K.J. Pilcher

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.

The Pinning Combination with The Gazette's K.J. Pilcher and Dick Briggs

University of Iowa, Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa and a handful of others with state ties will compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia from Thursday through Saturday. Here are five storylines to follow at the national tournament.

University of Iowa’s Drake Ayala was the runner-up at 125-pounds at last year’s national tournament. He will try to improve that finish as the No. 2 seed at 133 at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, beginning Thursday.

University of Northern Iowa 184-pounder Parker Keckeisen will put the final stamp on his legacy when he competes at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa., beginning Thursday. He is one of 10 qualifiers for UNI, which is a contender for a team trophy.

Coe’s Bryce Parke posted three straight victories to reach the 133-pound final at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Providence, R.I. He earned a runner-up finish and was one of four Kohawk All-Americans this year, including his brother, Brayden, who placed fifth at 125.

The college postseason continues with the NCAA Division II and III Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday. The D-III tournament includes the American Rivers Conference programs and Cornell, which is hosted by Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. Upper Iowa is the lone D-II program in the state and will compete at Indianapolis, Ind.

Curt Ritchie has been a successful high school football coach for more than three decades, including the last 24 seasons at Williamsburg. He will now take over the Cornell College football program, which is coming off consecutive .500-record seasons.

The Pinning Combination with The Gazette's K.J. Pilcher and Dick Briggs

All three state NCAA Division I wrestling programs received at least one at-large berths to the national tournament March 20-22 in Philadelphia. The three schools qualified 27 of 30 starters combined.

Former area standouts Cael Happel and Wyatt Voelker won Big 12 titles and almost lifted University of Northern Iowa to a team title. The Big 12 set an attendance record. Iowa State’s Paniro Johnson gets revenge and a title. Here are five takeaways from the Big 12 Wrestling Championships.

For the second straight year, second-ranked Iowa did not crown a champion at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Sunday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Hawkeye trio of Drake Ayala, Michael Caliendo and Stephen Buchanan all earned runner-up finishes in their first conference finals and Iowa toted home a third-place finish.

Top-seeded Stephen Buchanan, No. 1 Drake Ayala and No. 2 Michael Caliendo each advanced to the finals, helping Iowa to third place with 98 points after the opening day of the conference tournament. The Hawkeyes also secured eight automatic berths to the NCAA Championships on March 20-22 in Philadelphia, Pa.

Iowa experienced multiple ups and downs during the opening session of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Overall, the Hawkeyes advanced into the semifinals. Here are some takeaways from the first session.

Kyle Parco has wrestled at Fresno State, Arizona State and now Unviersity of Iowa. Parco, a four-time All-American, has experienced success at each stop. He enters his final postseason with Iowa, competing in his first Big Ten Wrestling Championships.