UNI Hosts 2 Ranked Foes To Close Out Season
UNI Hosts 2 Ranked Foes To Close Out Season
The #14 ranked Panthers welcome #11 Missouri and #17 Wisconsin on Friday and Sunday, respectively, to finish the regular season.
The #14 ranked Nothern Iowa Panthers will wrestle two powerful and pedigreed opponents over the last three days of the regular season. Friday night they host Big 12 rivals #11 Missouri and they complete their dual meet slate with #17 Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.
How to Watch #11 Missouri vs #14 UNI
The dual will take place on Friday, February 23 at 8:00 PM ET. You can watch the action live on FloWrestling by clicking the link below.
The dual will be taking place at the McLeod Cente in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Information on tickets can be found by clicking here.
How to Watch #17 Wisconsin vs #14 UNI
The dual will take place on Sunday, February 25 at 2:00 PM ET. You can watch the action live on FloWrestling by clicking the link below.
The dual will be taking place at the McLeod Cente in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Information on tickets can be found here.
Projected Lineup for Mizzou at UNI
- 125: #9 JR Noah Surtin, Missouri vs #23 FR Trever Anderson, UNI
- 133: #25 FR Kade Moore, Missouri vs #21 JR Julian Farber, UNI
- 141: #24 SO Josh Edmond, Missouri vs #8 JR Cael Happel, UNI
- 149: #10 JR Logan Gioffre or SO Joel Mylin, Missouri vs JR Adam Allard or SO Cael Rahnavardi, UNI
- 157: #12 SR Brock Mauller, Missouri vs #9 FR Ryder Downey, UNI
- 165: #1 JR Keegan O’Toole, Missouri vs SO RJ Weston, UNI
- 174: #11 SR Peyton Mocco, Missouri vs #30 SO Jared Simma, UNI
- 184: #12 FR Clayton Whiting, Missouri vs #1 JR Parker Keckeisen, UNI
- 197: #8 JR Rocky Elam, Missouri vs #21 FR Wyatt Voelker, UNI
- 285: #5 SR Zach Elam, Missouri vs #13 SR Tyrell Gordon, UNI
Projected Lineup for Wisconsin at UNI
- 125: #4 SR Eric Barnett, Wisconsin vs #23 FR Trever Anderson, UNI
- 133: FR Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin vs #21 JR Julian Farber, UNI
- 141: FR Felix Lettini, Wisconsin vs #8 JR Cael Happel, UNI
- 149: #15 JR Joseph, Zargo, Wisconsin vs JR Adam Allard or SO Cael Rahnavardi, UNI
- 157: SO Luke Mechler, Wisconsin vs #9 FR Ryder Downey, UNI
- 165: #5 JR Dean Hamiti, Wisconsin vs SO RJ Weston, UNI
- 174: #14 SR Max Maylor, Wisconsin vs #30 SO Jared Simma, UNI
- 184: #17 SR Shane Liegel, Wisconsin vs #1 JR Parker Keckeisen, UNI
- 197: JR Josh Otto, Wisconsin vs #21 FR Wyatt Voelker, UNI
- 285: FR Gannon Rosenfeld, Wisconsin vs #13 SR Tyrell Gordon, UNI
Last Time They Met
UNI has wrestled Missouri every year for the last 12 years. Doug Schwab and Brian Smith have been the head coach of the Panthers and Tigers respectively for each of those contests. Coach Smith holds a 9-3 lead in the series.
Interestingly, both teams were MAC rivals from the 2012-13 season to the 2016-17 season, as both schools were affiliate members of the MAC before they joined the Big 12 (or rejoined, as was the case for Missouri).
The last time they met it was a 24-12 victory for Missouri. The Tigers would go on to win the 2023 Big 12 Championship while UNI placed seventh.
UNI and Wisconsin have wrestled three times since Chris Bono took over as head coach of the Badgers. The series stands at 2-1 in favor of the Badgers during seasons when Coaches Schwab and Bono were at the helm of their respective teams.
