College rankings will be tested in Omaha

Many top-ranked women on the college scene double down on “off-season” competition at national events in the pursuit of a Junior, U23 or Senior World Team. This is true of this weekend in Omaha, except, instead of a World team, the winners of the Junior and U23 divisions will earn a spot at the 2021 Senior World Team Trials. 

Total investment shifted away from the WCWA for the 2019-20 college season and toward NAIA and NCAA specific postseason events. That said, this weekend’s UWW Junior and U23 Nationals will provide insight for where college women’s wrestling is at cross-divisionally between the NAIA and NCAA. Menlo (NAIA) won the WCWA’s in 2019, but the remaining 4 in the top 5 were NCAA programs: Simon Fraser, McKendree, Emmanuel and King; 6-15 were NAIA again. Just one season removed from that event, the makeup of those teams and college wrestling has changed significantly. 

NCAA women were able to finish their 2019-20 season with a truly memorable championship event. Sally Roberts of Wrestle Like A Girl was hot on the mic calling the finals and TrackWrestling did an incredible job of making sure the stream and coverage were accessible and archivable for viewership. McKendree grabbed the team plus 5 individual titles, and Coach Sam Schmitz was named Coach of the Year. The inaugural National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships was a glimpse into the future of NCAA specific women’s wrestling, an official emerging sport effective August 1.

On the flip side, the NAIA National Invitational was canceled the following weekend—literally with all of the teams on-site in North Dakota—as the Country shut down. A handful of NAIA programs, including Campbellsville, Life, and Jamestown, competed at the WCWAs in February, but it wasn’t the same tournament as prior years with the focus on specific governing bodies in 2020.

The NAIA and NCAA rankings reflect these two realities—one with a season neatly wrapped up in a championship and another left to question who was really number 1. 

The latest NCAA rankings were posted by the National Wrestling Coaches Association on November 2 and the NAIA final coaches poll is from February 27.