By Joel Wauters, UNI Athletics
PHILADELPHIA — UNI’s Parker Keckeisen and Cael Happel both locked up All-American honors, national semifinal berths and guaranteed at least sixth-place in their respective weight classes on Friday afternoon to open the second day of action of the 2025 NCAA Championships at Wells Fargo Center.
Keckeisen rolled into the semifinal round for a third straight year with a commanding quarterfinal win over Illinois’ Edmond Ruth to become UNI’s first-ever five-time Division I All-American and third five-time All-American overall in program history, joining Kirk Myers and Jim Miller.
Happel earned his first All-American nod following an overtime win over Navy’s Josh Koderhandt, becoming Northern Iowa’s first 141-pound All-American since Joey Lazor in 2014. This marks the first time since 2017 that the Panthers have had multiple contested All-Americans, and extend the program’s streak of at least one All-American to ten consecutive seasons.
Trever Anderson (125 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds) also kept their All-American hopes alive with a pair of wins each on the backside of the bracket, both sitting two wins shy of reaching the podium.
Northern Iowa enters tonight’s session in fifth-place in the team standings with 37.5 points, trailing fourth-place Iowa by 4.5 points and leading sixth-place Ohio State by one-half point.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Happel secured his first All-American honor at 141 pounds with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Josh Koderhandt (Navy) in the quarterfinals, thanks to an escape in tiebreakers. The win sets up a matchup with Big Ten champion Brock Hardy in tonight’s semifinal round.
Keckeisen continued to cruise through the 184-pound bracket, extending his impressive NCAA Championship bonus-point victory streak to eight matches with a 13-5 major decision against Ruth. With three takedowns, Keckeisen took control early and sealed the win by adding a riding time point to close out the match.This marks his 58th consecutive victory dating back to last season. Keckeisen will face third-seeded Max McEnelly (Minnesota) in the semifinals tonight as he looks to advance to his third straight national title match.
Anderson stunned reigning national champion Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) at 125 pounds, securing a bonus-point victory in the second round of consolation matches. After surrendering an early takedown, Anderson escaped but was taken down again, spending the rest of the first period on bottom. In the second, he turned the tables on Figueroa for two nearfall points and added four more, evening the score heading into the final period. Anderson would earn a penalty point and four additional near-fall points but briefly lost momentum with a reversal. He quickly rebounded with an escape and a late takedown, sealing an impressive 17-8 major decision victory.
Anderson rode his momentum into his second consolation match of the day with a 4-3 victory over Cooper Flynn (Minnisoda), setting up a bout against 2023 NCAA runner-up and four-time NCAA qualifier Matt Ramos (Purdue) tonight in the blood round.
Voelker continues to battle through the backside, securing a victory over Patrick Brophy (Citadel) at 197 pounds. After earning the first takedown, Voelker maintained his lead, adding another takedown and an escape to secure an 8-6 decision.
Voelker took on Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell) in his second match of the day. Earning the first takedown Voelker gave up an escape. Opening up the second period, Voelker scored an escape but gave up a takedown to tie the match at 4-4 and gained the escape after the pair returned to center. Tied up 5-5 after Bechtold got an early escape Voelker snagged a final takedown to win 8-6.
Ryder Downey secured a 1-0 victory over Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford) in his opening consolation match, relying on strong defense after two scoreless periods. Downey concluded his tournament in the following bout with a close 4-2 loss to Jude Swisher (Penn).
Jack Thomsen continued his run on the backside at 165 pounds with a dominant 13-5 major decision over Gunner Filipowicz (Army). After surrendering a late first-period takedown on the edge of the mat, Thomsen quickly responded with an escape. Trailing 3-1 in the second, he allowed Filipowicz an escape before evening the score with a takedown, adding four near-fall points in the final ten seconds of the period. Thomsen extended his lead in the third with another escape, a takedown, and a riding time point, conceding a late escape but securing the 13-5 victory.
Thomsen faced Braeden Scoles (Illinois) in his second match of the day, securing the first takedown, but would give up an escape and a takedown, eventually getting caught on his back and dropping the bout to Scoles in the first period by fall.
Lance Runyon (heavyweight) fought hard until the very end against Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers). After a scoreless first period, Runyon gave up a takedown in the second but responded with an escape and was given a penalty point, narrowing Slavikouski’s lead to 4-2. In the third, Runyon would escape and nearly scored, pulling Slavikouski in from the edge of the mat in the final seconds, but was unable to pull ahead in a narrow 4-3 loss.
