Only four Division I men’s programs qualified all 10 wrestlers for this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Among them are the Northern Iowa Panthers, who’ve been punching above their proverbial weight class all season long and have no plans to stop swinging now that the sport’s grandest stage awaits them.

The number four is of additional significance this week to the UNI program, too.

Why? Because it represents the number of team trophies that’ll be handed out at tournament’s end.

To reach that goal – one set by the team way back in the preseason – the Panthers will need to do something historic.

Not since 1962 (fifth place) has UNI finished in the top five at the D1 national tournament, and not since 1992 has it breached the top 10.

“We certainly have the firepower,” UNI head coach Doug Schwab said before his team departed for Philadelphia. “And we certainly have the individuals who are capable of bringing one of those things (a team trophy) home.”

Inspired Performance

One of themes for the Panthers is the term “inspired performance.”

And it’s something all 10 wrestlers – half of whom are seeded in the top 10 of their respective weight classes – are being reminded of yet again by their 15th-year head coach ahead of NCAAs.

“I talk about inspired performance,” Schwab said. “And inspired performance doesn’t come from just this (points to head). You’ve got to connect this (taps chest) and you’ve got to connect those two hanging things down below.

“Once you do that, then it’s an inspired performance. And once inspired performance happens, then as a group it’s contagious.”

One UNI wrestler who is inspiring plenty of confidence in his head coach entering nationals is senior Colin Realbuto.

Amidst the final postseason of the seventh-year collegian’s career, Schwab believes his 149-pounder has never been better.

“Talk about a guy that’s wrestling incredibly well, and hard. If I’m anybody in that weight class I’m like, ‘Man, that’s my draw? I’ve got to wrestle Colin Realbuto?’” said Schwab of the recent Big 12 runner-up.

“This is by far the best version of Colin Realbuto I’ve seen.”

As for the #10 seed at 149 himself, well, he’s not stressing about much of anything, even with the conclusion of his UNI career mere days away.

“Just relaxing. The work is done…I’ve got my plan. It’s in place. I’m executing it. There’s not much else to do,” Realbuto said with smile and a matter-of-fact-ness.

“It’s going to be pretty much the same for all my matches. Just be myself, wrestling my pace – keeping that foot on the gas pedal – and just letting stuff happen.”

“Hopefully I’ll be wrestling a bunch of highly skilled, high-level guys, and hopefully we’ll have some really cool sequences come out of it and it’ll be a lot of fun.”

And oh yeah, before he forgets, “Hopefully I end up on top.”

That stress-free attitude reflects another of this staff’s teachings – which is to not make the moment too big.

“Hell, it is (just) a wrestling match,” Schwab said. “And none of our lives are going to really change (depending on the outcome).”

“But when they’ve put that much time and work in it’s more about just letting that light shine.”

The One Everybody Is Waiting For

Speaking of lights shining, none has shined more brightly on any single Panther wrestler than Parker Keckeisen.

The reigning 184-pound national champ has been the talisman for the UNI program for years. Now he’s looking to cap his career with back-to-back titles.

It certainly won’t be easy – with four-timer Carter Starocci (likely) standing in his way.

And while Keckeisen’s head coach emphasizes the need to not get too far ahead of oneself in envisioning a Saturday night clash of epic proportions, he also can’t help but get excited about the possibility.

As for there being any motivation on Keckeisen’s behalf to ‘prove wrong’ many pundits who are (justifiably) picking Starocci to stand atop the podium for a record fifth time – Schwab sees it as more complex equation:

“I think there’s a piece of that (proving people wrong) – just being a competitor,” the 1999 NCAA champ said.

“That can’t be the whole thing, though.”

“You’re proving yourself right, and there’s a lot of things that I think he wants to prove.”

“OK, it’s my coaching staff versus your coaching staff. It’s my preparation versus your preparation. It’s my 24 hours versus your 24 hours. It’s my dad versus your dad.”

“Yeah, OK. Let’s bring it on. Let’s bring it on.”

“You want to go there, let’s go there.”

“That guy (Starocci) has the utmost confidence in himself. And to crack and get to someone like that you’re probably not going to crack them all the way open. But you can dent them a little bit.”

If the headline matchup does go down in Philadelphia – quite possibly the closing bout of Saturday night’s finals – the wrestling world will wait with bated breath to see which champion emerges victorious.

 Just don’t count Doug Schwab among them.

“I can tell you this – I’ll never, ever, ever bet against Parker. I believe in that guy wholeheartedly.”

“And if that guy (Starocci) beats him then you’ll just tip your cap to him because he’ll have to earn it.”

Sprinting Through The Finish

For as much as the Panthers have done over the past 4.5 months – finishing the regular season ranked fourth in the country and coming up just short of Big 12 dual and tournament titles – they realize that this week is the ultimate proving ground.

“I don’t think as a team we get the respect that we have, to me, earned,” Schwab said. “But you have to go earn that at the national tournament.”

“We’ve had a really good season. We’ve covered a ton of ground. We’ve certainly gotten better and improved throughout the year…but it needs to continue.”

It’s arguably been six-plus decades since a UNI team was better positioned for a team trophy run than this 2024-25 group.

“We’ve got more bullets than we’ve ever had…when you’ve got 10 guys going (to nationals)…and we’ve got to make sure that they all count.”

“Every guy is going to be a tough out. That’s all I’m going to say. Every guy is going to be a tough out, and your ass (had) better be ready to compete for 420 seconds. That’s all we can control.”

It has all come down to this for a deep, talented lineup of Panthers – one led by their senior superstar.

The goal is clear, and the forthcoming challenge acknowledged.

UNI has run an incredible, even historic race up until this moment. Now they’ve just got to summon the finishing kick to match.

“I keep saying we need to sprint through the finish,” Schwab said. “And I don’t see us doing anything different other than that.”