The last match between the Panthers and the Badgers was a 23-17 victory for Wisconsin.
Matchups to Watch
We could see up to 23 ranked wrestlers from these three rosters, including 10 competitors in the top 10, so neither dual will be lacking for star power.
#1 ranked Parker Keckeisen has two ranked wrestlers on his docket. The junior from Wisconsin will be a heavy favorite against both #12 Clayton Whiting of Missouri (although we may also see Colton Hawks here) and #17 Shane Liegel, giving Keckeisen an opportunity to gain ground, or at least maintain his #5 spot, in the Hodge Trophy Rankings.
Watch Keckeisen win in the finals of the 2023 CKLV:
#24 Trever Anderson will be tested at 125. The redshirt freshman from Iowa also has two ranked wrestlers this weekend, though, unlike Keckeisen, Anderson will be the underdog. #9 Noah Surtin has just two overtime losses this season and #4 Eric Barnett is a two-time All-American.
Multiple matchups in the Missouri dual will have huge seeding implications for both the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Tournament. At 133, #25 Kade Moore vs #21 Julian Farber is a toss-up, however, Moore has been out of the lineup with an injury lately. 157 could also go either way with veteran three-time All-American #12 Brock Mauler and up-and-coming freshman #9 Ryder Downey.
There are fewer toss-ups (on paper) in the Wisconsin dual, as the Badgers' big guns are at 125 and 165. The aforementioned Anderson vs Barnett bout should still be a scrap but two-time All-American Dean Hamiti will be a heavy favorite over RJ Weston at 165 (we could also see Jack Thompson at 165 for the Panthers).
Predictions and Educated Guesses
The Panthers have been wrestling well in the second half of the season. Though they dropped a dual to #4 Iowa State earlier in February, they also took out two ranked Big 12 programs in #24 West Virginia and #25 Oklahoma a few weeks before that.
Missouri, meanwhile, is having a rockier second half. There's no shame in dropping a match to the undefeated #2 Oklahoma State Cowboys, however, that was coming off a loss to #10 Cornell, and followed by a close dual with #13 South Dakota State. Those are both excellent teams, but the results are slightly below the expectations of a trophy-contending team.
If Missouri is without Moore and Gioffre, as they have been for their most recent duals, then UNI would be favored at 133, 141 and 184 with toss-ups at, 149 and 157. Win those, then get bonus from Keckeisen and hold the Elam brothers to regular decisions, and the Panther Train has a navigable track to Victory Station.
Potential derailment could be caused by Keegan O'Toole, who has bonused all but two of his opponents this year. I think both O'Toole and Keckeisen win by techs, however, I think Mizzou has a higher chance at bonus at 197 and 285 than UNI does at any other weight, so I believe the Tigers will squeak past the Panthers by a point or two. That said, I would not be surprised in the slightest if UNI won this dual in front of a passionate hometown crowd.
Watch O'Toole defeat Izzak Olejnik early this month:
Toss-ups are harder to come by in the Wisconsin dual. If there are no unexpected absences in the lineups, then Wisconsin should win 125, 149, 165 and 174, while UNI should win 133, 141, 157, 184, 197 and 285. Hamiti will be favored to win by bonus at 165 but I don't think it'll be enough to overcome the expected deficit. Keckeisen will also be expected to bonus and I could see multiple other weights where UNI earns extra team points. As such, I think UNI will end up pulling away and winning by a double-digit margin.
The Bottom Line
The Panthers did not ease off the gas when it came to scheduling their final duals this season, though the burden of wrestling back-to-back Friday and Sunday duals against power programs is mitigated by having them both at home.
Plus, if any team has embodied the 'any team, anywhere, anytime' mindset is' Doug Schwab's Panthers. Both duals should produce plenty of high-quality wrestling in Cedar Falls. Not a bad way for fans to get ready for the postseason either!