Teams
Forum List
Toggle sidebar

Women's Wrestling: The Basics

theshadow

theshadow

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2006
21,486
22,535
113
Consolidating general information into one place.

First and most notably, women's college wrestling is freestyle, as opposed to men's college, boys HS and girls HS.

Weight classes: 10
103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207

Scholarships available: 10

Roster limit: 30

At present, there are no divisions in NCAA Women's Wrestling. A total of 112 teams -- not counting future additions -- are listed on the NCAA sport sponsorship site for 2025-26 (up from 76 in 2023-24). If we were to count them by their "typical" division, however, the breakdown would be:
Division I - 6
Division II - 39
Division III - 67

Number of NCAA programs in Iowa and nearby states (2025-26):
Iowa - 10
Illinois - 8
Wisconsin - 4
Missouri - 3
North Dakota - 2
Kansas - 1
Minnesota - 1
Nebraska - 1
South Dakota - 1

How the Postseason Works (for 2025-26 and 2026-27):
*Teams are split into 6 geographic regions of 17-20 teams each
*Each region gets 30 qualifiers (top 3 at each weight)
*Regional competition is held two weeks before nationals
*A total of 180 qualifiers (18 at each weight) at nationals

Recent Timeline:
2020 - Women's wrestling becomes an NCAA "emerging sport"
2022-23 - Minimum sponsorship count met
January 2025 - NCAA announces that women's wrestling will have an official championship, starting in 2025-26
December 2025 - Kent State (D-I #7) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28
January 2026 - NCAA approves establishment of a D-3 championship, starting in 2027-28
January 2026 - Mercyhurst (D-I #8) announces addition of program, starting 2026-27
March 2026 - The inaugural NCAA women's championship is held in Coralville
April 2026 - Iowa State (D-I #9) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Reactions: Bigman38, Nutt3r_Butt3r, JM4CY and 16 others
theshadow said:
Consolidating general information into one place.

First and most notably, women's college wrestling is freestyle, as opposed to men's college, boys HS and girls HS.

Weight classes: 10
103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207

Scholarships available: 10

Roster limit: 30

At present, there are no divisions in NCAA Women's Wrestling. A total of 112 teams -- not counting future additions -- are listed on the NCAA sport sponsorship site for 2025-26 (up from 76 in 2023-24). If we were to count them by their "typical" division, however, the breakdown would be:
Division I - 6
Division II - 39
Division III - 67

Number of NCAA programs in Iowa and nearby states (2025-26):
Iowa - 10
Illinois - 8
Wisconsin - 4
Missouri - 3
North Dakota - 2
Kansas - 1
Minnesota - 1
Nebraska - 1
South Dakota - 1

How the Postseason Works (for 2025-26 and 2026-27):
*Teams are split into 6 geographic regions of 17-20 teams each
*Each region gets 30 qualifiers (top 3 at each weight)
*Regional competition is held two weeks before nationals
*A total of 180 qualifiers (18 at each weight) at nationals

Recent Timeline:
2020 - Women's wrestling becomes an NCAA "emerging sport"
2022-23 - Minimum sponsorship count met
January 2025 - NCAA announces that women's wrestling will have an official championship, starting in 2025-26
December 2025 - Kent State (D-I #7) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28
January 2026 - NCAA approves establishment of a D-3 championship, starting in 2027-28
January 2026 - Mercyhurst (D-I #8) announces addition of program, starting 2026-27
March 2026 - The inaugural NCAA women's championship is held in Coralville
April 2026 - Iowa State (D-I #9) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28
Click to expand...
Thanks
What are the weight classes
 
theshadow said:
Scholarships available: 10

Roster limit: 30
Click to expand...
Is 10 just what ISU is going to give out or is that really an NCAA limit? I thought scholarship limits were completely gone now and you just had roster limits. In a NIL world it really makes no sense to do it any other way. Sorry we can't give you a scholarship, here is a check for $500,000 instead.
 
Will we just give out what we were giving for gymnastics? I know that if we bumped our scholarships up we lost 2.5MM of revenue sharing (why we held the sports at the old numbers so we could use the whole 20.5 for RS) Jamie said. Does it affect if you add a sport or basically change sports?
 
ricochet said:
Is 10 just what ISU is going to give out or is that really an NCAA limit? I thought scholarship limits were completely gone now and you just had roster limits. In a NIL world it really makes no sense to do it any other way. Sorry we can't give you a scholarship, here is a check for $500,000 instead.
Click to expand...
You can technically give 30 now but no one is doing that. Iowa St will offer 10
 
  • Like
Reactions: Loyalsonsince81
BCClone said:
Will we just give out what we were giving for gymnastics? I know that if we bumped our scholarships up we lost 2.5MM of revenue sharing (why we held the sports at the old numbers so we could use the whole 20.5 for RS) Jamie said. Does it affect if you add a sport or basically change sports?
Click to expand...
Everything just has to fit within the budget which They said 1.3M total I believe. Scholarships was 12 for gymnastics but 20 roster spots. Wrestling will do 10 but 30 roster spots. Which is the exact same as the men
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cyclone94# and BCClone
CycloneT said:
Everything just has to fit within the budget which They said 1.3M total I believe. Scholarships was 12 for gymnastics but 20 roster spots. Wrestling will do 10 but 30 roster spots. Which is the exact same as the men
Click to expand...
Ok. Going from 12 to 10 won’t ding us in revenue sharing. I had like 6.6 stuck in my head for gymnastics.
 
ricochet said:
Is 10 just what ISU is going to give out or is that really an NCAA limit? I thought scholarship limits were completely gone now and you just had roster limits. In a NIL world it really makes no sense to do it any other way. Sorry we can't give you a scholarship, here is a check for $500,000 instead.
Click to expand...

The are gone but schools are generally adhering to the old limits due to the cost of a scholarship.
 
Noted in the thread is that a factor at the NCAA level is that the D2 and D3 schools aren’t required to adhere to D1 eligibility rules. Huge factor in their potential ability to compete. It’s how McKendree and NC are able to battle Iowa.
 
NEICyFan said:
Noted in the thread is that a factor at the NCAA level is that the D2 and D3 schools aren’t required to adhere to D1 eligibility rules. Huge factor in their potential ability to compete. It’s how McKendree and NC are able to battle Iowa.
Click to expand...
They recruiting out of women’s prisons?

Whata got for us at 138 Warden?

One of you gals is about to go to college.

1776520680644.jpeg
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Loyalsonsince81
NEICyFan said:
Noted in the thread is that a factor at the NCAA level is that the D2 and D3 schools aren’t required to adhere to D1 eligibility rules. Huge factor in their potential ability to compete. It’s how McKendree and NC are able to battle Iowa.
Click to expand...
Alli could still be competing D3?
 
NEICyFan said:
Noted in the thread is that a factor at the NCAA level is that the D2 and D3 schools aren’t required to adhere to D1 eligibility rules. Huge factor in their potential ability to compete. It’s how McKendree and NC are able to battle Iowa.
Click to expand...
I've read this before (maybe from you), but never any specifics. I went to McKendree and NC's websites and although it doesn't list their ages, it does list their year of eligibility. Checked Bella Mir as she is one of the more notable (from a name recognition standpoint) and she's bounced around a bit. But she's 22 and listed as a Senior, so not really out of line.

Do you have specific examples of them taking advantage of these 'loopholes'? I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I couldn't find any in my limited research.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Help Support Us

Become a patron
Top Bottom