Doug Schwab ready to take UNI wrestling even higher

CEDAR RAPIDS — Don’t tell Doug Schwab last season was “historic” for his Northern Iowa men’s wrestling team.

Sure, the Panthers finished ninth in the team race at the NCAA Championships, their first Top 10 since 1992 and their best finish since placing fifth in 1962.

They took 10 wrestlers to the national tournament for the first time since the 1985-86 season.

“About time,” Schwab said Wednesday night during a UNI Panther Caravan event at Big Grove Brewery & Taproom.

Don’t think he’s not happy about last season, the aforementioned as well as the 14-1 dual season and the runner-up finish in the Big 12 tournament.

He is happy with all that.

But he’s a wrestling coach, a former Olympic wrestler and he’s just not satisfied with ninth place. It’s not how successful wrestlers and coaches are wired.

Win a national title? Why not win two?

To Schwab, UNI’s “historic” season should have been happening all along, in all his previous 14 seasons as head coach. It’s something that should continue to happen, even without six-time all-American Parker Keckeisen in the lineup.

“When they say ‘historic season,’ I kind of shudder a little bit,” he said. “I think if it’s a one-year thing, we have a problem. I don’t think we’re thinking right.

“We’re going to go back to work. Why can’t we score more points than we did? I just don’t think that should be a one-off.”

So 2024-25 is in the past. Great season, maybe even “historic.” But we live in a “what have you done for me lately” world and Schwab embraces that.

The work began immediately after the NCAA tournament in March to build for 2025-26 ... and beyond. It continues today and will all summer, all fall.

“I think our guys have plenty of evidence that we have a hell of a team and what we’re doing is working,” Schwab said. “To me, there should be no drop-off.”

Keckeisen is gone, All-American Cael Happel is gone, but the goals — the standards — remain the same. Wyatt Voelker, a Big 12 champion at 197 pounds, is back, along with NCAA qualifiers Trever Anderson (125), Julian Farber (133), Ryder Downey (157) and Jared Simma (174).

Schwab talked more about missed opportunities at last year’s NCAA meet than any “historic” finish.

“We beat guys all year who were on the stand,” he said.

So his charge now, heading into next season, is “what can we do on our end to make sure those three days are our best three days.

“It’s going to be a hell of a lot of work and it’s not going to be easy. But to say we can’t do that, that we can’t be Top 10 and shrink that number even more? If we’re talking any different then we’re not doing our job.”

So that work in May, in June and in July is just as important as the work in September and November. If you wait to get ready, you fall behind.

“It’s how you prepare all year,” Schwab said and, if you don’t, “we’re not going to be able to compete to that standard.

“There’s no offseason as far as taking care of yourself, living a certain way. We may not be training at the same intensity, but we still have to continue to take steps forward.”

Keckeisen, Schwab said, did a great job of setting that example, not only last season but all six years he was in the Panthers’ wrestling room. He’s still there, too, but Schwab needs leaders on the team as well.

“I think that’s what guys have bought into,” he said. “Some of the guys are already picking up that torch.”

UNI has shown it can compete with just about any team in the country. Although they don’t see Iowa in a dual, the Panthers have beaten Iowa State and stood toe-to-toe with Oklahoma State.

They don’t — and won’t — back down from any competition. But is there room to grow in a sport dominated by Penn State? Can anyone catch the Nittany Lions?

“You’re not going to beat them by buying guys and putting pieces in,” Schwab said. “You’ve got to build something ... everyone’s behind ... I know I’m running and trying to get better.

“We’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do and we’re excited about the work.”

Excited about the future, too.

Comments: (319) 398-5861; jr.ogden@thegazette.com