The NCAA women’s wrestling season is moving into its post-season this weekend, with the hosting of the six NCWWC Regional Championships.

These Regionals serve as qualifiers for the 2024 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships, scheduled for March 8-9 at the prestigious Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top four wrestlers in each weight class from the Regionals will advance to Cedar Rapids. True fourth-place matches will be held, if the fourth and fifth place finishers did not meet in the tournament. Each team can bring 15 athletes to the Regionals.

With the growth of NCAA women’s wrestling, there is one more Regional than last year, meaning the Regional team assignments have changed. All of the 58 teams competing must have met the NCAA required minimums for participation and competition. The Regions are broken up based upon their geographic location.

In 2023, the five Regional team champions were Sacred Heart, King, UW-Stevens Point, North Central and Colorado Mesa. North Central College is the defending NCWWC national team champions.

Heading into Regionals, the top five ranked teams are No. 1 North Central, No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 King, No. 4 McKendree and No. 5 Colorado Mesa.

We take a closer look at each of the six regions, with national team rankings, nationally ranked entries and 2023 Regional champions.

Region I: Lock Haven University | Saturday, Feb. 24

Teams Entered: Alvernia University, Cedar Crest College, Delaware Valley University, No. 20 (tie) East Stroudsburg University, No. 22 (tie) Elmira College, No. 8 Lock Haven University, New England College, No. 10 New Jersey City University, No. 7 Sacred Heart University, Ursinus College, Western New England College, York College of Pennsylvania

Ranked Athletes: Kaelani Shufelt of Lock Haven (No. 5 at 109), Grace Stem of Lock Haven (No. 5 at 143), Sandra Guerrero of New Jersey City (No. 5 at 191), Izabella Frezzo of New Jersey City (No. 6 at 116), Alexandra Fitzgerald of Sacred Heart (No. 6 at 123), Love Daley of Sacred Heart (No. 7 at 170), Madison Sandquist of Sacred Heart (No. 8 at 155), Cara Broadus of Sacred Heart (No. 7 at 170), Olivia Klein of East Stroudsburg (No. 9 at 101), Mia Macaluso of East Stroudsburg (No. 9 at 123), Aaliyah Payne-Parris of Sacred Heart (No. 10 at 101), Zoe Gress of East Stroudsburg (No. 10 at 130), Zoe Lints of Elmira (No. 10 at 143), Stella Steigler of Lock Haven (No. 10 at 170)

2023 Regional champions: Aaliyah Payne-Parris (Sacred Heart, 101), Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven, 109), Emily Klein (East Stroudsburg, 116), Lillian Sherer (Lock Haven, 130), Grace Stem (Lock Haven, 143), Madison Sandquist (Sacred Heart, 155)

Region I Summary: This is the largest regional with 12 teams including five ranked teams: No. 7 Sacred Heart, No. 8 Lock Haven, No. 10 New Jersey City, No. 20 East Stroudsburg and No. 22 Elmira. The two highest ranked wrestlers in the nation from this region are both from Lock Haven, with No. 5 rankings: Kaelani Shufelt (109) and Grace Stem (143). There is a lot of balance in this regional, meaning that it will be difficult for any one team to easily qualify a large number of athletes for nationals.

Region II: Emmanuel College | Friday, Feb. 23

Teams Entered: Bluefield State College, No. 20 (tie) Emmanuel College, Emory & Henry College, Huntingdon College, No. 3 King University, Mount Olive University, No. 11 (tie) Presbyterian College, Southern Virginia University

Ranked Athletes: Samara Chavez of King (No. 1 at 116), Victoria Baez-Dilone of King (No. 1 at 130), Chey Bowman of King (No. 2 at 155), Virginia Foard of King (No. 3 at 123), Danielle Garcia of King (No. 4 at 109), Melanie Mendoza of King (No. 5 at 116), Montana Delawder of King (No. 4 at 123), Tiffani Baublitz of King (No. 5 at 170), Jessica Corredor of King (No. 6 at 101), Claire DiCugno of King (No. 6 at 136), Alexa Garcia of King (No. 7 at 191), Avery Kibelbek of King (No. 8 at 101), Karissa Turnwall of Emmanuel (No. 8 at 116), Alyssa Mahan of Presbyterian (No. 8 at 123), Cassia Zammit of Presbyterian (No. 8 at 130), Henlee Haynes of Presbyterian (No. 8 at 170), Madeline Kubicki of Presbyterian (No. 9 at 143), Ella Beam of Presbyterian (No. 10 at 191).