Farber came up short in a tightly contested match in a rematch with Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) at 125 pounds. Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Farber attempted a takedown but could not score as time expired, despite a challenge from the UNI coaching staff.
At 149 pounds, Colin Realbuto came up short in his final match of the NCAA Championships, battling hard but unable to reclaim the lead in a 10-7 loss to Malyke Hines (Lehigh).
Jared Simma’s tournament at 174 pounds also came to an end with an 8-1 loss to Garrett Thompson (Ohio), in a rematch of previous tournament matchups at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and Soldier Salute this year.
UP NEXT
The fourth session of this year’s national championships will begin at 7 p.m. CT tonight with semifinal round and consolation matches. Fans can catch all the action on the networks of ESPN with links to all matches on UNI’s NCAA Championship Hub.
UNI RESULTS (THROUGH SESSION 3)
125 | [22] (23) #23/17 Trever Anderson (3-1)
L – [11] (12) #11/15 Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin), 4-2
W – [27] (29) #31/29 Tristan Daugherty (North Dakota State), 2-1
W – [13] (17) #16/23 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 17-8 MD
W – [19] (15) #21/21 Cooper Flynn (Minnesota), 4-3
133 | [18] (14) #18/18 Julian Farber (1-2) | DNP
W – [15] (16) #16/20 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), 9-8
L – [2] (2) #2/2 Drake Ayala (Iowa), 13-4 MD
L – [17] (15) #17/15 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 4-2
141 | [6] (3) #4/5 Cael Happel (3-0)
W – [28] (16) #19/32 Danny Puchino (Illinois), Fall 5:51
W – [21] (20) #24/18 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 5-4
W – [4] (8) #5/8 Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 2-1 TB-1
149 | [10] (10) #11/11 Colin Realbuto (1-2) | DNP
W – [23] (32) Carson DesRoiser (Citadel), 11-6
L – [7] (7) #9/8 Kannon Webster (Illinois), 8-3
L – [25] (29) #31/32 Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 10-7
157 | [6] (7) #10/10 Ryder Downey (2-2) | DNP
W – [27] (26) #31/24 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), 12-1 MD
L – [11] (13) #12/18 Matty Bianchi (Little Rock), 5-4
W – [21] (25) #23/31 Logan Rozynski (Lehigh), 1-0
L – [14] (21) #20/21 Jude Swisher (Penn), 4-2
165 | [19] (17) #22/18 Jack Thomsen (2-2) | DNP
W – [14] (15) #12/10 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State), 13-8
L – [3] (2) #2/2 Mike Caliendo (Iowa), 15-3 MD
W – [20] (18) #16/20 Gunner Filipowicz (Army), 13-5 MD
L – [11] (12) #13/14 Braeden Scoles (Illinois), Fall 2:01
174 | [19] (20) #18/20 Jared Simma (1-2) | DNP
L – [14] (14) #15/15 Matthew Singleton (North Carolina State), 4-2
W – [30] (30) #NR/33 Avery Bassett (Lock Haven), 11-0 MD
L – [4] (4) #5/4 Garrett Thompson (Ohio), 8-1
184 | [2] (2) #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (3-0)
W – [31] (19) #25/26 Colton Hawks (Missouri), 19-4 TF
W – [15] (12) #13/12 Dylan Fishback (North Carolina State), 14-3 MD
W – [10] (7) #7/7 Edmond Ruth (Illinois), 13-5 MD
197 | [7] (8) #7/7 Wyatt Voelker (3-1)
L – [26] (33) #28/NR Brock Zurawski (Rider), 5-2
W – [10] (12) #12/11 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), 4-1 SV-1
W – [25] (24) #32/28 Patrick Brophy (Citadel), 8-6
W – [18] (19) #22/23 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell), 8-6
HWT | [18] (21) #17/22 Lance Runyon (1-2) | DNP
L – [15] #18/27 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 15-2 MD
W – [31] Max Vandilla (Michigan State), 11-1 MD
L – [16] (12) #10/10 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers), 4-3
TEAM SCORES (TOP-10 THROUGH SESSION 3)
1st – Penn State (90.5)
2nd – Nebraska (65.5)
3rd – Oklahoma State (63)
4th – Iowa (42)
5th – UNI (37.5)
6th – Ohio State (37)
7th – Minnesota (35.5)
8th – Illinois (33.5)
9th – Cornell (29.5)
10th – Michigan (27.5)