How Bright Is Women's Wrestling's Future?

The NCAA looks back at its inaugural National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships and towards the future of women's wrestling.

More Flips Than Your Pancake House: FHSAA States 2026

North Carolina Chapter Class of 2026

Join us May 17th to honor the North Carolina Chapter's Class of 2026!

McKendree Wins Inaugural NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships, Crowns Three Individual Champions

A historic weekend at Xtream Arena came to a fittingly epic conclusion with 10 individuals and one team, the McKendree Bearcats, earning the honor of calling themselves the first-ever NCAA Women's Wrestling champions.

The 180 competitors featured lots of winners of our Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award, including five champions and six runners-up.

Grand View Crowns Four Champs, Wins Fifth Straight, 14th Overall NAIA Title

The Grand View train kept rolling on Saturday night. The Vikings won their fifth straight team title at the 2026 NAIA Men’s Wrestling Championships, and 14th overall national title dating back to 2012.

Grand View collected 192.5 team points on its way to the top spot. Rounding out the top five teams were Life (166), Oklahoma City (99.5), Embry-Riddle (85.5) and Doan (80.5).

Team Race Undecided Heading Into first NCAA Women’s Finals

The finals are set for the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, and a two-horse team race is still in the balance.

Following a busy Saturday morning session, McKendree (157.5) now holds an 8.5-point edge over Iowa (149) – and can hit a max score of 181.5 compared to Iowa’s 173 if everything breaks right this evening.

The Bearcats also lead the field with five finalists while Iowa will have a quartet of athletes, three of whom are past national champions.

Inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships Features Tight Team Race

After day one at the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, McKendree leads the team race by 2.5 points over two-time reigning national champion Iowa.

The Bearcats have nine semifinalists and another wrestler still alive in the consolations while the Hawkeyes have seven semifinalists and two more in the consolations.

NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships Quarterfinals Set

Following a historic first session at the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, the University of Iowa holds a half-point lead in the early team race.

The Hawkeyes amassed 24.5 points on Friday morning, advancing 9/10 qualifiers to tonight’s quarterfinal round. That was enough to give them a narrow edge over second-place North Central (24.0) and third-place McKendree (21.5) – the only team to punch 10 quarterfinal tickets.