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Women's college wrestling champions

Women's college wrestling has crowned a national champion every year since 2004 under four different bodies. The groups below keep them straight, because a title is named for the championship that awarded it. The event itself, with the 2027 dates and how a wrestler qualifies, is on the NCAA women's wrestling championships page.

By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026 · Updated September 23, 2026

The programs ran it themselves first. The Women's College Nationals were held from 2004, when Missouri Valley College hosted the first one, through 2007. The Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association was formed in 2008 and its championship, open to every division, was the college national title of its era; the first WCWA Nationals were at Oklahoma City University and the University of the Cumberlands won the team title. The WCWA held its final championship in 2020.

Two championships replaced it. The National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships, the NCWWC, started in 2020 for NCAA programs in all three divisions, with the first one at Adrian College in Michigan and McKendree University the first team champion. McKendree won it again in 2021 and 2022, North Central took 2023, and Iowa won 2024 and 2025. The NAIA, meanwhile, ran an invitational from 2019 and then became the first college body to sanction women's wrestling outright, for the 2022-23 season.

The NCAA added women's wrestling to its Emerging Sports for Women program in 2020 and voted it in as the Association's 91st championship in January 2025. The first NCAA championship was wrestled on March 6 and 7, 2026 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa: 180 qualifiers out of six regionals, ten weight classes at 103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180 and 207 pounds, and Divisions I, II and III in one bracket. McKendree won the team title 171 to 166 over Iowa.

The next NCAA championship is March 5 and 6, 2027, back at Xtream Arena in Coralville, per the NCAA's championship page. All ten 2026 finals, how a wrestler qualifies and the 2027 regional sites are on the NCAA women's wrestling championships page.

Team champions by year

The college national team title, named for the championship that awarded it.

YearChampionshipTeam champion
2026NCAAMcKendree
2025NCWWCIowa
2024NCWWCIowa
2023NCWWCNorth Central
2022NCWWCMcKendree
2021NCWWCMcKendree
2020NCWWCMcKendree
2020WCWACampbellsville
2019WCWAMenlo
2018WCWACampbellsville
2017WCWAKing
2016WCWAKing
2015WCWAKing
2014WCWAKing
2013WCWASimon Fraser
2012WCWAOklahoma City
2011WCWAOklahoma City
2010WCWAOklahoma City
2009WCWAOklahoma City
2008WCWACumberlands
2007Women's College NationalsCumberlands
2006Women's College NationalsCumberlands
2005Women's College NationalsMissouri Valley
2004Women's College NationalsMissouri Valley

The NAIA runs its own championship. Its team champions since it sanctioned the sport: Southern Oregon in 2023, Menlo in 2024, and Life in 2025 and 2026.

NCAA champions

The National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships run by the NCAA, first held March 6 and 7, 2026 in Coralville, Iowa.

NCWWC champions

The National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships for NCAA programs in all three divisions, 2020 through 2025.

WCWA champions

The Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association championship, 2008 through 2020, the college national title for every division of its era.

Women's College Nationals champions

The championship the programs ran themselves, 2004 through 2007, before the WCWA was formed.

Before the lineage above

The U.S. Girls Wrestling Association ran its own college national tournament before 2004. Tela O'Donnell won the USGWA Women's College Nationals for Pacific University in the 2001-02 season. It is not counted in the groups above because the USGWA was a separate body, not an earlier name for any of them.

Not on this page

NAIA national champions are a different governing body and a different championship, so they are not listed above as NCAA or NCWWC champions. Adaugo Nwachukwu, Cristelle Rodriguez-Dobler, Dymond Guilford, Kenya Sloan, Latifah McBryde, Lexie Basham, Mia Palumbo and Piper Fowler hold NAIA titles, and their pages have the weights and the years.

Your turn

The college women's teams we have read, with the coach's email where the school publishes one, are in the college directory. The championship dates for this season are on the calendar.

Photo credits

Photographer and outlet for each photo above. The license each one is used under is printed on that wrestler's own page.

Sources

  • flowrestling.org · Kyle Klingman, March 24, 2026: every team and individual college champion since 2004, and what each championship body was; the team table above is its Four-Year Team Champions table
  • ncaa.org · March 4, 2026: the 91st championship, added January 2025, Emerging Sport since 2020, 180 qualifiers, ten weight classes, all three divisions together
  • ncaa.org · the championship page, read September 23, 2026: March 5 and 6, 2027 at Xtream Arena, Coralville, Iowa
  • ncaa.com · March 7, 2026: McKendree 171, Iowa 166 at the first NCAA championship
  • nwhof.org · the 2004 first college nationals at Missouri Valley, the WCWA's formation in 2008, and the NCWWC's first championship at Adrian College

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