The inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships are finally here.
After years under the NCWWC (National College Women’s Wrestling Championships), the sport’s postseason will be under the official NCAA banner for the first time. Much remains the same behind some of the country’s best wrestlers fighting for national titles and the powerhouse programs like Iowa, North Central and McKendree duking it out for the team title, but some changes are on the horizon as well.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled below all the things you need to know about the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, which take place from March 6-7 in Coralville, Iowa. Whether you’re looking to tune in for the first time or are a veteran of the sport seeking info like brackets or a schedule, we’ve got you covered.
How to watch the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships
Format of the NCAA women’s wrestling championships
There are 18 wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes for 180-total wrestlers. The top-eight placewinners earn NCAA All-American honors. Brackets are set up traditionally, with those who lose still having a chance to fight for third in consolations. There will be two pigtail matches to begin the tournament, with the winners facing the No. 7 or No. 8 seed to set up the round of 16.
One difference between the women’s national championships and the men’s is freestyle vs. folkstyle. The women compete in freestyle wrestling, with less action in par terre and more on the feet competition. In freestyle, there are only wins by decision, technical fall or fall, no major decisions. Technical falls are decided when a wrestler goes up by 10 or more points, not 15 as in folkstyle.
Additionally, all three divisions will compete for one team national title. The Hawkeyes will be competing alongside Simpson College, Wartburg College, and the University of Dubuque, among other Iowa programs, in Xtream Arena.
What has changed for the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships?
Aside from the official NCAA trophies you’ll see, there’s one major change to the national tournament this year, with only up to 10 wrestlers able to qualify per team instead of 15.
Previously, teams could double up in five weight classes. While only one wrestler could earn points for the team at each weight, both wrestlers could play a big role in the team race. For example, Iowa’s Naomi Simon was not the team scorer for the Hawkayes at 180 pounds. However, she took third and placed ahead of a North Central wrestler. In essence, she took away team points from the Cardinals as they chased the Hawkeyes, even if her point total wasn’t added to Iowa’s.
Now, like the Division I men’s championship, teams can only qualify one wrestler per weight. That made life difficult for Iowa’s coaching staff since the Hawkeyes have tremendous depth across the weights. Just to name a few, Sterling Dias (2024 national runner-up), Ava Bayless (2024 national champion), Emilie Gonzalez (2024 national champion) and Jaycee Foeller (multiple-time national finalist) did not crack the lineup this year.
Aside from that, much of the tournament remains the same as the last few seasons, with freestyle wrestling coming to Coralville once again.
Top team contenders for the NCAA women’s wrestling championships
Iowa: The Hawkeyes are looking to make it three team titles in a row. Leading the way for head coach Clarissa Chun’s squad are Kennedy Blades (160 pounds) and Kylie Welker (180 pounds), two of the top women’s wrestlers in the country. Blades is a 2024 Olympic silver medalist and Welker is a two-time Senior World bronze medalist and a two-time U23 World Champion.
Blades and Welker will be the headliners, but Iowa has a few others who can win titles as well. Val Solorio (103), Nyla Valencia (110), Brianna Gonzalez (117), Karlee Brooks (131), Reese Larramendy (145) and Katja Osteen (207) have all shown they have the ability to claim a national title. If Iowa is to prevail, it’ll need a couple from that group to emerge from highly-competitive weight classes and win championships.
McKendree: It may come as a surprise to those who don’t follow the sport closely, but the Bearcats are the favorite entering the tournament. They have four No. 1-seeded wrestlers, the most in the field. All 10 of their starters are seeded No. 5 or better.
Leading the way for McKendree will be No. 1 seeds Heather Crull (103), Yu Sakamoto (117), Cameron Guerin (131) and Tristan Kelly (207). Guerin is seeking a historic fifth national title, using her COVID-19 season with the Bearcats.
North Central: The feisty Cardinals are back in the mix once again. The winners of the NWCA National Duals tournament this season, they defeated both the Hawkeyes and the Bearcats to win that crown. While they may not have the same caliber of tournament team as a dual team, counting them out wouldn’t be wise.
The Cardinals just have one No. 1-seeded wrestler, Sara Sterner at 124 pounds. They’ll need to punch above their weight in several places if they hope to remain in the hunt with the heavy hitters Iowa and McKendree will bring to Xtream Arena, but they always seem to do so when the moment arises. Former Hawkeye Bella Mir at 145 pounds against Larramendy would be one of the more entertaining matchups, should we see it.
What to know about Iowa women’s wrestling before the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships
The Hawkeyes come into this tournament a bit differently than they have in years past. After taking third at NWCA National Duals behind the program’s first-ever dual loss in the semifinals to North Central, Iowa got a wake-up call in a fairly substantial way.
Given Iowa’s brand and having won the previous two national tournaments, the target is still firmly on their backs as the team to beat. Stars like Welker, Blaes and others make this team as talented as the previous two, capable of making a trilogy of national titles since the program began. Even so, there will be a bit of added motivation for the Hawkeyes to avenge their dual loss and remain on top of the college wrestling world.
“Put that National Duals behind us and really just use it to compete harder for March 6-7,” Chun said.
Brackets for the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships
Brackets were released by the NCAA on Feb. 27. Click the link below to see this year’s brackets.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Where to watch the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, time, TV
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
