NCAA D1 History
NCAA D1 is considered the “highest” level of 4-year collegiate athletic competition. It became ‘D1’ in 1973 when the University and Collegiate divisions were renamed. It was previously called the University division starting in 1962. Prior to that, it was just called NCAA as all institutions competed without distinction.
NCAA Established
Wrestling becomes 3rd sponsored sport
First NCAA Wrestling National Championship
Hosted by Iowa State and won unofficially by Oklahoma State. Format: 7 weights with 3 placers. No team scores.
First 3x Champ
Earl McCready of Oklahoma State becomes the first 3x National Champ.
First OW
Edwin Belshaw of Indiana earns the first OW award by winning the 134 National Title.
No National Championship
Due to WW2 no wrestling championship was held for 3 years
Cornell wins
Cornell College of Iowa becomes the first and only non-D1 institution to win the team title
First back-to-back OW
Bill Koll of Cornell (IA) wins his 2nd consecutive OW award after winning his 3rd straight title.
NAIA Champ
Gray Simons of Lock Haven is the first NAIA wrestler to win a D1 title.
Split DIvisions
NCAA splits the national championship into University (D1) and Collegiate divisions (D2)
D2 Champ
Bill Dotson is the first to win the D1 title as a D2 (collegiate division) wrestler.
Freshman allowed
Freshman eligibility is approved allowing them to compete at the 1968 tournament
D3 Champ
Ken Mallory of Montclair State became the first D3 wrestler to win a D1 title winning at 134.
4xer
Pat Smith of Oklahoma State is the first to win 4 with his title win at 158.
Undefeated x4
Cael Sanderson becomes the first wrestler to be an undefeated 4x Champ. He also won his 4th straight OW award.
4 different weights
Kyle Dake becomes the first to win at 4 different weights (and 3) with his title at 165 after his first came at 141.
Tournament Canceled
The National tournament is canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
5X
Carter Starocci of Penn State becomes the first wrester to win 5 national titles.