coaches)/Intermat/FloWrestling (As of 2/27/25)
- 125 | (26) #29/23 Trever Anderson
- 133 | (19) #17/20 Julian Farber
- 141 | (4) #4/5 Cael Happel
- 149 | (10) #10/8 Colin Realbuto
- 157 | (5) #6/6 Ryder Downey
- 165 | (19) #21/19 Jack Thomsen
- 174 | (18) #17/18 Jared Simma
- 184 | (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen
- 197 | (12) #12/11 Wyatt Voelker
- HWT | (14) #15/14 Lance Runyon
After becoming UNI’s first-ever four-time Big 12 champion last year, second-ranked Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) will look to qualify for his fifth NCAA Championship in hunt of his second straight national championship. The Panthers have won the Big 12 title at 184 pounds every season since joining the conference in 2018.
Ryder Downey also returns as the reigning Big 12 champion at 157 pounds having won eight of his last ten matches. Cael Happel finished second at last year’s conference tournament at 141 pounds as UNI placed fifth as a team.
Last season, Northern Iowa sent five athletes via conference allocations to the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, along with two at-large selections. The Panthers have sent at least five wrestlers in total to the national championships every season since 2014.
UNI enters the postseason ranked fourth in the final National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings, its highest final ranking in program history. The Panthers went 14-1 in dual competition, the most dual wins for the program since the 1990-91 season.
UNI’s RETURNING 2024 NCAA Qualifiers
- 133 | Julian Farber (7th at Big 12s)
- 141 | Cael Happel (2nd at Big 12s)
- 157 | Ryder Downey (1st at Big 12s)
- 165 | Jack Thomsen (6th at Big 12s)
- 174 | Jared Simma (7th at Big 12s)
- 184 | Parker Keckeisen (1st at Big 12s)
- 197 | Wyatt Voelker (5th at Big 12)
** Colin Realbuto previously qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2022 and 2023 at 149 pounds for UNI.
** Lance Runyon previously qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2021 and 2021 at 174 pounds for UNI.