The National Collegiate Open Wrestling Championship is a collegiate
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
event that serves as a post season championship for
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division-I athletes that are not wrestling in their conference championship. The event is traditionally known for the
redshirting wrestlers entered
but often includes accomplished and seasoned wrestlers that were unable to make their program's starting line-up.
Expansion into Divisions
Starting with the 2013 Championship in Richmond, Virginia, the National Collegiate Open will split
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division-I athletes from the rest of the field. The Division-I division is called the University Division while the College Division will serve the athletes from the other NCAA divisions, as well as
NAIA, USCAA, and
NJCAA
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...
.
Criticisms
Though the National Collegiate Open is attended by the majority of the NCAA Division-I wrestling programs, the event has been criticised for having a field that has too many athletes from the east coast, absent of some of the strongest college wrestling programs. The 2011 season brought more legitimacy when the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
and the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...
attended for the first time but the claim has been made, by some in the wrestling community, that the event will not be a true national event until the three most storied programs (
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
,
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, and
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
) decide to attend. Note:
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
attended the 2012 event.
Most NCO Champions at single Championship
Most NCO All-Americans at single Championship
All-Time NCO Individual Championships by School
References
{{Reflist
External links
NationalCollegiateOpen.com
College wrestling championships