NCAA announces Women’s Wrestling Tournament

EMMA FIGLEWICZ
PHOTO EDITOR

2/3/2025

On Jan. 17 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) formally added women’s wrestling as its 91^st championship sport. The addition of the championship tournament will be seen at all divisional levels.  

Although the sport previously had a tournament by the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship (NCWWC), it was not an officially sponsored event by the NCAA. 

“The current structure of the of the sport will not change in the near future. What this vote did was allowed the NCAA to recognize women’s wrestling as an official NCAA sport,” said Jordan Monroe, Assistant Women’s Wrestling Coach.  

Over the last decade women’s wrestling has grown tremendously. According to the NCAA, “There are 76 women’s wrestling programs at NCAA schools in 2023-23, with projections pointing to an additional 17 programs in 2024-2025.”  

“I believe we’ll see an even bigger increase in programs being launched. As more programs are added, the sport will continue to grow, offering greater pathways for young women to pursue wrestling at the collegiate level,” said Katlyn Pizzo, Head Women’s Wrestling Coach.  

Alma College originally introduced women’s wrestling in 2022 as a club sport. In the following year the athletic department announced is transition into a varsity sport.  

Since its addition as a varsity sport the athletic department has been supporting the growth of the program through various events.  

“Two days after the vote to add women’s wrestling as the 91^st Championship, we hosted the Alma Open, a wrestling tournament featuring talent ranging from junior college all the way to the Big 10. The athletics administration is also working with the women’s wrestling coaching staff to highlight this monument moment for women’s sports on National Girl and Women in Sports Day,” said Sarah Dehring, Director of Athletics.  

Dehring and other members of the athletic department were present at the NCAA convention where the discission of the addition of the championship tournament took place. Although the legislation passed for the creation of the tournament, the MIAA is unable to sponsor a championship at the conference level. 

“The MIAA is close, but at this time does not have enough women’s wrestling programs to sponsor a championship at the conference level,” said Dehring.  

Although the MIAA cannot sponsor a championship yet, members of the Alma women’s wrestling team will still have the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA tournament. 

“The qualification will remain the same to the NCWWC tournament. To qualify a wrestler must place top four in their regional tournament to qualify for nationals,” said Monroe.  

While it’s unclear if anything will change with the NCAA sponsorship, members of the women’s wrestling team are optimistic about the announcement.  

“I think the addition of a NCAA championship will provide the support that women’s wrestling needs to absolutely boom as a sport. This event will allow for our national championship to be recognized the same as the men’s tournament,” said Madesyn Wheaton (’27).  

The announcement has been widely regarded as a significant step toward gender equality in athletics. 

“Not only does it provide more competitive opportunities, but it also serves as a major step toward equality in college athletics. This tournament will help draw more attention to women’s wrestling, inspire young athletes, and attract greater investment in the sport at all levels,” said Pizzo.