NCAA Adds Women’s Wrestling as 91st Championship

The NCAA has announced the addition of women’s wrestling as a formal NCAA Championship, bringing the total up to 91. Among other things, this will rename the Elite 90 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at the final site of each NCAA Championship sport, to the Elite 91 Award.

Women’s wrestling now becomes the sixth sport to advance from the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program to full NCAA Championship status. Previous sports to make the leap are rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015).

In the 2023-24 academic year, these sports collectively included nearly 14,000 student-athletes, about 6% of the total student-athletes competing in NCAA women’s championship sports, according to the most recent NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data. Women’s wrestling accounted for an additional 1,226 student-athletes in 2023-24.

Currently five sports are working to reach championship status: acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt and triathlon. Additionally, the NCAA received an application this summer requesting that women’s flag football join the emerging sports program.

There were 76 women’s wrestling programs at NCAA schools in 2023-2024, with 17 more expected to be added this season.More than 1,200 women wrestlers are competing at NCAA schools today. The sport is also diverse. At least 45% of the student-athletes competing are of ‘diverse or international backgrounds,’ the NCAA says.

The NAIA is sponsoring its third wrestling championship this year.

Before the Committee on Women’s Athletics made its recommendation to move women’s wrestling to championship status, 40 schools had to sponsor the sport at varsity level and meet other competition and participant requirements. Women’s wrestling, which became an emerging sport in 2020, eclipsed the sponsorship minimum in the 2022-23 academic year.  A women’s wrestling committee will now be established to work with NCAA staff on the development of the first championship for winter 2026.

The addition is a boon for the sport, which has lost its “core sport” status ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games. One of the criticisms leveled at the time was the lack of women’s competitions for the equality-minded IOC.

Women’s freestyle wrestling was added to the Olympics in 2004.

A budget from wrestling bluebloods at the University of Iowa shows an expected cost of $1.37 million for the women’s wrestling program, though they are expected to receive $80,000 in revenue from ticket sales next season as part of soaring interest in women’s sports. While swimming is not singled out individually as that budget, its revenue is lumped into an “all other” category which projects a combined $51,500 in revenue.

Other Recent NCAA Updates:

• The NCAA has updated its academic standards for schools that want to transition into D1, including putting more onus on the conferences inviting those schools. Those schools that want to move must be “above the 10th percentile of Division I members in Academic Progress Rate, Graduation Success Rate, or the difference between the federal graduation rates for student-athletes and for the general student body” and “meet new financial aid requirements, such as a scholarship offering that exceeds the 10th percentile of active Division I members.” The change reduces the reclassification period to three years for Division II schools and four years for Division III schools. Members currently in the reclassification process can use the new timeline if they meet all other criteria. Progression through the process is dependent upon meeting each year’s benchmarks.
• Adopted legislation that limits the number of men’s basketball coaches who can be recruiting off campus on any given day to four. The change ensures that two coaches remain on campus and available to student-athletes.
• NCAA Division II had a surplus of $2.8 million from the last fiscal year and will use it to fund a supplemental distribution of $2.2 million back to member schools – about $8,000 per eligible institution.
• NCAA D2 approved a proposal to eliminate the requirement that a student-athlete must complete 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours of academic credit during the regular academic year to be eligible for competition. From the NCAA: “Supporters of the proposal, effective Aug. 1, for certification of progress-toward-degree requirements for fall 2025 and thereafter, noted that data showed that eliminating the legislation will simplify the certification process without jeopardizing the overall academic success of student-athletes, as student-athletes will still be required to meet several other academic requirements. “
• NCAA President Charlie Baker highlighted the modernization and growth of college sports in his 2025 State of College Sports address. Read more here.