Wrestling

The U.S. has a unique system for athletics. Instead of isolating high-potential athletes into training centers for elite athletes, most athletes pursue their sport through college athletics, as governed by the NCAA, NJCAA, or the NAIA.

American athletes, specifically wrestlers, are disadvantaged compared to their international counterparts because they have to balance athletics and academics at the same time– they can’t just focus on wrestling. Just like in high school, athletes in college must stay eligible to compete. Most talented wrestlers who don’t pan out in college fail because of academics or social issues, not because they can’t compete athletically.

On the other hand, the American system provides the ability for athletes to get a college degree and be more prepared to transition to life after sports. In addition, by separating colleges into different divisions, the college-based system also provides a much greater opportunity for athletes of all different levels to continue to play their sport at collegiate level. Thus, wide participation and balance with academics are two unique hallmarks of the American system of athletics.

Playing sports in college is about allowing your pursuit of excellence in your sport to enrich your college experience and to allow you to get a degree to prepare yourself for the transition to life after college. So when you think about wrestling in college, keep the full package in mind. How much do you want to commit to the athletics portion of your college experience? What are your academic and other extracurricular interests and goals? What are your financial limitations and other responsibilities? Your college decision should balance each of these considerations.

College athletics is divided into 5 major divisions. Just like most high school states have separate divisions based on the size of the high school at the state tournament, college athletics is divided into divisions in order to roughly group colleges based on the amount of resources each college is willing to put into athletics. In this way, similarly-resourced teams can compete against each other and colleges can maintain an even playing field.

While there are overlaps between the quality of teams in each division, NCAA Division I universities spend the most resources on athletics and typically recruit the highest ability wrestlers and place the greatest demand on the athlete’s time. NCAA Division I programs have a maximum of 9.9 scholarships to give out. NCAA Division II can give out a maximum of 9 scholarships and NAIA schools have a maximum of 8 scholarships. Read more on wrestling scholarships here. Keep in mind, however, that just because a division allows schools to give out a certain number of scholarships, colleges need to fund those scholarships and not all colleges fund their wrestling teams to the maximum. For example, it is not uncommon for a Division I wrestling team to only have 3.5 scholarships, just because they are not fully funded by their colleges.

NCAA Division III schools are typically smaller, private schools that cannot give out scholarships to athletes. Yes, athletes can qualify for financial aid or academic scholarships, but they are treated just like any students in terms of college affordability.

Finally, NJCAA and the CCCAA represents 2-year community and technical colleges. NJCAA Division I colleges can provide scholarships to cover tuition, fees, and room & board, while Division II colleges can only cover tuition and fees. CCCAA & NJCAA Division III colleges can’t provide any athletic scholarships at all. CCCAA & NJCAA colleges are all two-year colleges, meaning that athletes can only compete for two years while pursuing an associate degree. Many athletes will plan to wrestle two years at a NJCAA school while getting an associates degree and then transfer to a 4-year college at the NCAA Division I, II, or III level or within the NAIA.

Division Overview

NCAA

Division I - athletic scholarships & minimum admissions standards set by the NCAA

Division II - athletic scholarships & minimum admissions standards set by the NCAA

Division III - no athletic scholarships or minimum admissions standards set by the NCAA

NAIA - athletic scholarships & minimum admissions standards set by the NAIA

NJCAA (Divisions I, II, and III) and the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).

Division I & II provide scholarships, while Division III and the CCCAA do not.

Read more on how college athletics is divided into divisions:

NCAA profile of 3 divisions

NCAA Want to Play College Sports

Prep Scholars explaining NCAA Divisions 1:3

Smart Athlete divisional explanation

Most likely yes! If you are passionate about wrestling and want to continue to pursue it in college, than you can likely find a college to do that. The main consideration for wrestling in college is simply your dedication & time commitment. Remember, almost every college wrestler was a high school state placer or at least qualifier. To compete against that level of competition, you will need to commit a huge amount of time to the sport. No matter how good you are, if you don’t love the sport you likely won’t be successful at the next level.

The biggest difference between Big Time Division I wrestling and wrestling in the other divisions is probably the full year commitment. Division I wrestlers are training in high volume, not only during the season, but 10-11 months out of the year. No matter how good you were in high school, to be successful at the DI level you will need to match that training volume.

Top wrestlers in the other divisions may be doing the same thing, but it’s often not as structured or as much of an expectation for the entire team. In fact, for NCAA DIII teams, coaches are not allowed to work with the team on the mat in the off season, though many teams get around this through regional training centers. That doesn’t mean that athletes can’t work out on their own, but the focus is on providing a balanced college experience so that athletes can focus on academics and on other interests.

Generally, at the Big-time Division I level, wrestling will have to be your top priority in order to be able to compete. At the other levels, you will still need to work very hard to be successful, but there is more wiggle room to achieve your full potential in academics and to pursue other interests.

