Odds of a High School Wrestler making a College Varsity Roster 2022:
College Wrestling Odds 2022: | Male | Female | |
---|---|---|---|
Number of US High School Wrestlers 2021-22 | 238,924 | 32,616 | |
Number of College Wrestlers (see table below) | 12,377 | 2,052 | |
% of US HS Wrestlers competing at any College Level | 5.2% | 6.3% | |
% of US HS Wrestlers Competing at NCAA I Schools | 1.2% | 0.1% | |
Odds of a US HS Wrestler making any College Roster | 19:1 | 16:1 | |
Odds of a US HS Wrestler making an NCAA I Roster | 86:1 | 709:1 | |
These are the odds of a random US high school wrestler making a college roster. Actual odds are likely better for most athletes motivated to play in college due to several factors: High school participation includes multi-sport athletes who typically play only one sport in college, many high school athletes do not intend to compete at the college level, and unfortunately, a significant portion of high school students – including athletes – do not go on to college. While nearly 70% of 2021 female high school graduates enrolled in college, only 55% of male graduates enrolled in either a 2-year or 4-year school, and as a result males currently represent only about 4 in 10 college students nationwide. See our page on the odds of competing in college for more information.
436 US Colleges sponsor varsity Wrestling teams:
Total # of teams | Total # of Athletes | Average Roster | Scholarship limit | Average | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division : | Schools | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Scholarship | |||||
NCAA I | 80 | 80 | 4 | 2,805 | 46 | 35 | 12 | 9.9 | 10 | 16,761 | |||||
NCAA II | 73 | 70 | 26 | 2,343 | 539 | 33 | 21 | 9 | 10 | 6,233 | |||||
NCAA III | 124 | 122 | 42 | 3,607 | 443 | 30 | 11 | - | - | ||||||
NAIA | 74 | 74 | 41 | 1,869 | 738 | 25 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 8,980 | |||||
NJCAA | 61 | 61 | 19 | 1,276 | 247 | 21 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 1,438 | |||||
Other | 24 | 24 | 3 | 477 | 39 | 20 | 13 | ||||||||
Totals | 436 | 431 | 135 | 12,377 | 2,052 | 29 | 15 |
Wrestling is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships can be awarded to meet the limit per school. For example, an NCAA Division II school can award 18 wrestlers each a 1/2 scholarship and not exceed the limit of 9 per team. See our page on scholarship limits for more information.
Do the Math! The average NCAA Division I men’s team has a roster size of 35 wrestlers but only a maximum of 9.9 athletic scholarships per team are available. This means the average award covers less than 30% of an athlete’s annual college costs.
Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing intercollegiate sports, the governing body for most women’s teams is the Women’s College Wrestling Association. Effective August 1, 2020 Women’s wrestling was approved as an NCAA Emerging Sport for all three NCAA divisions and NAIA Women’s wrestling is now an invitational sport
* Average Athletic Scholarship is the average annual award per athlete for ALL varsity sports sponsored by the specific school. Some athletes receive full awards, some receive partial and many receive none. Additionally some sports within a school may be fully funded, some partially and some sports provide no athletic scholarships. Private schools generally have higher tuition than public schools and the average award will reflect this.
Do you have the skills to compete in College Wrestling?
What level of athlete are coaches looking for and who are you competing with for a roster spot? A good way to get an idea is to look at the high-school bios of wrestlers currently on the roster of schools that interest you.
Stats & Links to all US Colleges sponsoring varsity Wrestling teams:
Hover over individual states on the map below to see how many schools sponsor varsity wrestling programs. The following table has information on each sponsoring school and links to all 436 team sites.
Schools sponsoring varsity Wrestling teams 2022-23
# of Schools with varsity Wrestling teams by State 2022-23
# of Schools with varsity wrestling teams by State 2022-23 | Total | NCAA I | NCAA II | NCAA III | NAIA | NJCAA | CCCAA | Other | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pennsylvania | 45 | 11 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 1 | ||||
California | 30 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 21 | ||||
Iowa | 28 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 6 | ||||
New York | 27 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 5 | |||||
Ohio | 24 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 2 | |||||
Michigan | 19 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Illinois | 18 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 4 | |||||
Kansas | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
Virginia | 16 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
Missouri | 14 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | |||||
Totals | 436 | - | 80 | 73 | 124 | 74 | 61 | 21 | 3 |