Former Ankeny wrestling standout Caleb Rathjen of Northern Iowa has earned his second career trip to the NCAA Championships.
Rathjen, a senior, earned an automatic berth by placing second in the Big 12 Championships at 149 pounds on Saturday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. He led the Panthers to a 10th-place finish.
Rathjen knocked off two top-10 opponents on Friday before losing to seventh-ranked and top-seeded Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State, 5-3, in the finals. Swiderski got the only takedown of the match in the first period, then held on for the win.
“I’m definitely proud of the way I competed this weekend, but ultimately I fell a bit short still,” said Rathjen, who was an NCAA qualifier at Iowa as a redshirt sophomore in 2024 before transferring to UNI last spring. “I feel like I’m wrestling really well and carrying a lot of momentum into the national tournament, where I know I can climb high on that podium.”
The sixth-seeded Rathjen opened the tournament with an 11-2 major decision over Bryce Shelton of Air Force. In the quarterfinals, he earned a sudden victory with a final takedown to beat No. 10 and third-seeded David Evans of Utah Valley, 4-1.
Rathjen then followed with an impressive upset over No. 8 and second-seeded Jacob Frost of Iowa State. Avenging a loss from a dual meet earlier in the season, Rathjen posted a 4-3 decision to advance to the finals and punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
Rathjen was one of three automatic qualifiers for UNI. Julian Farber placed third at 133, while former Indianola prep Ryder Downey took fourth at 165 and also advanced.
Other Panthers, including former Ankeny star Trever Anderson, could receive at-large selections to the national tournament. Those selections will be announced on Tuesday, with tournament seeds and brackets to be released on Wednesday.
Anderson, a redshirt junior, opened the Big 12 Championships with an 8-0 major decision over Cooper Shore of Cal Baptist at 125 pounds. He then suffered an injury when he was knocked out during a match against No. 10 and second-seeded Stevo Poulin of Iowa State and lost by default.
Because he was unable to return, Anderson lost by medical forfeit to Tucker Owens of Air Force in the consolation bracket, ending his run at the tournament.
Anderson is hoping to make the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. He placed seventh at last year’s Big 12 tournament to qualify for the national tournament, where he won three matches as a No. 22 seed.
This year’s NCAA Championships will be held March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.