Iowa State’s David Carr and Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen took home individual national titles at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Carr defeated Penn State's Mitchell Mesenbrink, 9-8, to win his second national title. He is the 17th Cyclone to win multiple national titles and the first since 2010 (Jake Varner, 2009-10). His path to the title included wins over the No. 1, 2 and 5 seeds, and four of his five opponents in the tournament were All-Americans. Carr is the first five-time All-American in program history and the 12th Cyclone to finish on the podium four times.
Keckeisen clinched the NCAA's 184-pound wrestling title in a 14-5 major decision win over Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott to finish a perfect 31-0 this season. He secured Northern Iowa's 23rd NCAA Division I national championship (45th overall between Division I and Division II) and first since Drew Foster's 2019 national title. He is also the program's first undefeated national champion since Bill Dotson's 18-0 run to an individual title in 1963.
Iowa State led the Big 12, finishing fourth in the overall standings with 68.5 points followed by Oklahoma State at No. 10 (56.0 points), Missouri at No. 11 (49.5 points), South Dakota State at No. 13 (48.5), Northern Iowa at No. 14 (39.5) and West Virginia at No. 17 to round out the top-20. Penn State took the team title with 172.5 points.
The Big 12 boasted 20 All-American wrestlers in the 2024 Division I Men’s NCAA Wrestling Championships.
OSU’s Fix finished as runner-up at 133 pounds with a 5-3 decision to Cornell’s Vito Arujau.
ISU’s Echemendia won the fifth-place match over North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil via medical forfeit at 141 pounds.
WVU’s Ty Watters finished fourth in a 3-2 decision to Penn State’s Tyler Kasak in the 149-pound weight division. Casey Swiderski won the seventh-place matchup against Rider’s Quinn Kinner for the Cyclones to conclude the weight class.
Keegan O’Toole finished by winning the third-place matchup for Missouri with a 12-8 decision over Iowa’s Mike Caliendo at 165 pounds while OSU’s Izzak Olejnik took the fifth-place matchup over Stanford’s Hunter Garvin (3-0 dec.) and WVU’s Peyton Hall took the seventh-place bout with a 2-1 decision over Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor.
SDSU’s Cade DeVos took the fifth-place match at 174 pounds against Columbia’s Lennox Wolak (5-0 dec.).
Dustin Plott finished runner-up at 184 pounds for the Cowboys via a 14-5 major decision to Keckeisen.
South Dakota State’s Bennett Berge finished fourth at 184 pounds via a 9-7 decision to Oregon State’s Trey Munoz.
Oklahoma’s Stephen Buchanan defeated Cornell’s Jacob Cardenas for third place at 197 pounds while SDSU’s Tanner Sloan defeated Missouri’s Rocky Elam 7-0 in the fifth-place bout.
Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson took the third-place match at 285 pounds over Missouri’s Zach Elam (14-2 MD) to conclude the Conference’s All-American honors.
2024 Big 12 All-Americans
Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State, 125
Jore Volk, Wyoming, 125
Evan Frost, Iowa State, 133
Daton Fix, Oklahoma State, 133
Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State, 141
Casey Swiderski, Iowa State, 149
Ty Watters, West Virginia, 149
David Carr, Iowa State, 165
Keegan O’Toole, Missouri, 165
Izzak Olejnik, Oklahoma State, 165
Peyton Hall, West Virginia, 165
Cade DeVos, South Dakota State, 174
Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa, 184
Dustin Plott, Oklahoma State, 184
Bennett Berge, South Dakota State, 184
Rocky Elam, Missouri, 197
Stephen Buchanan, Oklahoma, 197
Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State, 197
Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force, 285
Zach Elam, Missouri, 285
Final Standings Points
4. Iowa State 68.5
10. Oklahoma State 56.0
11. Missouri 49.5
13. South Dakota State 48.5
14. Northern Iowa 39.5
17. West Virginia 31.5
21. Air Force 21.5
23. Oklahoma 20.0
33. Wyoming 10.0
44. North Dakota State 4.0
47. California Baptist 3.0
50. Northern Colorado 2.5
56. Utah Valley 1.0