Because college coaches are the best judge of your potential to fit in with a particular team and at a particular level (division), a good strategy is to reach out to a number of college coaches. They will “show” you what level you should be targeting for college athletics.

Taking the initiative to reaching out to coaches yourself is especially important for athletes who are not at the DI ability level. Athletes placing at national tournaments will get a lot of calls from DI coaches. They will be recruited, whether they want to be or not. But tweener and other division athletes need to do more work to get on to coaches radars.

The good news is that getting on coaches' radars is not hard. Simply fill out the recruiting questionnaire on the university website & email the head coach. The email doesn’t have to be long, just a few sentences that include the following information:

• Your name

• High school, state

• Wrestling results (just results at the state tournament)

• Academics (GPA and academic interests (ie. potential major))

• Your phone number so that they can contact you.

If the coach does not respond to you, then they are either not interested or not a good coach. Either way you probably don’t want to wrestle there. Move on to focus on the coaches that do respond to you. We recommend sending emails to approximately 10-15 programs that you may be interested in during the spring of your junior year (after states) through the fall of your senior year.

A coach that is interested in you will maintain fairly consistent contact with you, likely by phone/text. They may watch you wrestle at national/state-level tournaments, and they will try to get you on a campus visit. In the end coaches who are interested in you will try to get you to commit to their school– likely as soon as possible. To do this they will usually have to offer you scholarship money (for Divisions I, II, NAIA, and NJCAA), a slot for admissions (for highly selective institutions). Remember, DIII coaches can’t offer scholarships.

Typically the recruiting process goes something like this:

1. Coach and athlete are introduced. Either the coach reaches out, they are introduced by a high school coach or mutual connection, or the athlete emails the coach.

2. Coaches that are interested will begin texting the athlete and find time for a phone/video call.

3. Coach will try to set up a campus visit for the athlete. An official visit is typically an overnight one where the student stays with current athletes in the dorms. Coaches are not allowed to pay for transportation or food as part of the visit.

4. Coaches will follow athlete’s results throughout the competition season, and make an offer in exchange for an early commitment that the athlete will attend that school (and not apply anywhere else).

   1. For divisions that provide scholarships the coach will typically offer scholarship money to the athletes they are most interested in.

   2. For divisions that don’t provide scholarships, there isn’t much that the coach can offer, except at high selective colleges where they can provide some (often limited) support in the admission process. That limited support is contingent on an early decision application, meaning the athlete can’t apply anywhere else.

Coaches are not interested if:

• They are not in consistent phone/text contact, at least every couple of weeks.

• They did not respond to your outreach email.

• They responded to your outreach email, but sent you information about their summer camps. Coaches make money on summer camps, so the more athletes they have the better for them.

• They responded to your outreach email, but did not follow up with substantial phone contact, offer of a visit, and discussion about scholarship money or an early decision application.

Common mistakes that athletes make is confusing some kind of response or contact with coaches with “being recruited” or a coach being interested. Again if the coach isn’t texting you frequently without prompting from you, hasn’t arranged for an overnight visit to campus, and hasn’t made an offer in exchange for an early commitment, then you aren’t high on their priority list.

Potential college athletes have several aspects to consider: matching their athletic goals with the level of the program and division and the quality of the coach, the academic side of the college, and the total affordability of the college.

Matching your athletic goals with the program

Do you want to start or would you be happy to just be on the team? It’s important to match your athletic level and your dedication with the division & program. A simple rule of thumb is that wrestling at the Division I level is not right for most athletes. To wrestle at the NCAA Division I level a potential athlete should have sufficient wrestling ability and be willing to make wrestling their top priority. Both of those conditions need to be met to play big-time college sports. Otherwise, Division II, III, NAIA, or NJCAA is the right option for most high school athletes looking to wrestle in college.

The coach

Wrestling for a good coach makes all of the difference. However, it’s so hard to know how a coach will be once you actually start college. This is another reason the visit is so important. Make sure you ask the current athletes tough questions about the coaching staff.

The school

Athletes should also consider the “fit” of the university. This includes the location, academics, and other extracurricular opportunities available at the school. The best way to know this is to visit the school, and take an “official” visit where you stay overnight with current athletes, as well as take an official admissions tour.

The financial side

No matter how much you like the school and the coach, the college needs to be affordable for your family. This is a larger challenge for low-income families, and at the DIII level where most schools (though not all) are private and the schools do not give scholarships. Even in divisions where college can provide scholarships, few wrestling scholarships are “full scholarships.” Your family will need to have tough conversations with the coaching staff about the total cost of college once the athletic scholarship, academic scholarships, need-based financial aid have been added together.

