Northern Iowa Panthers

The school's mascot is the Panther. They participate in the Missouri Valley Conference for all sports except football and wrestling, in which they are a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (formerly the Gateway Football Conference) and the Big Twelve Conference. Northern Iowa previously competed in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now known as the American Rivers Conference), North Central Conference, and the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as the Summit League). Northern Iowa joined Division I in 1980. History of UNI nickname On September 8, 1931, the following appeal appeared in the student newspaper, the College Eye, under the headline "Contest Started for School Name": "Who wants to be called Tutors, Pedagogues, and Teachers all the time? Every leading school in the country has some name by which they are known in the realm of sport. Iowa is known as the Hawkeyes, Minnesota as Gophers, Chicago as Maroons, and so forth. Why not give Iowa State Teachers College a name which signifies something characteristic about the school besides the fact that it is a teachers college?" == Sports sponsored ==

Baseball UNI's men's baseball program was discontinued after the 2008–2009 season. In 1961, the Panthers led by future Baltimore RP Eddie Watt qualified for the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament losing in the District 5 Final to eventual CWS Runner-Up Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Panthers also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 1958 and 2001. Other MLB players who attended UNI include Duane Josephson, the first Panther named All-American and who led the nation in HR's. Men's basketball NCAA Tournament history Other tournaments • NAIA National Tournament appearances: 1946, 1948, 1949, and 1953 (2–4 combined tournament record) • Competed in the 2007 World University Games as Team USA (finished ninth) Women's basketball Jacqui Kalin helped lead the women's basketball team to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, as the team won back-to-back MVC Tournament titles. In her freshman year in 2007–08, she led the MVC with an .899 free throw percentage (a school record), and was named MVC Freshman of the Year. In 2010–11 she was named the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year. For her career Kalin was first all-time at UNI in scoring (2,081), 3-point field goals made (265), free throws made (484), and free throw percentage (.920; the NCAA Division 1 career record. the most out of the four Iowa Division I institutions. Softball In the 1977 AIAW Women's College World Series, the Panther softball team defeated Arizona, 7–0, in the deciding final game, led by pitcher Pat Stockman to earn the university's first team national championship. The softball team has appeared in four Women's College World Series, in 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1977. In the 2013–2014 season, head coach Doug Schwab led the Panthers to a perfect 13–0 season in dual meets, the only division one wrestling team to go undefeated. Northern Iowa Panther Wrestling Accomplishments: • NCAA (Single division) Team Champions in 1950 • NCAA Division II Team Champions in 1975 • NCAA Division II Team Champions in 1978 • NCAA (Single division) Team Runner-Up in 1946, 1947, 1949 and 1952 • NCAA Division II Team Runner-Up in 1970, 1972, 1974 and 1980 • NCAA (Single division) Team Third Place in 1937 • NCAA Division II Team Third Place in 1963, 1967, 1969, 1976, 1977 and 1979. Notable wrestlers: • Olympic Gold Medalist (1952) William Smith wrestled for Iowa State Teachers College (1949 and 1950 NCAA champion) • Olympic Silver Medalist (1948) Gerald Leeman wrestled for Iowa State Teachers College (1946 NCAA champion) • Pan American Games Gold Medalist (1975) Mike McCready • Pan American Games Gold Medalist (1993) Justin Greenlee • Pan American Games Silver Medalist (1990) Mark Pustelnik • Three-time NCAA Champion (1946-47-48) Bill Koll and member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team, finishing 5th • Three-time NCAA Champion (1947, 1949–50) Bill Nelson and member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team • Three-time NCAA Champion (1949-50-51) Keith Young • Three-time NCAA Division II Champion (1976-77-78) Gary Bentrim • Three-time NCAA Division II Champion (1978-79-80) and six-time All-American Kirk Meyers • National Champion, 5-time all American, 5 time Big 12 champion and a three time NCAA finalist Parker Keckeisen ==References==