NAIA Women’s Wrestling Invitational to Remain at Jamestown

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that it has come to an agreement with Jamestown (N.D.) to continue as the host of the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Invitational through the 2021 invitational.

The two-year extension will guarantee the invitational to Jamestown in both 2020 and 2021 after a successful inaugural invitational in 2019. Though weather shortened the schedule by a day, the institution was able to put together a well-run tournament which crowned Menlo (Calif.) at the champion.

“Jamestown did an excellent job hosting the NAIA’s inaugural women’s wrestling national invitational and put significant effort into making the event special for our student-athletes. We look forward to returning,” said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr.

The annual event features 250 student-athletes who compete at their respective weight class in a double-elimination, wrestle-back format. 10 individual champions are crowned along with a team champion on the final day.

“On behalf of the University of Jamestown and our local organizing committee, we are thrilled to again host the NAIA Women’s Wrestling Invitational at Harold Newman Arena.  The opportunity for this tournament to serve as a U.S. Olympic Team Trial qualifier increases the prestige of the event.   Our community has embraced the opportunity to host some of the top student-athletes in the country and we are excited to play a part the continued growth of women’s wrestling.”

Women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the NAIA. The sport has grown tremendously in the past four years from just a handful of institutions that sponsored it to nearly 30 today. Continued growth at this rate could signal the sport’s movement from invitational to championship status in the next few years. Invitational distinction indicates that sport has enough schools to support it, is developing administrative rules and is on the path to becoming a championship. 

For more information on becoming a host for an NAIA Championship, click HERE!