Best Wrestling Colleges – 2025
February 19, 2025
When I sat down to write about the best wrestling colleges in the country, I got a little glum. Because I wish I鈥檇 taken up wrestling when I was younger. My dad wrestled when he was in high school, and although he never came right out and pressured me, he routinely dropped hints that I ought to try it out. But I never did, and I regret it. I鈥檓 not saying that I should鈥檝e ended up at one of the best wrestling colleges, like Penn State or Iowa. But having more stamina, a better understanding of the principles of self-defense (I currently have no understanding), more spatial awareness, more control over my body鈥攁ll of those things would benefit me immensely. As has happened so many times before, I realized too late that my parents actually had some sound advice for the teenage me.
Yeah: hindsight is twenty-twenty. I continued preparing to write. And as I researched the best wrestling colleges, I found myself reading more and more about the history of the sport, which is totally fascinating. So before we get to the list of the best wrestling colleges, here鈥檚 a tiny primer鈥�
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Wrestling is probably humanity鈥檚 oldest sport. 鈥淧robably鈥� because the boundary between sport and combat was blurry in prehistoric times. Archaeologists in France discovered cave drawings 20,000 years old that contain depictions of wrestling. Neolithic-age cave paintings of men grappling were discovered in Mongolia, and there鈥檚 pictorial evidence that the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians wrestled, too. But the roots of wrestling are deeper and older still鈥攚restling-style mock combat has also been observed in the Great Apes.
The earliest textual descriptions of wrestling are the Greek and Sanskrit epics. Wrestling was the centerpiece of the Greek Olympic games; lists of wrestling winners at the Olympics date back to 708 BC. The history of wrestling in Japan goes back at least 2000 years, and there are Ancient Chinese stories that describe wrestling tournaments.
Best Wrestling Colleges (Continued)
All of that is to say, in an extremely simplified way, that wrestling can鈥檛 be traced back to a single point of origin. The forms of wrestling that we recognize today鈥攖he Greco-Roman and freestyle forms as practiced at the Olympics, the 鈥渃ollegiate鈥� or 鈥渇olkstyle鈥� form as practiced at American colleges鈥攂ecame popular in 19th century in Europe and the United States.
So what are the best wrestling colleges? Check out the list below.
Best Men鈥檚 Wrestling Colleges
Note: this list of the best wrestling colleges is based on the NWCA Coaches鈥� Poll from February 2025.
25) Missouri
24) Army West Point
23) West Virginia
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22) Lehigh
21) Indiana
20) Oklahoma
Oklahoma鈥檚 wrestling program was founded back in 1920, and it鈥檚 one of the most decorated programs in college wrestling history. The Sooners鈥� 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鈥檝e gone on to dominate at the international and Olympic level. Gold medalists Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, and Wayne Wells all wrestled for Oklahoma, as did Dan Hodge, who鈥檚 widely considered to be one of the best amateur wrestlers of all time.
19) Michigan
18) Pittsburgh
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17) Stanford
16) North Carolina
15) Little Rock
14) Iowa State
Iowa State has long been a force in college wrestling. The Cyclones have won eight national team championships; only three schools鈥擯enn State, Iowa, and Oklahoma State鈥攈ave won more. The Cyclones鈥� last national title came in 1987.
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13) Illinois
12) Rutgers
11) South Dakota State
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10) Virginia Tech
9) Cornell
Cornell is one of the best wrestling colleges that鈥檚 never won a national title. Twenty Big Red wrestlers have become NCAA individual champions, and the Big Won have won the Ivy League wrestling championships 44 times since the team was founded in 1907
And even though the Big Red have never won an NCAA team championship, they鈥檝e 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. And last year they fell again to Penn State in the championship round.
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8) Ohio State
Although the Buckeyes have only won the NCAA team championship once in their history鈥攖hat 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鈥攖hey鈥檙e 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. The Ohio State-Penn State rivalry might not be as feverish as some of the most notorious college football rivalries, but it鈥檚 got to be one of the best rivalries in college wrestling.
The Buckeyes have finished within the top three best-ranked wrestling programs in each of the last five years.
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7) NC State
6) Minnesota
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鈥檝e also produced 23 NCAA individual champions and 195 All-Americans. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, former Golden Gopher Gable Steveson took home a gold medal in the 125 kg class Freestyle.
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5) Nebraska
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鈥� wrestling squad has a record of 773-576-29. In that time they鈥檝e won their conference tournament championship a total of seven times, and eleven total Cornhuskers have become NCAA individual champions. The Cornhuskers鈥� men鈥檚 wrestling program has been headed by Mark Manning since 2000; under Manning鈥檚 tenure as head coach, they鈥檝e gone 294-107-3, which comes out to a winning percentage of .731. That kind of sustained dominance is why the University of Nebraska is one of the best wrestling colleges in the country.
4) Northern Iowa
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鈥� 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鈥檝e 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. Gerry Leeman, competing in the 57 kg class, took home a silver medal in the 1948 London games, and Bill Smith, who competed in the 73 kg class, won gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
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3) Iowa
Only Oklahoma State has won more NCAA Division I wrestling championships than have the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa鈥檚 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鈥� 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 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 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. In the 2020 Tokyo games, Oklahoma State alum Thomas Gilman took home a bronze medal in the 57 kg class Men鈥檚 Freestyle event; at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, ex-Hawkeye Spencer Lee took home a silver medal in the same event.
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2) Oklahoma State
There鈥檚 definitely an argument that Oklahoma State is the best wrestling college of all time. With 34 team national titles on their resume, they鈥檝e 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. The Cowboys鈥� last team national championship came in 2006.
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1) Penn State
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鈥檙e 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). Penn State rattled off a string of four championships in a row from 2011 to 2014; they achieved another streak of four titles in a row between 2016 and 2019; and they鈥檙e currently three-time defending champs, having won national titles in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Best Women鈥檚 Wrestling Colleges
Earlier this year, . In 2026, female athletes from Division I, II, and III schools will compete for the first women鈥檚 wrestling NCAA championship.
That doesn鈥檛 mean, however, the women鈥檚 wrestling 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 exist at the collegiate level before this year. More than 150 colleges currently have women鈥檚 wrestling programs, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has held women鈥檚 wrestling championships since 2019.
The list of the best women鈥檚 wrestling colleges that follows is based on the most recent NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) poll.
Best Women鈥檚 Wrestling Colleges
10) Aurora
9) Colorado Mesa University
8) Simon Fraser
7) Lindenwood (Mo.)
6) Presbyterian College
5) McKendree University
4) Grand Valley State
3) King University
2) North Central (IL)
1) Iowa
Best Wrestling Colleges – Additional Resources
- NCAA Men鈥檚 Wrestling Teams
- NCAA Women鈥檚 Wrestling Teams
- 25 Best Sports Movies of All-Time
- 15 Best College Football (and Other Sports) Traditions
- 28 Highest Paid College Athletes
