Top College Wrestling Programs: A Comprehensive Overview

For aspiring wrestlers with dreams of collegiate competition, selecting the right program is a crucial step. This article provides an overview of some of the best college wrestling programs across various divisions, highlighting their history, achievements, and key attributes. It also provides rankings for various conferences and divisions.

The Ancient Roots of Wrestling

Wrestling's history stretches back millennia, blurring the lines between sport and combat in prehistoric times. Evidence of wrestling exists in cave drawings dating back 20,000 years in France, as well as Neolithic-age cave paintings in Mongolia. Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians also practiced wrestling. The earliest textual descriptions appear in Greek and Sanskrit epics. Wrestling was central to the Greek Olympic Games, with records of winners dating back to 708 BC. Wrestling's origins are not traceable to a single point.

NCAA Division I Wrestling Powerhouses

Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State tops the list of the best wrestling colleges because the Nittany Lions have been, hands down, the most dominant wrestling program in the NCAA over the past two decades. They’re sort of like the Crimson Tide of wrestling. The Nittany Lions have won 12 team national championships, and eleven of them have come since 2011 (they won their first in 1953).

Iowa Hawkeyes

Only Oklahoma State has won more NCAA Division I wrestling championships than have the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa’s wrestling squad has won the national championship a total of 24 times, a track record that makes them one of the best wrestling colleges of all time. The Hawkeyes’ first national championship came in 1975, and their most recent came in 2021. They were particularly dominant in the 90s; the only years that the Hawkeyes didn’t take home the national championship in that decade were 1990 and 1994. The Hawkeyes have also produced a whole host of NCAA individual champions and Olympic champions.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

There’s definitely an argument that Oklahoma State is the best wrestling college of all time. With 34 team national titles on their resume, they’ve won more championships than any other school in NCAA history. Since the wrestling program was started in 1914, the Cowboys have produced 143 individual NCAA champions and 488 All-Americans. Their overall record is 1185-140-23, and twelve Olympic gold medalists were once Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Although the Buckeyes have only won the NCAA team championship once in their history-that championship came in 2015, when they beat Iowa in the final and in so doing prevented Penn State from winning a fifth title in a row-they’re one of the best squads in all of college wrestling. The Buckeyes have finished runners-up in the NCAA championship five times. Most recently, and heartbreakingly for Buckeyes fans, they reached the finals in three consecutive years in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and each time they were bested by Penn State.

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma’s wrestling program was founded back in 1920, and it’s one of the most decorated programs in college wrestling history. The Sooners’ wrestling squad has won a total of seven NCAA team championships, the fourth-most all time; their last championship came in 1974. The Sooners also boast an impressive roster of alumni who’ve gone on to dominate at the international and Olympic level.

Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State has long been a force in college wrestling. The Cyclones have won eight national team championships; only three schools-Penn State, Iowa, and Oklahoma State-have won more.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota is another college wrestling powerhouse. Wrestling at the University of Minnesota goes back to 1910, and the Golden Gophers have won the NCAA team national championship three times: in 2001, 2002, and 2007. They’ve also produced 23 NCAA individual champions and 195 All-Americans.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Coming in at 5th on the list of the best wrestling colleges is the University of Nebraska. Since the program came into being in 1910, the Cornhuskers’ wrestling squad has a record of 773-576-29. In that time they’ve won their conference tournament championship a total of seven times, and eleven total Cornhuskers have become NCAA individual champions. The Cornhuskers’ men’s wrestling program has been headed by Mark Manning since 2000; under Manning’s tenure as head coach, they’ve gone 294-107-3, which comes out to a winning percentage of .731.

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Northern Iowa Panthers

For decades, the University of Northern Iowa has had one of the best wrestling programs in the country. There are plenty of accolades to list, but the highlights include three team national championships (the Panthers’ first came in 1950, when the NCAA consisted of a single division; their next two came in 1975 and 1978, when they competed as a Division II school). They’ve finished as national runners-up four times and had several wrestlers become NCAA Division I individual champions. Plus, they boast a handful of alumni who went on to compete in the Olympic Games.

Cornell Big Red

Cornell is one of the best wrestling colleges that’s never won a national title. And even though the Big Red have never won an NCAA team championship, they’ve come close a handful of times in recent years. In 2010, they finished runners-up to Iowa. The following year, they finished runners-up to Penn State.

Conference Strength and Rankings

The Big Ten remains king of college wrestling with six conference teams in the top-10 of the latest coaches poll, led by four-time defending national champion Penn State. Second-ranked Ohio State received one first place vote, with Iowa (fourth), Nebraska (sixth), Minnesota (ninth) and Michigan (10th) joining their league mates in the top 10. In all, 10 Big Ten teams are in the latest NWCA Top 25.

Additional Rankings and Resources

NCAA Division 1 Dual Rankings: Rankings are updated regularly.
NAIA Wrestling Rankings: Track the top teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Southern Conference Rankings: Follow the wrestling programs in the Southern Conference.

The Rise of Women's Wrestling

Earlier this year, women’s wrestling became an NCAA championship sport. That doesn’t mean, however, the women’s wrestling didn’t exist at the collegiate level before this year.

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