2023-10-16 23:23:10
Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen (right) grapples with Oklahoma’s Darrien Roberts during the 184-weight bout at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
CEDAR FALLS – University of Northern Iowa released the wrestling schedule for the 2023-24 season Monday.
The Panthers will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the program with six home dates, including three Big 12 Conference duals and the UNI Open. UNI will start the season with the Grand View Open on Nov. 11 and host Columbia for the home-opening dual Dec. 10 at the McLeod Center.
All five duals will be held in the McLeod Center and the annual UNI Open will be in the UNI-Dome on Jan. 20. The Panthers welcome Big 12 foes Utah Valley (Jan. 13), West Virginia (Feb. 4) and Missouri (Feb. 23). They will also host Wisconsin on Feb. 25.
UNI will take on in-state rival Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 11. The Panthers will make an Oklahoma road trip at the end of January. They will wrestle at Oklahoma State Jan. 26 in Stillwater, Okla., and travel to Norman, Okla., the next day to face the Oklahoma Sooners.
UNI will wrestle a double-dual Jan. 6 in Lincoln, Neb., facing Wyoming and the host Cornhuskers.
December includes trips to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 1-2), Collegiate Duals (Dec. 18-19) in Nashville, Tenn., and the Soldier Salute (Dec. 29-30) at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
The Big 12 Championships are March 9-10 in Tulsa, Okla. The NCAA Championships are March 20-23 at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Read the full UNI SID release:
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI wrestling will host six competitions and criss-cross the Midwest during its 100th anniversary season as the program announced its 2023-24 schedule on Monday.
The Panthers will open its centennial season with four open-style tournaments, beginning with the Grand View Open in Des Moines on Nov. 11. After a stop in Brookings, South Dakota at the Daktronics Open on Nov. 19, UNI will return to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to be held at the Westgate Paradise Event Center, Dec. 1-2. Additional athletes will visit Kenosha, Wisconsin for the Jim Koch Open on Dec. 2.
Northern Iowa will host a December home dual for the first time since 2012 when it welcomes Columbia to Cedar Falls on Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. CT in the first-ever dual between the programs. The Lions are coming off a 2022-23 season in which they sent five athletes to the NCAA Championships.
Early season duals continue as UNI returns for the 2023 edition of the Collegiate Duals to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 18-19. The Panthers will face off once morest North Carolina State, Lock Haven and Ohio State for a second consecutive year following picking up wins over Lock Haven and the then-No. 3 Buckeyes last year in New Orleans.
UNI will close out the 2023 calendar in-state at the Soldier Salute at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Dec. 29-30.
The Panthers will begin the new calendar year with a double-dual on Jan. 6, battling the Wyoming Cowboys in their Big 12 dual opener, as well as the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. UNI rolled past Wyoming at home last season in its first dual once morest the Cowboys as conference foes in commanding fashion by a score of 33-3, while also matching up with Nebraska for the first time since 2019.
UNI will face off with Utah Valley on Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. CT in its Big 12 home dual opener. The Panthers rolled past the Wolverines by a score of 34-9 last season in Orem, grabbing four bonus point wins. The latest edition of the UNI Open will be held on Jan. 20 inside the UNI-Dome beginning at 8 a.m. CT. UNI crowned one champion in Wyatt Voelker at last year’s home tournament at 197 pounds.
Northern Iowa’s final two duals of January will take the Panther Train south to battle Oklahoma State on Jan. 26, followed by the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman the following day. The Panthers narrowly fell to the Cowboys at home last winter by a score of 19-17, while grabbing six wins once morest the Sooners last January in a 23-12 win.
After a 20-13 win in Morgantown last winter, the Panthers will look to stay unbeaten once morest West Virginia as the Mountaineers march into the McLeod Center on Feb. 4 for a 2 p.m. CT dual, the first of three home competitions in the month of February. UNI holds a 7-0 record all-time once morest WVU.
