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NCAA News: Women’s Athletics Committee Makes Historic Decision to Celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Published 02/07/2024, 7:59 PM EST

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NCAA Women’s Wrestling is still a project that needs a lot of work. Several notable Division 1 universities don’t offer women’s wrestling as one of their sports. This leads to female wrestlers looking for a collegiate career with few choices in their hands, along with limited roster capacity. But, another more concerning thing about all of this is the fact that women’s wrestling doesn’t even have a championship.

A new development, however, suggests that things are looking up for the sport as it will soon get something big. A social media post announced a historic decision made by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics, which will propel collegiate wrestling for women. Interestingly, the landmark move coincides with the celebration of the National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

NCAA Women’s Wrestling to get a natty

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USA Wrestling added a new tweet on X captioned, “The @NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend the three divisions sponsor legislation to add a national collegiate championship in women’s wrestling. It is poised to become the 91st NCAA Championships, projected to begin in winter 2026.”

The vote for the landmark judgment arrived on Wednesday, 7 February, when the US observed its 38th National Girls and Women in Sports Day. The Association-wide committee supervises the Emerging Sports for Women initiative, which also encompasses NCAA women’s wrestling.

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Speaking about it, Raegan Hill, the Chairman of the Committee on Women’s Athletics said, “We are excited to recommend women’s wrestling as the 91st NCAA championship sport… We are extremely proud of the work that USA Wrestling has done to make this a reality in such a short period of time. Also, a special thank you to the men’s wrestling community for believing in our young women and championing this process.” But when and how will this new decision be implemented?

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The projected timeline for Women’s Wrestling to earn its own championship

Every NCAA division must evaluate the report and approve a plan by its designated date in the 2024-25 parliamentary session. Additionally, the proposal recommends establishing a Women’s Wrestling Committee. This committee is scheduled to start its operations in January 2025, aiming to adequately prepare for a championship event in the winter of 2026.

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If the ideas are sponsored, the divisions are anticipated to cast their votes on them during the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, from January 15th to 18th. Considering everything falls into place on time, the inaugural women’s wrestling tournament will take place in the winter of 2026. The absence of a championship might be a reason that many D1 teams don’t offer women’s wrestling. It seems this will soon become a thing of the past.

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Written by:

Ankit Singh

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Ankit Singh is a senior Olympic Sports correspondent at EssentiallySports who covers gymnastics, track and field, and the NCAA Women's Division 1 Volleyball. In his early days at ES, Ankit covered two prime track and field events - the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2023 Prefontaine Classic. During the 2023 NCAA Division 1 women’s Volleyball championships, Ankit wrote his perspectives on the Nebraska Huskers and the Wisconsin Badgers rivalry, and later covered the transfer portals after the Texas Longhorns lifted the victory.
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Edited by:

BHUJAYA RAY CHOWDHURY