The 2026 NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships was the 1st annual NCAA Women's Wrestling Championship that took place from March 6–7, 2026 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
McKendree won its first national team title under head coach Alexio Garcia at the inaugural NCAA Women's Wrestling Championship. The Bearcats finished ahead of runner-up Iowa in a closely contested team race, winning 171–166. McKendree entered the championship as the top-ranked team after overtaking Iowa for the No. 1 position in the national coaches poll ahead of nationals.
McKendree and Iowa each crowned three individual national champions. McKendree's Yu Sakamoto, Cameron Guerin, and Tristan Kelly, along with Iowa's Valarie Solorio, Kennedy Blades, and Kylie Welker, won national titles in their respective weight classes. Guerin became the first wrestler in collegiate women's wrestling history to win five national championships. Four additional schools produced individual champions: Lehigh's Audrey Jimenez won the 110-pound title and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler; Quincy's Xochitl Mota-Pettis won at 124 pounds; Grand Valley State's Katerina Lange captured the 138-pound title; and North Central's Bella Mir won the 145-pound championship by fall.
Qualification Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's wrestling, all NCAA women's wrestling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible to compete in a single, unified field. A total of 53 teams were represented in the tournament, with 180 individual wrestlers earning spots through six regional qualifying tournaments. The national qualifiers, individual seedings, and official brackets were revealed in a selection show streamed on NCAA.com on February 27, 2026.
The field of 180 national qualifiers was determined through six regional tournaments held on February 20–21, 2026. The top three finishers in each of the ten weight classes at each regional automatically advanced to the national tournament field. No at-large bids were awarded.
Region Host School Venue LocationRegion 1 Elmira Lecom Event Center Elmira, NY Region 2 West Liberty Academic, Sports & Recreation Complex West Liberty, WV Region 3 Emmanuel Shaw Athletic Center Franklin Springs, GA Region 4 Tiffin Heminger Center Tiffin, OH Region 5 Simpson Cowles Fieldhouse Indianola, IA Region 6 Lindenwood Hyland Arena St. Charles, MO
Participating teams A total of 52 teams qualified individual wrestlers to the national tournament field. Because the event used a unified National Collegiate format, the multi-division tournament field included six schools from Division I and 23 schools each from Divisions II and III.
Adrian (2) Alfred State (1) Allen (1) Augustana (IL) (2) Aurora (3) Bridgeport (1) Carthage (1) Chadron State (3) Colorado Mesa (4) Delaware State (2) Dubuque (2) D'Youville (2) Eastern (5) East Stroudsburg (5) Elmira (2) Emmanuel (GA) (6) Felician (5) Fort Hays State (4) Frostburg State (1) Gannon (1) Grand Valley State (8) Illinois Wesleyan (1) Iowa (10) King (TN) (4) Lehigh (5) Lindenwood (1) Lock Haven (4) Marymount (1) McKendree (10) Mount Olive (5) Mount Union (1) Muhlenberg (1) New England (1) New Jersey City (1) North Central (IL) (10) Northern Michigan (3) Norwich (1) Otterbein (1) Pitt–Johnstown (1) Presbyterian (10) Quincy (4) Sacred Heart (8) Simon Fraser (6) Simpson (2) Tiffin (1) Ursinus (2) Wartburg (7) Western New England (8) West Liberty (4) William Jewell (2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point (2) York (PA) (2)
