5 Takeaways from the 1st session of the NCAA DIvision I Wrestling Championships

College wrestling’s crown jewel is the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. University of Iowa, Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa are competing at the event at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Here are five storylines from Thursday’s opening session.

CAEL HAPPEL HIGHLIGHTS UNI’S FIRST SESSION

The Panthers’ senior 141-pounder and former Lisbon four-time state champion posted the most dominant performance Thursday afternoon. Fifth-seeded Happel dominated Illinois’ Danny Pucino in the first round, recording a pin in 5:51.

Happel was offensive from the start. He tallied two takedowns in the first for a 6-2 lead after one. Happel, a three-time qualifier, added two more takedowns in the second. In the third, Happel added turning Pucino to his back and finishing him off with more than a minute left.

“I thought Happel wrestled incredibly well,” UNI Coach Doug Schwab said. “That’s a bad dude. That’s a guy that’s using his hands very well and scoring points.”

Happel won his first Big 12 Championship and has produced his best season, moving to 25-3 before the second-round meeting with Bucknell’s No. 21 Dylan Chappell. He has won multiple matches at the last two NCAA tournaments but he is one step closer to his first All-American finish.

The Panthers notched three bonus-point victories, going 6-4 overall in the first round. In addition to Happel’s pin, 2023 184-pound NCAA champion and No. 2 seed Parker Keckeisen scored a 19-4 technical fall over Missouri’s Colton Hawks. Teammate Ryder Downey, seeded sixth at 157, added a 12-1 major decision over Stanford’s Grigor Cholakyan.

Keckeisen is also trying to become UNI’s first five-time D-I All-American. He is also trying to become the third Panther with five All-American performances. Jim Miller was a three-time D-II All-American and two-time All-American in D-I. Kirk Myers was a three-time All-American at both the D-I and D-II Championships.

UNI finished 6-4 in the first round. Julian Farber (133), Colin Realbuto (149) and 165-pounder Jack Thomsen, a former Union Community prep, advanced.

COMEBACK WINS FOR FARBER, THOMSEN

Both Farber and Thomsen had come-from-behind victories in the opening round. No. 18 Farber faced Lock Haven’s two-time All-American Anthony Noto, who is seeded 15 th. The start wasn’t very promising for Farber. Noto scored takedowns in the first two periods and escaped early in the third for a 7-3 advantage. He drew some inspiration and confidence from his teammates and mentors.

“Just seeing my coaches in the corner fired up,” Farber said in a post-match interview. “I know I have a great team behind me.”

Farber stormed back with two takedowns and a ride out in the final 69 seconds for a 9-8 decision. He said the Panthers wrestle similar situations at practice and he was able to apply what he learned.

“It helps out,” Farber said about practicing those scenarios. “It makes it real. That moment was another one of those days at practice where you’ve got to fricking dig deep…”

Farber said he could tell Noto start to fade late and continued to pressure. He said he knew he would eventually take control.

“Keep firing your offense. That’s where you’re best,” Schwab said. “When you continue to stay in your best position good things will happen.”

Thomsen also had to dig himself out of a hole. He fell behind South Dakota State’s Drake Rhodes, a former Hawkeye. Thomsen surrendered the first two takedowns for a 6-1 deficit less than 1:40 into the bout. He didn’t wait as long to rebound, scoring a takedown to end the first and pull within one at the end of the first. Thomsen added takedowns in the second and third and finished with a riding time point for a 13-8 decision over Rhodes, avenging a loss in the regular-season dual.

“Whenever he gets to the legs he does a really good job,” Schwab said. “He might have been 3-for-3.

“He went to both sides of the body. He has to stay with his offense.”

FORMER LITTLE HAWKS, NOW BIG HAWKS, WIN DEBUTS

Former Iowa City High wrestlers Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter made their NCAA Championships debut Thursday for Iowa. Both were successful, advancing to the second round.

Arnold, a state champion for the Little Hawks, entered as the No. 11 seed at 184. He scored the lone takedown of the match for a 4-1 decision over Indiana’s Donnell Washington.

Kueter, a four-time state undefeated state champion for City High, improved his stock after a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Third-seeded Kueter blanked Iowa State’s Daniel Herrera, 6-0, at heavyweight.

IOWA STATE’S FROST BROTHERS PREVAIL EARLY

The Cyclones went 4-4 in the first round. Half of their wins came from one family. Twin brothers, Evan and Jacob Frost, won their opening bouts. Evan was an All-American last season, placing sixth, but came into the tournament as the No. 11 seed. Evan used a second-period rideout and an escape in the third, beating Minnesota’s Tyler Wells, 2-0.

Jacob, seeded ninth, was dominant to start. He beat Stanford’s Jason Miranda by 16-1 technical fall.

The Frosts are one of five sets of brothers and one of two sets of twins in the NCAA field this year.

Iowa State’s Cody Chittum (157) and M.J. Gaitan (174) also advanced to the second round. The Cyclones’ top seed, No. 4 Paniro Johnson, at 149 suffered an upset. He gave up an escape and takedown to Virginia’s Jack Gioffre in tiebreaker-1, falling 5-2.

FOLLOWING FORMER IOWA PREPS

Former Iowa preps went 2-1 in the opening round. Iowa City West three-time state champion and Stanford 165-pound All-American Hunter Garvin beat Ohio State’s Paddy Gallagher, 7-2. Garvin is seeded No. 7 and improved to 20-6 after Round 1.

South Dakota State All-American 174-pounder Cade DeVos was a two-time state champion for Southeast Polk. He began his tournament with a 5-4 decision over Illinois’ Dan Braunagel.

Former Lisbon state champion Cobe Siebrecht qualified at 157 for SDSU. Siebrecht, a former Hawkeye, lost by fall to Penn’s No. 14 Jude Swisher and dropped to the consolation bracket.

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