UNI heads to the west coast to begin the month of February visiting Cal Baptist on the road for the first time on Feb. 9, coming off a 44-0 victory over the Lancers last year. On the return to Iowa, the Panthers will stop in Ames on Feb. 11 for its annual in-state conference showdown with Iowa State, scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at Hilton Coliseum. In a battle of Big 12 heavyweights, the Cyclones narrowly emerged victorious in a 19-12 win in the McLeod Center last year. Panther athletes will also return to Ames on Feb. 18 for its Last Chance Open.
The defending Big 12 champion Missouri Tigers make their way to town on Feb. 23 for a 7 p.m. CT as the Panthers look to knock off their conference rival to the south for the first time since 2020. Missouri qualified all ten of its starters and placed fifth as a team at the NCAA Championships in 2023, and returns two-time reigning national champion Keagan O’Toole at 165 pounds.
UNI will host its final home dual of the year on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. CT once morest Big Ten foe Wisconsin. The Panthers challenged the Badgers in a 23-17 loss in Madison last season and will look to get even in the 52nd all-time meet of the two Midwest wrestling programs. Wisconsin tied for 16th place at the NCAA Championships last March and return All-American Dean Hamiti at 165 pounds.
Additional road duals and competitions will be announced at a later time.
For an eighth straight year, the Big 12 Championships return to the BOK Center, to be held March 9-10 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will return to Kansas City, Missouri for the first time since 2003 as T-Mobile Arena hosts the nation’s top athletes March 21-23.
Season tickets are currently on sale for the 2023-24 season. The season ticket renewal period ends on October 31st, and new season tickets are available as well. You can renew or purchase now by visiting UNIpanthers.com/tickets or by calling Andrew McKay at 319-273-5411. Single-event tickets for UNI wrestling competitions will be available for purchase at a later date.
2023-24 UNI WRESTLING SCHEDULE
• Nov. 11 – Grand View Open – Grimes, Iowa (9 a.m. CT)
• Nov. 19 – Daktronics Open – Brookings, S.D. (TBA)
• Dec. 1-2 – Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, Nev. (TBA)
• Dec. 1 – Jim Koch Open – Kenosha, Wisc. (9 a.m. CT)
• Dec. 10 vs. Columbia – Cedar Falls, Iowa (2 p.m. CT)
• Dec. 18-19 – Collegiate Duals (North Carolina State/Lock Haven/Ohio State) – Nashville, Tenn. (TBA)
• Dec. 29-30 – Soldier Salute – Coralville, Iowa (TBA)
• Jan. 6 vs. Wyoming* – Lincoln, Neb. (TBA)
• Jan. 6 at Nebraska – Lincoln, Neb. (TBA)
• Jan. 13 vs. Utah Valley* – Cedar Falls, Iowa (7 p.m. CT)
• Jan. 20 – UNI Open – Cedar Falls, Iowa (8 a.m. CT)
• Jan. 26 at Oklahoma State* – Stillwater, Okla. (7 p.m. CT)
• Jan. 27 at Oklahoma* – Norman, Okla. (TBA)
• Feb. 4 vs. West Virginia* – Cedar Falls, Iowa (2 p.m. CT)
• Feb. 9 at Cal Baptist* – Riverside, Calif. (8 p.m. CT)
• Feb. 11 at Iowa State* – Ames, Iowa (2 p.m. CT)
• Feb. 18 – Last Chance Open – Ames, Iowa (TBA)
• Feb. 23 vs. Missouri* – Cedar Falls, Iowa (7 p.m. CT)
• Feb. 25 vs. Wisconsin – Cedar Falls, Iowa (1 p.m. CT)
• Mar. 9-10 – Big 12 Championships | (Tulsa, Okla. / BOK Center) – TBA
• Tues. 21-23 NCAA Championships | (Kansas City, Mo./T-Mobile Center) – TBA
All home duals are held in the McLeod Center / UNI Open will be held in the UNI-Dome
* denotes Big 12 dual
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