On Saturday, Nov. 26, UNI wrestling traveled to Ames, Iowa, to compete in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. UNI had 20 wrestlers compete on the day, and had many perform very well. Overall they had two first place finishes, four runner ups and several others that placed in their weight classes as well.

Trever Anderson was the lone wrestler for UNI in the 125 pound class, and he came away with third place, going 1-2 on the day. The 133 pound class featured four different UNI wrestlers, and three of them finished in the top four. Garrett Funk went 3-2, with his final match being a loss against teammate Julian Farber, who went 4-1 for third place. Cory Smith won his first two matches by fall in less than a minute, before being defeated by Iowa State’s Ramazan Attasauov and receiving second place.

The 141 pound class had Connor Thorpe representing the Panthers. He won two close ones before getting second place after losing to Iowa State’s Jacob Frost, who defeated him 7-4. The 149 pound class had two more Panthers placing in the top four. Adam Allard went 3-2, with both of his losses coming in very close matches. He still did enough to earn fourth place. Ryder Downey went 2-1 for second place, with his only loss being to Iowa State’s Cameron Robinson. 

In the 157 pound class, Evant Yant finished second, going 2-1 on the day, with his only loss being against teammate Dajun Johnson. Cayd Lara competed in the 165 pound class, going 3-1 and placing third. Parker Keckeisen dominated his two matches in the 184 pound class, winning by technical fall 20-4 and major decision 15-3. The 2-0 competition earned him one of the Panthers two first place finishes on the day.

Finally, in the 197 pound class, UNI had two guys finish inside the top three. Kalob Runyon placed third going 3-1. Wyatt Voelker started 2-0, and got the Panthers their second first place of the day after defeating Iowa’s Kolby Franklin in a close 3-1 match to finish 3-0 on the day.

It was a good day on the mat for the Panthers, and they will compete again this weekend, Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev.