The state of Iowa increased its wrestling legacy by adding three national team championships in 2025. Iowa has 75 national team titles between five divisions and nine colleges.

Grand View men’s wrestling won its 13th NAIA team title over the past 14 seasons.

Indian Hills won its first NJCAA championships, becoming the ninth team from Iowa to win a sanctioned national team title.

Wartburg tied Johnson & Wales for the 2025 Division III title, yielding the team’s 16th championship.

Cole Spree is the 18th Iowa coach to win a sanctioned national college wrestling title.

A college from Iowa has won at least one national team championship in wrestling for the past 20 seasons.

Cornell College was the first Iowa team to win a national championship in 1947. Three Iowa schools have won national championships in the same year on four occasions (2008, 2009, 2017, and 2025).

The 2023 NAIA Women’s Freestyle Championships were the first sanctioned women’s college championship. The NCAA sanctioned women’s freestyle wrestling as its 91st sport for the 2025-26 season.

According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the NJCAA women is an emerging sport. 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: “We did not refer to this year’s event as a championship. It was an NJCAA-sanctioned invitational tournament.”

The University of Iowa finished first at the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships with three champions. Grand View finished second at the NAIA Women’s Freestyle Championships and William Penn was fourth.

National team wrestling champions from Iowa schools (9 teams).

1.  Iowa—24
2. Wartburg Men's Wrestling—16
3. Grand View Wrestling—13
4. Iowa State—8
5. Iowa Central—8
6. Northern Iowa—3
7. Cornell College—1
8. NIACC—1
9. Indian Hills—1
Total: 75

Division I titles: 33 (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Cornell)
Division II titles: 2 (UNI)
Division III titles: 16 (Wartburg)
NAIA titles: 13 (Grand View)
NJCAA titles: 9 (Iowa Central, NIACC, Indian Hills)
Total: 75

Coaches from Iowa with national team championships (18 coaches)

1.  Dan Gable (Iowa)—15
2.  Nick Mitchell (Grand View)—13
3.  Jim Miller (Wartburg)—10
4.  Harold Nichols (Iowa State)—6
5.  Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central)—6
6. Eric Keller (Wartburg)—6
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
18. Cole Spree (Indian Hills)—1
Total: 75

Iowa’s 20-year streak of a national college wrestling championship

2025: Grand View (NAIA men), Indian Hills (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2024: Grand View (NAIA men)
2023: Grand View (NAIA men)
2022: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2021: Iowa (D1)
2020: Grand View (NAIA)
2019: Grand View (NAIA)
2018: Grand View (NAIA), Wartburg (D3)
2017: Grand View (NAIA men), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2016: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2015: Grand View (NAIA men), Iowa Central (NJCAA)
2014: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2013: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2012: Grand View (NAIA men), Wartburg (D3)
2011: Wartburg (D3)
2010: Iowa (D1)
2009: Iowa (DI), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2008: Iowa (DI), Iowa Central (NJCAA), Wartburg (D3)
2007: Iowa Central (NJCAA)
2006: Wartburg (D3)

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)
(3) 2025—Wartburg (DIII), Grand View (NAIA), Indian Hills (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 (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—16 titles (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)
16. 2025 (Eric Keller)

Grand View—13 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)
12. 2024 (Nick Mitchell)
13. 2025 (Nick Mitchell)

Iowa State—eight titles (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 (NJCAA)

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 the 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 team champion; therefore, Iowa Central is not being recognized as a team champion in 2010 in this listing.

Northern Iowa—three titles (one Division I, two Division II)

1.  1950 (Division I) (Dave McCuskey)
2.  1975 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)
3.  1978 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)

Cornell—one title (Division I)

1.  1947 (Paul Scott)

North Iowa Area Community College—one title (NJCAA)

1.  1973 (Kaye Young)

Indian Hills—one title (NJCAA)

1. 2025 (Cole Spree)

Invitational Titles (not included in championship total)

1. 2023 (Cole Spree), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women
2. 2024 (Cole Spree), Indian Hills, NJCAA Women
3. 2024 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships
4. 2025 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships
5. 2025 (Cole Spree), NJCAA Women

National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships

1. 2024 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, NCWWC
2. 2025 (Clarissa Chun), Iowa, NCWWC