IOWA WRESTLING

Cedar Rapids to host National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships from 2023-25

Cody Goodwin
Des Moines Register

The nation's best women's collegiate wrestlers are coming to Iowa starting next winter. 

The Cedar Rapids tourism office announced Tuesday that the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships will be held at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Next season's tournament is set for March 3-4, 2023.

The National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships is the national championship event for NCAA women's wrestling programs at the Division I, II and III levels. That includes the Iowa Hawkeyes, whose women's program will begin competing in 2023-24.

The NCWWC has been hosted by a coalition of national organizations on behalf of NCAA programs and will be held until women’s wrestling earns championship status by the NCAA. Women’s wrestling is currently an emerging sport in Division I, II and III.

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"Cedar Rapids is excited to welcome the top collegiate women’s wrestlers from across the country," Jay Fanta, director of sports tourism with the Cedar Rapids tourism office, said in a release.

"Alliant Energy Powerhouse has hosted several national championship wrestling events in the past and will undoubtedly provide a top-tier experience for the athletes and visitors. We are excited to welcome athletes and share our vibrant community."

The NCWWC has previously been held at Adrian College in Michigan in both 2020 and 2022 and at Tiffin University in Ohio in 2021. McKendree University has won the last three NCWWC team championships.

"Moving the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships off campus, to be hosted in a spectacular facility with a strong local wrestling community in Cedar Rapids is a big step forward for NCAA women’s wrestling," Mike Moyer, the executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, said in the same release.

"We look forward to working with the Cedar Rapids Tourism Office and the local community as together we will advance women’s wrestling.”

Girls and women's wrestling has erupted at all levels across the country. Here in Iowa, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced it would sponsor girls wrestling as an official high school sport, starting in 2022-23, after 1,023 girls wrestled statewide this past season.

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Additionally, there are now 13 Iowa colleges that offer women's wrestling programs, including four that could be represented at the NCWWC in future seasons: Iowa, Wartburg, Simpson and Cornell College.

Athletes must qualify for the NCWWC through regional tournaments. Last year, 32 colleges were represented at the national tournament.

“There is no better place than Iowa for wrestling, both for men and women," Michael Duffy, Adrian College Athletic Director and chair of the NCWWC Committee, said in a release.

"Cedar Rapids has hosted many NCAA Championships in men’s wrestling. This is a great venue and a great host community. Dick Simmons is one of the greatest promoters of wrestling anywhere. The championships got too big to host on campus, and we want to take it to a higher level.

"We have an Emerging Sport Status and are on the cusp of an official championships. We want to show that women’s wrestling is ready to take it to an NCAA Championships. We take it to the next level with Cedar Rapids."

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.