Big news out of the NCAA on Friday as women’s wrestling was approved as the 91st championship sport across all three divisions.
Women’s wrestling was classified as an Emerging Sport for Women, but after years of support from women’s wrestling advocates, it’s now a national collegiate championship for Divisions I, II and III.
The first NCAA women’s wrestling championship will take place in 2026.
“We are thrilled that women’s wrestling will be an NCAA sport, making it the 91st championship that we host,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker in a statement. “We extend a big thank you to everyone who supported this effort and the athletes, coaches and fans for their passion for a fast-growing and exciting sport that brings even more opportunities for women to participate in athletics.”
In February 2024, the recommendation was made by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics that all three divisions elevate women’s wrestling to championship status. The NCAA also put their money where their mouth is as the Board of Governors approved $1.7 million in April to create the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships.
The sport is now the sixth emerging sport to earn NCAA championship status, following rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015).
The next five working to follow suit are acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt and triathlon.
This wasn’t an easy climb for wrestling.
First, 40 schools had to sponsor the sport at the varsity level and meet other established criteria. That mark was eclipsed in the 2022-23 school year with 51 schools and almost 800 student-athletes.
Those numbers have only continued to grow.
As of 2023-24, over 1,200 athletes participated in women’s wrestling and this year there are a projected 93 schools across the three divisions (4, 34, 55, respectively) to sponsor women’s wrestling.
This decision will increase participation in both high school and college and contribute to the continued growth of women’s sports that we’ve witnessed over the last few years.
“USA Wrestling salutes the NCAA leadership for its historic decision to make women’s wrestling its 91st NCAA championships,” said Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling. “Women’s wrestling has been an Olympic sport since 2004 and is the fastest-growing sport for young women in our nation. We thank each of the NCAA institutions which have already added women’s wrestling for their leadership and vision and invite others to consider providing this opportunity. We celebrate today with all of those within wrestling and college athletics who have worked so hard to make this dream a reality.”
This is great news for HBCU programs like Bluefield State, which added women’s wrestling in 2022, and Delaware State, which announced this past November that it would add women’s wrestling in the 2025-26 season.
The news is also big for Team USA.
Now the next Sarah Hildebrandt or Amit Elor, who won Olympic gold for Team USA this past summer in Paris, Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who, in 2020, became the first Black woman to win Olympic gold for Team USA, or Toccara Montgomery, who was the first Black woman to win a World Championship medal for Team USA and to represent the U.S. in Olympic wrestling, might rise up the ranks quicker than before.
But as the committee makes plans for the championships next year, they must remember that the sport is diverse and that Muslim women are involved and need rules written that allow full-body uniforms and hijabs.
