NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships


The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for individuals and teams have been held annually since 1928, except for a hiatus in 1943–45 during World War II and in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1928 and from 1931 to 1933, there was only an unofficial title. Oklahoma A&M won the 1928 and 1931 unofficial titles. Indiana University won the 1932 unofficial title, and in 1933, Iowa State and Oklahoma A&M were unofficial co-champions.
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships is a double-elimination tournament for individuals competing in ten weight classes. Thirty-three wrestlers in each class qualify through eight conference championship tournaments. From 2012 through 2015, a West Regional tournament was held; throughout that period, it involved members of the Western Wrestling Conference, which had dropped from seven members, the minimum required for a wrestling conference to be an automatic NCAA qualifier, to six. The Big 12 Conference chose not to participate in the 2015 West Regional despite losing their recognition as an NCAA wrestling conference after the 2014 season. During the 2015 offseason, the Big 12 once again became an officially recognized wrestling conference when it effectively absorbed the WWC. Each of these tournaments are allocated a number of automatic qualifying slots in each weight class, and the unallocated slots are filled with at-large selections picked by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee based on certain criteria. During the championships, individual match winners earn points based on the level and quality of the victory, which are totaled to determine the team championship standings.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have won more NCAA team championships than any other school, with 34 titles, the most recent being won in 2006. Iowa has won the second most team titles with 23 NCAA titles. Penn State has won nine titles, Iowa State has won eight titles and Oklahoma has won seven championships.
Only seven other schools have won a team title, and none have won more than three times. Iowa under Dan Gable had the longest streak of consecutive titles at nine from 1978 through 1986. Schools from the Big Ten Conference won 13 consecutive championships from 2007 thru 2019, including Penn State winning 4 consecutive titles twice, while Iowa finished as the Big Ten Champions and the nation’s top ranked team in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of that year’s NCAA tournament. Only the 2001 Minnesota Golden Gophers have finished the NCAA Tournament with an All American at every weight class.
Long held at host college campuses, since 2000 the tournament has grown exponentially in popularity and as such is now held in major cities at professional sports arenas before large, loyal crowds. Central to the expansion of "March Matness" has been television network ESPN, who broadcast all days of the tournament live and provide additional feeds dedicated to one particular mat online.
In addition to determining the national championship, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships also determine the Division I All-America team. The top eight finishers in each weight class qualify for All-American status. The top four teams earn podium finishes.

Championships

Champions by year

Prior to 1963, only a single national championship was held for all members of the NCAA; Division II competition began in 1963, with Division III following in 1974.

Champions by school

School#Year won
341928† • 1929† • 1930† • 1931† • 1933† • 1934† • 1935† • 1937† • 1938† • 1939† • 1940† • 1941† • 1942† • 1946† • 1948† • 1949† • 1954† • 1955† • 1956† • 1958 • 1959 • 1961 • 1962 • 1964 • 1966 • 1968 • 1971 • 1989 • 1990 • 1994 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 •
Iowa231975 • 1976 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010
Penn State91953 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019
Iowa State81933‡ • 1965 • 1969 • 1970 • 1972 • 1973 • 1977 • 1987
Oklahoma71936 • 1951 • 1952 • 1957 • 1960 • 1963 • 1974
Minnesota32001 • 2002 • 2007
Ohio State12015
Arizona State11988
Michigan State11967
Northern Iowa11950#
Cornell College11947
Indiana11932

†: Denotes school was named Oklahoma A&M at the time.

‡: Denotes school was named Iowa Agricultural College at the time.

#: Denotes school was named Iowa State Teachers College at the time.

Winning streaks

#: No championship was held from 1943-1945 due to WWII.

Individual champions

Sources

1928

1929–1931

1932

1933–1935

1936

1937–1938

1939–1947

1948

1949–1950

1951

1952–1965

1966–1969

1970–1986

1987–1998

1999–2020

Four-time NCAA champions

Sources