Team results Rank Team Points McKendree 171.0 Iowa 166.0 North Central (IL) 123.5 4 Grand Valley State 110.5 5 Presbyterian 83.5 6 Lehigh 54.5 7 King (TN) 45.5 8 Colorado Mesa 41.5 9 Quincy 41.0 10 East Stroudsburg 40.0 Sources:
Individual results Weight First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth 103 lbs Val SolorioIowa Rayana SahagunGrand Valley State Genesis RamirezAurora Madison AvilaNorth Central (IL) Trinity PendergrassQuincy Heather CrullMcKendree Alexis WineckeWisconsin-Stevens Point Mia ZunigaColorado Mesa 110 lbs Audrey JimenezLehigh Sage MortimerGrand Valley State Gabriele TedescoMcKendree Nyla ValenciaIowa Teegan SibbleEast Stroudsburg Chloe DearwesterPresbyterian Avery KibelbekKing (TN) Adriana GomezColorado Mesa 117 lbs Yu SakamotoMcKendree Riley RayomeNorth Central (IL) Brianna GonzalezIowa Karissa TurnwallEmmanuel (GA) Carleigh CzerneskiAdrian Jenna AndersonPresbyterian Abigail CooperLehigh Gable HemannWartburg 124 lbs Xochitl Mota-PettisQuincy Shelby MooreMcKendree Sara SternerNorth Central (IL) Lorianna PiestewaColorado Mesa Aspen BlankoGrand Valley State Belle FoardKing (TN) Savannah WittEastern Alyssa MahanPresbyterian 131 lbs Cam GuerinMcKendree Alexis JaniakAurora Aubre KrazerLehigh Cassia ZammitWest Liberty Abigail MozdenMount Union Janida GarciaEmmanuel (GA) Karlee BrooksIowa Makayla PaclibPitt-Johnstown 138 lbs Katerina LangeGrand Valley State Claire DiCugnoNorth Central (IL) Haylie JaffeMcKendree Lilly LuftIowa Kylie RuleWartburg Jacinda EspinosaLindenwood Aine MoffitAugustana (IL) Ruby Julien-NewsomKing (TN) 145 lbs Bella MirNorth Central (IL) Reese LarramendyIowa Liv WieberSimon Fraser Madeline KubickiPresbyterian Annelise ObermarkSimpson Alex SzkotnickiMcKendree Margaret BuurmaGrand Valley State Zoey HainesEastern 160 lbs Kennedy BladesIowa Tiffani BaublitzEast Stroudsburg Stella SteiglerKing (TN) Savannah GomezMcKendree May CuylerPresbyterian Love DaleySacred Heart Keeley KehrliSimpson Noelle GaffneyGrand Valley State 180 lbs Kylie Welker Iowa Destiny RodriguezMcKendree Shenita LawsonNorth Central (IL) Isabella RenfroFort Hays State Isabella PhillipsGannon Azariah MooreLock Haven Paige MaherSimon Fraser Mia GaetjensAdrian 207 lbs Tristan KellyMcKendree Sabrina NaussGrand Valley State Rewa ChababoWartburg Katja OsteenIowa Jayleen SekonaColorado Mesa Caroline WardNorth Central (IL) Maria AionoPresbyterian Josephine LarsonSacred Heart
Finals matches Weight Champion Result Runner-up 103 lbs Val Solorio Iowa TF 13–1 Rayana Sahagun Grand Valley State 110 lbs Audrey Jimenez Lehigh Fall 1:50 Sage Mortimer Grand Valley State 117 lbs Yu Sakamoto McKendree Dec 4–3 Brock Hardy North Central (IL) 124 lbs Xochitl Mota-Pettis Quincy TF 10–0 Shelby Moore McKendree 131 lbs Cam Guerin McKendree Dec 5–5 (Criteria) Alexis Janiak Aurora 138 lbs Katerina Lange Grand Valley State Dec 4–1 Claire DiCugno North Central (IL) 145 lbs Bella Mir North Central (IL) Fall 2:26 Reese Larramendy Iowa 160 lbs Kennedy Blades Iowa Fall 1:19 Tiffani Baublitz East Stroudsburg 180 lbs Kylie Welker Iowa TF 11–0 Destiny Rodriguez McKendree 207 lbs Tristan Kelly McKendree TF 11–0 Sabrina Nauss Grand Valley State
Medal table Rank Team First Second Third Total 1 McKendree 3 2 2 7 2 Iowa 3 1 1 5 3 Grand Valley State 1 3 0 4 4 North Central (IL) 1 2 2 5 5 Lehigh 1 0 1 26 Quincy 1 0 0 17 Aurora 0 1 1 2 8 East Stroudsburg 0 1 0 1 9 King (TN) 0 0 1 1 Simon Fraser 0 0 1 1 Wartburg 0 0 1 1 Totals (11 entries) 10 10 10 30
Awards Award Recipient Team Ref. NCAA Tournament Outstanding Wrestler Audrey Jimenez Lehigh National Tournament Coach of the Year Alexio Garcia McKendree
References