The state of Iowa added to its wrestling legacy with three national team championships in 2026. Iowa has 78 national team titles across five different divisions and nine colleges.

Grand View men’s wrestling has won 14 NAIA team titles over the past 15 seasons, and it was the first for rookie head coach Grant Henderson. Henderson is the 19th head coach from an Iowa college to win a team national title. 

Indian Hills won its second NJCAA championship after becoming the ninth team from Iowa to win a sanctioned national title in 2025

Wartburg won its 17th championship, a record for Division III wrestling programs. 

An Iowa college has won at least one national team wrestling championship for 21 consecutive seasons.

The first Iowa team to win a national championship was Cornell College in 1947. On five occasions (2008, 2009, 2017, 2025, and 2026), three Iowa schools have won national championships in the same year.

The 2023 NAIA Women’s Freestyle Championships were the first sanctioned women’s college championship in the history of wrestling. The NCAA hosted the first sanctioned women’s freestyle wrestling championships in 2026.

NJCAA women's wrestling is still an emerging sport. This year’s tournament was not a sanctioned championship and will be included in a separate list of programs that have won invitational national championships.

Women’s wrestling is scheduled to receive championship designation by the NJCAA during the 2026-27 season. 

The University of Iowa finished second at the 2026 NCAA Women’s Championships. William Penn finished second at the NAIA Women’s Championship, and Grand View was third. 

National team wrestling champions from Iowa schools (9)

1.  Iowa—24
2. Wartburg—17
3. Grand View—14
4. Iowa State—8
5. Iowa Central—8
6. Northern Iowa—3
7. Indian Hill—2
8. Cornell College—1
9. NIACC—1
Total: 78

Division I titles: 33 (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Cornell)
Division II titles: 2 (UNI)
Division III titles: 17 (Wartburg)
NAIA titles: 14 (Grand View)
NJCAA titles: 10 (Iowa Central, NIACC, Indian Hills)
Total: 78

Coaches from Iowa with national team championships (19)

1. Dan Gable (Iowa)—15
2. Nick Mitchell (Grand View)—13
3. Jim Miller (Wartburg)—10
4. Harold Nichols (Iowa State)—6
5. Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central)—6
6. Eric Keller (Wartburg)—7
7.  Tom Brands (Iowa)—4
8.  Jim Zalesky (Iowa)—3
9.  Gary Kurdelmeier (Iowa)—2
10. Chuck Patten (Northern Iowa)—2
11. Cole Spree (Indian Hills)—2
12. Denny Friederichs (Iowa Central)—1
13. Jim Gibbons (Iowa State)—1
14. Dave McCuskey (Northern Iowa)—1
15. Mark Ostrander (Iowa Central)—1
16. Hugo Otopalik (Iowa State)—1
17. Paul Scott (Cornell)—1
18. Kaye Young (NIACC)—1
19. Grant Henderson (Grand View)—1
Total: 78

Iowa’s 21-year streak of a national college wrestling championship

2026: Grand View (NAIA men), Indian Hills (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2025: Grand View (NAIA men), Indian Hills (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2024: Grand View (NAIA men)
2023: Grand View (NAIA men)
2022: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2021: Iowa (D1)
2020: Grand View (NAIA)
2019: Grand View (NAIA)
2018: Grand View (NAIA), Wartburg (D3)
2017: Grand View (NAIA men), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2016: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2015: Grand View (NAIA men), Iowa Central (NJCAA)
2014: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2013: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2012: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2011: Wartburg (D3)
2010: Iowa (D1)
2009: Iowa (DI), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2008: Iowa (DI), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2007: Iowa Central (NJCAA)
2006: Wartburg (D3)

Years with multiple team championships from Iowa

(3) 2008—Iowa (DI), Wartburg (DIII), and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(3) 2009—Iowa (DI), Wartburg (DIII), and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(3) 2017—Wartburg (DIII), Grand View (NAIA), Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(3) 2025—Wartburg (DIII), Grand View (NAIA), Indian Hills (NJCAA)
(3) 2026—Wartburg (DIII), Grand View (NAIA), Indian Hills (NJCAA)
(2) 1973—Iowa State (DI) and NIACC (NJCAA)
(2) 1975—Iowa (DI) and Northern Iowa (DII)
(2) 1978—Iowa (DI) and Northern Iowa (DII)
(2) 1981—Iowa (DI) and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(2) 1996—Iowa (DI) and Wartburg (DIII)
(2) 1999—Iowa (DI) and Wartburg (DIII)
(2) 2006—Wartburg (DIII) and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(2) 2012—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2013—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2014—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2015—Iowa Central (NJCAA) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2016—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2018—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2022—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)