Our advice: the athlete should drive the process

Given these factors, use the search at the top of this webpage to narrow down a list of colleges that fit most of these criteria. Start close, searching for colleges in your state or nearby region(s) to find colleges that have wrestling programs in the divisions you are looking for, have the level of selectivity you want, have strong programs in your major of interest, and work for you financially.

Make a list of 10-15 colleges and email each of their coaches. This is the most comprehensive way to drive the recruiting process. It allows you to put your needs first by getting a good idea about the types of colleges you are interested in, while also allowing college coaches to recruit you and to provide you information on how you would fit into their teams.

In three main ways:

• Potential support in the admissions process (this is most important at academically selective colleges)

• Potential financial support through scholarship (but keep in mind that some colleges such as in-state public universities or private colleges with good financial aid or merit scholarship packages may be affordable for you even without athletic scholarships)

• Necessity to clear academic hurdles based on the NCAA clearinghouse (for Divisions I & II).

Everything else is still the same. The athlete still needs to complete the application and apply for financial aid by filing the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile. You still need to make a comprehensive decision that evaluates both the affordability of the college along with the academic and athletic fit.

Mainly, the coach will become your champion at the school. They will help you understand exactly what you need to do and will advise you on how to apply to maximize your chance of admission.

Time, time, time. College is an exciting time with new and more challenging academics and a lot of new social opportunities. However, playing a sport in college will require a significant time commitment. The time commitment increases at higher levels of competition, but the time commitment for college athletics for any level is substantial.

It’s not all about the scholarship

Most wrestling scholarships are not full, meaning not all of the costs of college will be covered. Most families afford college through a combination of athletic and academic scholarships and need-based financial aid. At the NCAA DIII level, there are no athletic scholarships, so affordability will be based on academic scholarships and need-based financial aid, same as any other student.

Keep in mind that for most wrestlers, the best strategy for an affordable college is being a good student and getting academic scholarships.

For low income students, the best strategy for affordability is to be a good student, and to apply to colleges with good financial aid (% of need-met), as well as in-state public universities, or colleges within commuting distance so that you can live at home and not pay room & board fees.

Not getting a fair exchange in terms of what a coach is offering for your commitment

However, at the same time, if a coach has scholarships available and is not offering you one, then they are likely offering that money to somebody else. Coaches need multiple options for each weight class. They have a preferred athlete, who is getting the best deal, and then they have 1-2 other athletes who they can’t give much scholarship money to (because they have a limit of 9 or 9.9 and that money went to the preferred athlete). So they try to sell you on themselves, their program, and how you will become the best wrestler you can be if you attend that program. Keep in mind however, that they are telling the same thing to 1-2 other athletes.

The recruitment process is an exchange between an offer by the coaches and a commitment to attend by the athlete. The coach wants you to commit, but what are they offering in return? This can be scholarship money, an idea of how you will fit in on the team, and/or support in the admissions process. If the coach isn’t offering you anything for your commitment, then they may be trying to get you cheap.

Our advice (if your goal is starting) is to go to a program where you are the preferred athlete (the main target), and not get sold on a program where you are seen as a back-up or an insurance policy in case the preferred athlete falters. Typically athletes grow (improve) the most and have the most fun when they are competitive (winning) against their competition, they are the preferred athlete for their weight class, and they like the college outside of the wrestling room.

Thinking you are being recruited when you are not.

While coaches trying to get you “cheap” is a problem, especially at higher levels, another problem is an athlete who mistakes any kind of communication from a coach as interest.

If the coach isn’t texting you frequently without prompting from you, hasn’t arranged for an overnight visit to campus, and hasn’t made an offer in exchange for an early commitment, then you aren’t high on their priority list.

Coaches are not interested if:

• They are not in consistent phone/text contact, at least every couple of weeks.

• They did not respond to your outreach email.

• They responded to your outreach email, but sent you information about their summer camps. Coaches make money on summer camps, so the more athletes they have the better for them.

• They responded to your outreach email, but did not follow up with substantial phone contact, offer of a visit, and discussion about scholarship money or an early decision application.

• You received mail/email from the college or from the wrestling program advertising camps, clinics, or other events at the college.

Not weighing your priorities and making a wholistic decision

At the end of the day, wrestling is just part of the college experience. You need to decide if it will be the most important part of your college experience, or an equal part of your college experience along with academic and other interests. Our advice is to choose based on your priorities– based on what is most important to you. At the same time, try to find a place(s) that can satisfy most of your requirements. If academics is a priority, than there are plenty of strong academic colleges with strong programs in your major within each athletic division. If wrestling is your top priority than make sure to pick a program where the coach and teammates share your commitment. However, don’t forget about the academic and other dimensions of a college when making your choice. And try to go somewhere where you are the target or preferred athlete at a college where you fit in and where you can pursue a degree that will help you long term.