The state of Iowa added to its wrestling legacy by adding another national team championship to its total in 2023. Iowa now has a staggering 71 national team titles between five different divisions and eight different colleges.

Grand View men’s wrestling won its 11th NAIA team title over the past 12 seasons.

A college from Iowa has won at least one national team championship in wrestling for the past 18 seasons.

The first Iowa team to win a national championship was Cornell College in 1947. On three occasions (2008, 2009, and 2017), three Iowa schools 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 continues to take steps toward sanctioned status while the NJCAA (junior colleges) hosted an invitational tournament.

According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the NJCAA is an emerging sport. That means 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.

The NJCAA office said this about the tournament: “We did not refer to this year’s event as a championship. It was an NJCAA-sanctioned invitational tournament.”

Grand View University placed third at this year’s NAIA Women’s Championships, while Iowa Wesleyan placed seventh. Iowa Wesleyan’s Adaugo Nwachukwu won the 136-pound title, which makes her the first woman from an Iowa college to win a sanctioned college championship.

Four schools (Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa) have produced 122 individuals who have won at least one NCAA Division I title. Below are all of Iowa's team champions and individual NCAA Division I champions from Iowa programs. 

National team wrestling champions from Iowa schools (8 teams)
1.  Iowa—24
2. Wartburg—15
3. Grand View—11
4. Iowa State—8
5. Iowa Central—8
6. Northern Iowa—3
7. Cornell College—1
8. NIACC—1

Total: 71

NCAA Division I titles: 33 (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Cornell)
NCAA Division II titles: 2 (UNI)
NCAA Division III titles: 15 (Wartburg)
NAIA titles: 11 (Grand View)
NJCAA titles: 9 (Iowa Central, NIACC)

Total: 71

Coaches from Iowa with national team championships (17 coaches)
1.  Dan Gable (Iowa)—15
2.  Nick Mitchell (Grand View)—11
3.  Jim Miller (Wartburg)—10
4.  Harold Nichols (Iowa State)—6
5.  Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central)—6
6. Eric Keller (Wartburg)—5
7.  Tom Brands (Iowa)—4
8.  Jim Zalesky (Iowa)—3
9.  Gary Kurdelmeier (Iowa)—2
10.  Chuck Patten (Northern Iowa)—2
11. Denny Friederichs (Iowa Central)—1
12. Jim Gibbons (Iowa State)—1
13. Dave McCuskey (Northern Iowa)—1
14. Mark Ostrander (Iowa Central)—1
15. Hugo Otopalik (Iowa State)—1
16. Paul Scott (Cornell)—1
17. Kaye Young (NIACC)—1

Total: 71

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),
(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 (NCAA 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—15 titles (NCAA 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)

Iowa State—eight titles (NCAA 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)

NOTE: In 2010, Iowa Central placed first in Division I (scholarship) standings at the NJCAA national championships but placed second in the overall standings to Harper (non-scholarship). Harper is recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association as a team champion; therefore, Iowa Central is not recognized as a team champion in 2010 in this listing.

Grand View—11 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)

Northern Iowa—three titles (one NCAA Division I, two NCAA Division II)
1.  1950 (Division I) (Dave McCuskey)
2.  1975 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)
3.  1978 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)

Cornell—one title (NCAA 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

Individual Division I NCAA Wrestling Champions From Iowa Schools

Iowa (54)

Royce Alger (1987, 1988)
Ed Banach (1980, 1981, 1983)
Lou Banach (1981, 1983)
Leslie Beers (1928)
Jay Borschel (2010)
Terry Brands (1990, 1992)
Tom Brands (1990, 1991, 1992)
Pete Bush (1982)
Chris Campbell (1976, 1977)
Rico Chiapparelli (1987)
Cory Clark (2017)
Jim Craig (1959)
Barry Davis (1982, 1983, 1985)
Kevin Dresser (1986)
Lee Fullhart (1997)
Duane Goldman (1986)
Richard Govig (1954)
Jim Heffernan (1986)
Dan Holm (1975)
Mark Ironside (1997, 1998)
Eric Juergens (2000, 2001)
Bruce Kinseth (1979)
Marty Kistler (1985, 1986)
Gary Kurdelmeier (1958)
Spencer Lee (2018, 2019, 2021)
Kenneth Leuer (1956)
Randy Lewis (1979, 1980)
Terry McCann (1955, 1956)
Matt McDonough (2010, 2012)
Jeff McGinness (1995, 1998)
Lincoln McIlravy (1993, 1994, 1997)
Brent Metcalf (2008, 2010)
Steve Mocco (2003)
Cliff Moore (2004)
Brad Penrith (1986)
Mark Perry (2007, 2008)
Tony Ramos (2014)
Mark Reiland (1991)
Simon Roberts (1957)
Joe Scarpello (1947, 1950)
Doug Schwab (1999)
Joel Sharratt (1994)
Dan Sherman (1973)
Brad Smith (1976)
Derek St. John (2013)
Terry Steiner (1993)
Troy Steiner (1992)
Sherwyn Thorson (1962)
Daryl Weber (1996)
Jessie Whitmer (1997)
Joe Williams (1996, 1997, 1998)
Chuck Yagla (1975, 1976)
Bill Zadick (1996)
Jim Zalesky (1982, 1983, 1984)

Iowa State (50)

Carl Adams (1971, 1972)
Les Anderson (1958, 1960)
Dale Bahr (1968)
Rich Binek (1973)
Chris Bono (1996)
Glen Brand (1948)
Nate Carr (1981, 1982, 1983)
David Carr (2021)
Stewart Carter (1987)
Richard Cole (1931)
Kevin Darkus (1984)
Merrill Frevert (1933)
Dan Gable (1968, 1969)
Kyven Gadson (2015)
Nate Gallick (2006)
Jim Gibbons (1981)
Joe Gibbons (1985)
Ron Gray (1958, 1959)
Gordon Hassman (1964)
Larry Hayes (1959, 1960, 1961)
Joe Heskett (2002)
Robert Hess (1932, 1933)
Art Holding (1928)
Aaron Holker (2002)
Chuck Jean (1969, 1970)
Bill Kelly (1987)
Tim Krieger (1987, 1989)
Mike Land (1978)
Hugh Linn (1930)
Veryl Long (1965)
Vic Marcucci (1967)
George Martin    (1933)
Dave Martin (1970)
Al Nacin (1975)
Trent Paulson (2007)
Tom Peckham (1965, 1966)
Ben Peterson (1971, 1972)
Jon Reader (2011)
Zach Roberson (2004)
Cael Sanderson (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
Frank Santana (1977)
Jason Smith (1969, 1970)
Chris Taylor (1972, 1973)
Mike Van Arsdale (1988)
Jake Varner (2009, 2010)
Eric Voelker (1987, 1989)
Kelly Ward (1979)
Barry Weldon (1997)
Reg Wicks (1968)
David Zabriskie (2010)

Northern Iowa (14)

Ray Cheney (1937)
Cecil Mott (1946)
Gerry Leeman (1946)
Bill Koll (1946, 1947, 1948)
Russ Bush (1947)
Bill Nelson (1947, 1949, 1950)
Keith Young (1949, 1950, 1951)
Bill Smith (1949, 1950)
Gene Lybbert (1952)
Bill Weick (1952, 1956)
Jim Harmon (1953)
Bill Dotson (1963)
Tony Davis (2000)
Drew Foster (2019)

Cornell College (4)

Dale Brand (1937)
Dick Hauser (1947)
Lowel Lange (1947, 1949, 1950)
Walter Romanowski (1951)