2023 Regional champions: Jessica Corredor (King, 101) , Samara Chavez (King, 116) , Montana Delawder (King, 130), Tiffani Baublitz (King, 155), Cheyenne Bowman (King, 170)

Region II Summary: This regional, with teams based in the South, has eight programs, with three ranked teams: No. 3 King, No. 11 Presbyterian and No. 20 Emmanuel. There are two No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the nation in this region, both from King, Samara Chavez (116) and Victoria Baez-Dillone (130). Last year, King was able to win all 10 weight classes at its regional and qualified a full 15-athlete team for nationals. Presbyterian has a number of talented young athletes looking for a big breakthrough in their freshmen seasons. What will be interesting is how many athletes from the new programs will be able to punch their ticket to the national tournament.

Region III: Gannon University | Saturday, Feb. 24

Teams Entered: Adrian College, Albion College, Alma College, D'Youville University, Frostburg State University, Gannon University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, No. 16 (tie) Tiffin University, Trine University

Ranked Athletes: Jenavi Alejandro of Tiffin (No. 6 at 109)

2023 Regional champions: Jenavi Alejandro (Tiffin, 101), Clarissa Agostini (Adrian, 143), Annabelle Helm (Gannon, 170)

Region III summary: This region includes 10 teams, but only one ranked team, No. 16 Tiffin. The national rankings are based upon individual tournament rankings, so the only Region III entry with a current national ranking is 2023 NCWWC runner-up Jenavi Alejandro of Tiffin (No. 6 at 109). That doesn’t mean there won’t be some great wrestling at this regional. Adrian, Gannon and Tiffin were top 20 programs last year, and many of the teams have some excellent young athletes on their roster. There will be prime opportunity for wrestlers to punch their ticket to Cedar Rapids and showcase themselves and their programs at the nationals.

Region IV: North Central College | Sunday, Feb. 25

Teams Entered: No. 14 Augsburg University, Augustana College, No. 9 Aurora University, No. 22 (tie) Carthage College, Lakeland University, No. 1 North Central College, No. 15 Northern Michigan University, University of Dubuque, No. 18 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Ranked Athletes: Kendra Ryan of North Central (No. 1 at 109), Yele Aycock of North Central (No. 1 at 136), Alara Boyd of North Central (No. 1 at 143), Brittyn Corbishley of North Central (No. 1 at 191), Sydney Petzinger of North Central (No. 2 at 116), Amani Jones of North Central (No. 2 at 123), Yelena Makoyed of North Central (No. 2 at 170), Traeh Haynes of North Central (No. 2 at 191), Jaslynn Gallegos of North Central (No. 3 at 109), Alexis Janiak of Aurora (No. 3 at 130), London Houston of North Central (No. 3 at 155), Maddie Avila of North Central (No. 4 at 101), Salome Walker of North Central (No. 4 at 130), Nina Makem of Augsburg (No. 4 at 155), Asia Nguyen-Smith of North Central (No. 5 at 123), Tiara Jimerson of North Central (No. 6 at 155), Taylor Graveman of North Central (No. 7 at 136), Alyssa Catagirone of Northern Michigan (No. 7 at 143), Noelle Gaffney of Northern Michigan (No. 7 at 155), Amor Tuttle of UW-Stevens Point (No. 8 at 136), Marisa Angelos of Northern Michigan (No. 8 at 143), Tasha Markoutsis of Aurora (No. 9 at 136), Jade Herzer of UW-Stevens Point (No. 9 at 170), Sydney Manos of Aurora (No. 9 at 191), Natalie Majer of Carthage (No. 10 at 109)

2023 Regional champions: Alexis Winecke (UW-Stevens Point, 109), Rose Ann Marshall (UW-Stevens Point, 116), Amani Jones (North Central, 123), Abby Nelson (UW-Stevens Point, 123), Alexis Janiak (Aurora, 130), Amor Tuttle (UW-Stevens Point, 130), Yele Aycock (North Central, 143), Yelena Makoyed (North Central, 170), Tabitha Breitrick (UW-Stevens Point, 170), Traeh Haynes (North Central, 191)

Region IV Summary: Returning NCWWC champion and No. 1 ranked North Central leads this field of nine teams, with six of them holding national team rankings. Other ranked teams are No. 9 Aurora, No. 14 Augsburg, No. 15 Northern Michigan, No. 18 UW-Stevens Point, and No. 22 Carthage. North Central has more than 15 past All-Americans on its roster, so picking the 15 athletes for post-season will be a tough decision. UW-Stevens Point was a regional team champion last year, and has five 2023 Regional champions on the roster, but they were not in the same regional as North Central. With 25 ranked athletes in the field and four with No. 1 rankings, earning a qualification to the nationals is going to be very tough. There could be some talented athletes left at home in some of the more loaded weight classes.

