Women’s College Wrestling Association formed to manage women’s college freestyle wrestling

During the fifth annual Women's College Freestyle National Championships, held this past weekend in Oklahoma City, Okla., coaches from the women's college wrestling teams formed a new organization to oversee their sport.

The Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA) was created by a vote of the coaches in attendance.

The coaches voted to name their annual national tournament the WCWA Women's College Freestyle National Championships.

Elected as Commissioner of the WCWA was Kevin Black of River Falls, Wis. Elected as Communications Director for the WCWA was Cisco Cole of Jamestown, N.D.

The WCWA coaches voted unanimously to host their competitions and national championships in freestyle wrestling.

The WCWA coaches voted to change the women's college season, holding the WCWA National Championships at the end of January starting next season. At the conclusion of the regular college season, the teams will participate in the USA Wrestling national women's season beginning each February.

Also approved was the concept of hosting the WCWA Women's College Nationals in the same site for two straight years. The approved rotation for the event, pending scheduling confirmation, is to host the event again next year at Oklahoma City University, followed in the rotation with two years at Missouri Valley College.

The coaches agreed upon eligibility rules for athletes, the scoring system for the national championships, weigh-in procedures and organizational dues, among other topics.

The WCWA plans another meeting this spring at the USA Wrestling University National Championships in Akron, Ohio in April.