The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for wrestling individuals and teams have been held annually since 1928 (with official sponsorship in all years but 1929 and 1931-33), except for a hiatus in 1943-45 during World War II.
In 1928 and from 1931 to 1933, there was only an unofficial title. Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) 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 (WWC), 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 (including 3 unofficial), the most recent being won in 2006. Iowa has won the second most team titles with 23 NCAA titles. Iowa State & Penn State have 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. While Oklahoma State has the most NCAA titles, schools from the Big Ten Conference won 12 consecutive championships from 2007 thru 2018, including Penn State winning seven of the last eight since 2011.
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" (a play on March Madness, the nickname for the NCAA basketball tournaments) 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.
Video NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
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
+: 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.
Maps NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Individual champions
Sources
1966-1969
1970-1986
1987-1998
1999-2018
Four-time NCAA champions
Sources
- Pat Smith, 1990-1992, 1994
- Cael Sanderson, 1999-2002
- Kyle Dake, 2010-2013
- Logan Stieber, 2012-2015
See also
- Pre-NCAA Wrestling Champion
- NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships (from 1963)
- NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships (from 1978)
- NAIA national wrestling championship
- Canadian Interuniversity Sport
- Intercollegiate women's wrestling champions
- List of NCAA Division I wrestling programs
References
External links
- NCAA History of D1 Championships
Source of article : Wikipedia
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