Women’s Wrestling Moves Toward NCAA Championship Status
Move expected to be official in winter of 2026
Posted On: February 8, 2024 By :
Matt Traub The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a national collegiate women’s wrestling championship, with the projected first NCAA championship occurring in winter 2026.
Before the committee can make a recommendation to add a championship for an emerging sport, 40 schools must sponsor it at a varsity level and meet the sport’s minimum competition and participant requirements. Nearly 800 student-athletes competed in women’s wrestling across 51 teams in 2022-23. More than 70 schools reported that they intended to sponsor the sport for the 2023-24 academic year.
“We are excited to recommend women’s wrestling as the 91st NCAA championship sport,” said Ragean Hill, chair of the committee on Women’s Athletics and executive associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Charlotte. “We are extremely proud of the work that USA Wrestling has done to make this a reality in such a short period of time. Also, a special thank you to the men’s wrestling community for believing in our young women and championing this process.”
Current NCAA women’s wrestlers compete in a season-ending national competition, the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships, which this year are set for March 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“USA Wrestling is excited that the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended women’s wrestling to become an official NCAA championship,” said Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling. “As part of the coalition of wrestling organizations that has supported women’s wrestling through the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women process, this is a huge milestone for our sport and for our NCAA women student-athletes.”
Following the committee’s recommendation, the projected timeline to add a women’s wrestling championship starts with each division reviewing the recommendations and then putting forward a proposal by its respective 2024-25 legislative cycle deadline. Each division would establish a Women’s Wrestling Committee, which would begin its work in January 2025, to allow time to prepare for a championship in winter 2026.
If sponsored, the divisions are expected to vote on the proposals during the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Wrestle Like a Girl is thrilled that the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended women’s wrestling to become an official NCAA championship sport,” said Sally Roberts, chief executive officer of Wrestle Like a Girl, one of the national governing bodies of women’s wrestling. “This momentous occasion further empowers women in sports and brings us closer to fulfilling the promise made 51 years ago with the passage of Title IX. … It is a victory for all the athletes, supporters and allies who have worked passionately to make this dream a reality.”
Women’s wrestling would become the sixth sport to earn NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program, joining rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015). Five other sports currently in the Emerging Sports for Women program are acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt and triathlon.
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