Iowa and Iowa State have 2 NCAA wrestling semifinalists, while Parker Keckeisen advances for UNI

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There is an old saying that, “home is where the heart is.”

And that could not be truer for college wrestlers, who rarely come from the school’s city they represent, but love representing their college homes at the highest levels of competition. That includes the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships held this weekend at T-Mobile Center.

And that was a theme of the combined five wrestlers from Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, who earned spots in this year’s semifinals to be held Friday night.

The Hawkeyes featured 125-pounder Drake Ayala from Fort Dodge and 165-pounder Michael Caliendo from Geneva, Ill. Iowa State was represented by 141-pounder Anthony Echemendia of Cabaiguan, Cuba, and 165-pounder David Carr of Canton, Ohio. Northern Iowa sent 184-pound Parker Keckeisen of Milwaukee to the semifinals.

“I guess Cedar Falls is my home and it’s even weird when I go back to Milwaukee and I say I’m going home (to Cedar Falls),” said Keckeisen, who earned a fourth All-America honor with a 22-6 technical fall over Navy’s David Key on Friday afternoon.

The No. 1 seed was set to face Oregon State’s Trey Munoz Friday evening to earn a trip to Saturday night’s finals.

“Home is wherever you are. I’m home back in Milwaukee, but I love being at UNI,” said Keckeisen, who even spent time helping out kids at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals a week ago at the UNI-Dome.

And instead of talking about the success he’s enjoyed in Kansas City, he wanted to speak about his Panther teammates. That includes three Panthers who still were alive for All-America consideration — 174-pound Jared Simma, who lost a tough one to Michigan’s Shane Griffith, as well as 141-pound Cael Happel and 157-pound Ryder Downey, who each won at least two wrestlebacks on Friday.

“I’m having fun, now we want to get the other guy rolling,” said Keckeisen.

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Iowa is actually a second college home for Caliendo, who started his career at North Dakota State, where he earned All-America honors last season before transferring to Iowa City, where he has enjoyed the leadership of his coaches.

“I’ve got some of the best coaches in the world and the whole year they have been working with me. I can feel the improvements that I’ve made,” said Caliendo, who scored three takedowns in a 9-4 victory over Cornell’s No. 3 seed Julian Ramirez.

“I can’t ask for anything better,” he said.

Anthony Echemendia hearing from family in Cuba frequently

But the 2024 NCAA All-American representing the state of Iowa who had to make the longest trip to this state is Echemendia. After leaving Cuba, he first spent two years at Ohio State before transferring a year ago to Ames, redshirting while adjusting to Midwest life. And after beating Ryan Jack of North Carolina State, 5-3, to earn a spot in the semifinals, he said he still hears from his family in Cuba.

“I’m extremely grateful, I wrestle for my family, for all the people that I love and that keeps me motivated,” Echemendia said, noting he has heard from his Cuban family this weekend. “My parents are driving me crazy. They are in Cuba and texting me. I try to tell them that I am trying to stay focused on this tournament.”

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Echemendia credits his teammates, including another Cuban transplant in Yonger Bastida, the Iowa State heavyweight who got upset in the quarterfinals by Michigan’s Lucas Davison.

“Yonger and I come from the same (wrestling team in Cuba) since we were 8 years old,” Echemendia said. “We live together (in Ames). We go to breakfast together. We are talking all the time. We came from a really tough background.

“We keep saying there is a reason that we are together in this program. Coming from such a tough life (in Cuba), it’s so motivational that we have each other’s back all the time.”

The ISU junior also gets support from his teammates like NCAA champion and three-time All-American David Carr, who was set to face Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole in Friday night’s semifinals.

“You could write a whole entire movie on (Echemendia’s) life and the hardships that he’s gone through,” Carr said. “It’s a Cinderella story on how he’s overcome so many things. He’s like a brother to me. I’m so proud of him and he’s an All-American.”