Iowa—24 titles (Division I)

1.  1975 (Gary Kurdelmeier)
2.  1976 (Gary Kurdelmeier)
3.  1978 (Dan Gable)
4.  1979 (Dan Gable)
5.  1980 (Dan Gable)
6.  1981 (Dan Gable)
7.  1982 (Dan Gable)
8.  1983 (Dan Gable)
9.  1984 (Dan Gable)
10. 1985 (Dan Gable)
11. 1986 (Dan Gable)
12. 1991 (Dan Gable)
13. 1992 (Dan Gable)
14. 1993 (Dan Gable)
15. 1995 (Dan Gable)
16. 1996 (Dan Gable)
17. 1997 (Dan Gable)
18. 1998 (Jim Zalesky)
19. 1999 (Jim Zalesky)
20. 2000 (Jim Zalesky)
21. 2008 (Tom Brands)
22. 2009 (Tom Brands)
23. 2010 (Tom Brands)
24. 2021 (Tom Brands)

Wartburg—17 titles (Division III)

1.  1996 (Jim Miller)
2.  1999 (Jim Miller)
3.  2003 (Jim Miller)
4.  2004 (Jim Miller)
5.  2006 (Jim Miller)
6.  2008 (Jim Miller)
7.  2009 (Jim Miller)
8.  2011 (Jim Miller)
9.  2012 (Jim Miller)
10. 2013 (Jim Miller)
11. 2014 (Eric Keller)
12. 2016 (Eric Keller)
13. 2017 (Eric Keller)
14. 2018 (Eric Keller)
15. 2022 (Eric Keller)
16. 2025 (Eric Keller)
17. 2026 (Eric Keller)

Grand View—14 titles (NAIA)

1.  2012 (Nick Mitchell)
2.  2013 (Nick Mitchell)
3. 2014 (Nick Mitchell)
4. 2015 (Nick Mitchell)
5. 2016 (Nick Mitchell)
6. 2017 (Nick Mitchell)
7. 2018 (Nick Mitchell)
8. 2019 (Nick Mitchell)
9. 2020 (Nick Mitchell)
10. 2022 (Nick Mitchell)
11. 2023 (Nick Mitchell)
12. 2024 (Nick Mitchell)
13. 2025 (Nick Mitchell)
14. 2026 (Grant Henderson)

Iowa State—eight titles (Division I)

1.  1933 (Hugo Otopalik)
2.  1965 (Harold Nichols)
3.  1969 (Harold Nichols)
4.  1970 (Harold Nichols)
5.  1972 (Harold Nichols)
6.  1973 (Harold Nichols)
7.  1977 (Harold Nichols)
8.  1987 (Jim Gibbons)

Iowa Central—eight titles (JUCO)

1.  1981 (Denny Friederichs)
2.  2002 (Mark Ostrander)
3.  2006 (Luke Moffitt)
4.  2007 (Luke Moffitt)
5.  2008 (Luke Moffitt)
6.  2009 (Luke Moffitt)
7. 2015 (Luke Moffitt)
8. 2017 (Luke Moffitt)

Northern Iowa—three titles (one Division I, two Division II)

1.  1950 (Division I) (Dave McCuskey)
2.  1975 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)
3.  1978 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)

Indian Hills—two titles (NJCAA)

1. 2025 (Cole Spree)
2. 2026 (Cole Spree)

Cornell—one title (Division I)

1.  1947 (Paul Scott)

North Iowa Area Community College—one title (NJCAA)

1.  1973 (Kaye Young)

Invitational Titles (not included in championship total)

1. 2023 (Cole Spree), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women
2. 2024 (Cole Spree), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women
3. 2024 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships
4. 2025 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships
5. 2025 (Darren Wynn), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women
6. 2026 (Darren Wynn), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women