Region V: Simpson College | Friday, Feb. 23

Teams Entered: Buena Vista University, Eureka College, No. 22 (tie) Lindenwood University, No. 4 McKendree University, Quincy University, Simpson College, No. 2 University of Iowa, No. 16 (tie) Wartburg College, No. 11 (tie) William Jewell College

Ranked Athletes: Emilie Gonzalez of Iowa (No. 1 at 101), Shelby Moore of McKendree (No. 1 at 123), Marlynne Deede of Iowa (No. 1 at 155), Kylie Welker of Iowa (No. 1 at 170), Sterling Dias of Iowa (No. 2 at 101), Ava Bayless of Iowa (No. 2 at 109), Cameron Guerin of McKendree (No. 2 at 130), Reese Larramendy of Iowa (No. 2 at 143), Brianna Gonzalez of Iowa (No. 3 at 116), Athena Wilden of William Jewell (No. 3 at 143), Haley Ward (No. 3 at 170), Jaycee Foeller of Iowa (No. 3 at 191), Felicity Taylor of Iowa (No. 4 at 116), Ella Schmit of Iowa (No. 4 at 143), Tristan Kelly of McKendree (No. 4 at 170), Lizette Rodriguez of McKendree (No. 5 at 101), Alex Szkotnicki of McKendree (No. 5 at 136), Viktorya Torres of McKendree (No. 6 at 143), Kylie Rule of Wartburg (No. 6 at 130), Jennifer Soto of McKendree (No. 7 at 130), Alivia White of Iowa (No. 8 at 191), Alyssa Valdivia of William Jewell (No. 9 at 109), Julia Vidallon of McKendree (No. 9 at 116), Emily Frost of Iowa (No. 9 at 130), Bella Mir of Iowa (No. 9 at 155), Caitlyn Thorne of Lindenwood (No. 10 at 116), Nicole Moore of McKendree (No. 10 at 123), Lilly Luft of Iowa (No. 10 at 136)

2023 Regional champions: Payton Stroud (McKendree, 116), Marlynne Deede (Augsburg, 155 now at Iowa University)

Region V Summary: This 9-team regional has five ranked teams: No. 2 Iowa, No. 4 McKendree, No. 11 William Jewell, No. 16 Wartburg and No. 22 Lindenwood. A majority of Iowa’s team will be competing in their first post-season, but past NCWWC national champions and transfers Felicity Taylor (116) and Marlynne Deede (155) bring experience to the team. This region has the most nationally ranked athletes with 28, another indication of the strength of this field. Four of the wrestlers in the field are ranked No 1 nationally. McKendree won the first three NCWWC team titles, before placing third last year. The battle for the fourth qualifier in some weights should be intense.

Region VI: Texas Woman's University | Sunday, Feb. 25

Teams Entered: Adams State University, Chadron State College, No. 5 Colorado Mesa University, Linfield University, Minot State University, No. 13 Pacific University, No. 19 Schreiner University, No. 6 Simon Fraser University, Texas Woman's University, University of Sioux Falls

Ranked Athletes: Jade Trolland of Simon Fraser (No. 2 at 136), Jennesis Martinez of Colorado Mesa (No. 3 at 101), Audrey Diaz of Pacific (No. 3 at 136), Holly Beaudoin of Colorado Mesa (No. 4 at 136), Jayleen Sekora of Colorado Mesa (No. 4 at 191), Marqueis Haintz of Simon Fraser (No. 5 at 130), Dalia Garibay of Colorado Mesa (No. 5 at 155), Odelia Lopez of Schreiner (No. 7 at 101), Isabella Morales of Colorado Mesa (No. 7 at 109), Kiely Tabaldo of Colorado Mesa (No. 7 at 116), Victoria Seal of Simon Fraser (No. 7 at 123), Julia Richey of Simon Fraser (No. 7 at 191), Ivy Threatful of Simon Fraser (No. 8 at 109), Paige Maher of Simon Fraser (No. 10 at 155)

2023 Regional champions: Jennesis Martinez (Colorado Mesa, 101), Victoria Seal (Simon Fraser, 116), Hailey Chapman (Colorado Mesa, 130), Holly Beaudoin (Colorado Mesa, 136), Dalia Garibay (Colorado Mesa, 155)

Region VI Summary: Seven of the teams in Region VI this year were in Region V last year, meaning they should be very familiar with each other. This region has 10 teams, including four ranked programs: No. 5 Colorado Mesa, No. 6 Simon Fraser, No. 13 Pacific and No. 19 Schreiner. Five of these teams met in the first RMAC Championships in early February. Five 2023 Regional champions are on the rosters of the programs in this region. While Colorado Mesa comes in as the favorite, Simon Fraser has traditionally had strong individuals who score big points in tournaments. There is some excellent depth in this event, meaning it will be difficult in some weight classes to earn a berth in the nationals.

Six NCWWC Regionals are this weekend, qualifying NCAA women for the national championships

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