March Matness: March filled with exciting collegiate
wrestling national championships across all divisions
Coaching
College
Posted by Andrew Hipps on Friday, February 24, 2023 9:56 AM UTC

The collegiate wrestling season is heating up with an action-packed March that includes three consecutive weekends of national championship events, culminating with the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 16-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Below is a preview of the collegiate national championships in March.

NCWWC National Championships
Date: March 3-4
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) is the annual national championship event for NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III women's wrestling programs. The inaugural championship started in 2020. McKendree has claimed the team title all three years the event has been contested. King sits atop the final NCWWC rankings of the season after winning every weight class at the Region II national qualifier. No. 2 North Central, led by two-time national champion Yelena Makoyed, outscored McKendree by 37.5 points at the regional tournament. McKendree received a major boost in January when three-time age group world champion Emily Shilson announced that she was transferring from Augsburg to McKendree. The three-time NCWWC national champion made her season debut at the regional, winning the title at 109 pounds in dominant fashion.

NJCAA Men's and Women's Wrestling Championships
Date: March 3-4
Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) will hold its national championship event for men's and women's wrestling the first weekend in March at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Clackamas has won the past four NJCAA team titles. The Cougars, under the guidance of first-year head coach Brett Sanchez, will enter the NJCAA Wrestling Championships ranked No. 4 by The Open Mat. Iowa Western, led by top-ranked Jakason Burks (125) and Fabian Padilla (157), are ranked No. 1. On the women's side, Indian Hills, in the first year in competition at the NJCAA level, went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the rankings. Umpqua and Southwestern Oregon are ranked second and third respectively.

NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships
Date: March 3-4
Location: Wichita, Kansas

The NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships will take place in Wichita, Kansas, for the fourth consecutive year (and will be held in Wichita through 2025). Grand View has been the dominant force in NAIA men's wrestling, winning 10 of the last 11 NAIA national championships in men's wrestling. The Vikings are once again favored to capture the national championship. Grand View will head to Wichita with 12 national qualifiers, led by four No. 1-ranked wrestlers according to The Open Mat. Life University, the program that denied Grand View of a 10th consecutive national championship in 2021, is ranked No. 2 and has 11 national qualifiers. One major storyline to watch is winning streak of Doane's Baagii Boldmaa (141). The three-time NAIA national champion has won 97 straight matches, which is the longest winning streak in all of college wrestling.

NCWA National Championships
Date: March 9-11
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA), which was launched in 1997, features approximately 162 wrestling programs from colleges throughout the United States and Canada. Some schools once had intercollegiate varsity wrestling programs until those programs were eliminated, and now compete in the NCWA. This year's event, which will include men's and women's competitions, is set for March 9-11 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The NCWA is bringing the event to Puerto Rico as a way to help bolster folkstyle wrestling at the collegiate level in Puerto Rico.

NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships
Date: March 10-11
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Upper Iowa will serve as the host school for the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 10-11 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Central Oklahoma will head to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships as the top-ranked team. UCO has a rich wrestling tradition, having won 15 national team titles in wrestling, eight coming as a member of the NAIA and seven since joining NCAA Division II in 1990. All 10 UCO wrestlers are nationally ranked by The Open Mat, with nine ranked in the top 10. Division II wrestling power St. Cloud State has a strong team that is expected to content for the title. The Huskies won three straight national titles until Nebraska-Kearney snapped the streak last season.

NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships
Date: March 10-11
Location: Roanoke, Virginia

The NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships are set for March 10-11 in Roanoke, Virginia. This NCAA Division III national tournament has been a 'Battle of the Burgs' for nearly 30 years. Wartburg and Augsburg have combined to win every NCAA Division III national team title since 1995. Wartburg is the defending national champion and will enter this year's event as a favorite to repeat. Augsburg won the NWCA National Duals title in January and is expected to contend for the national title. Johnson & Wales, Baldwin Wallace, North Central, Loras and UW-La Crosse are among the contenders looking to put a halt to the Wartburg-Augsburg streak.

NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championships
Date: March 10-11
Location: Jamestown, North Dakota

Jamestown, North Dakota, will serve as the host city for the 2023 NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championships, which will be contested as a full national championship for the first time ever. Prior to this season, NAIA women's wrestling was on invitational status for the past three seasons. It became a championship sport after reaching the minimum threshold of 40 colleges and universities. Life University finished the regular season ranked No. 1 and has a pair of top-ranked individuals, Peyton Prussin (109) and Latifah McBryde (155).

NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Date: March 16-18
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships is the premier event on the college wrestling calendar. This year's NCAAs will take place March 16-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Defending national champion Penn State is the prohibitive favorite to repeat. The Cael Sanderson-led Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 by The Open Mat and have three top-ranked wrestlers: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184). A pair of wrestlers will be vying for their fourth national championships: Iowa's Spencer Lee (125) and Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis (149). Only four other wrestlers have ever accomplished the feat of winning four NCAA Division I titles: Oklahoma State's Pat Smith, Iowa State's Cael Sanderson, Cornell's Kyle Dake and Ohio State's Logan Stieber.