Courtesy: Grand View Athletics
Courtesy: Grand View Athletics

2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship Allocations Announced

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the allocations for the 69th Annual NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships, held March 5-7, 2026, at Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, Kansas.

Each conference tournament was awarded automatic bids per weight class based on the final regular-season rating, which can be seen HERE. Each conference is awarded automatic berths based on the number of wrestlers ranked in each weight class. Every conference receives a minimum of one automatic bid per weight class, which will be awarded to the tournament champions, even if the conference did not have any wrestlers ranked in the final regular-season rating. If a conference does not have an individual ranked in the top 25 an allocation will be deducted from the 7 national at-large at that weight class.

 Conference 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 285 Total Conference Allocations
Appalachian Athletic Conference 2 2 4 4 2 5 7 4 5 5 40
Cascade Collegiate Conference 6 3 6 4 6 4 6 3 4 5 47
Great Plains Athletic Conference 2 5 1 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 25
Heart of America Athletic Conference 4 6 6 6 4 6 2 2 5 5 46
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 16
Mid-South Conference 2 3 5 3 4 2 3 8 3 4 37
Sooner Athletic Conference 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 15
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference 4 4 2 5 3 2 3 1 2 2 28
Total Allocations per Weight Class 25 25 26 26 25 25 26 25 25 26 254

Below are allocation adjustments based on not having an individual ranked in the top 25. 

141 - Sooner Athletic Conference Champ takes at-large, 6 at-large remaining
149 - KCAC Conference Champ takes at-large, 6 at-large remaining
174 - KCAC Conference Champ takes at-large, 6 at-large remaining
285 - KCAC Conference Champ takes at-large, 6 at-large remaining

A total of 254 automatic qualifiers will move forward after the conference tournaments. Additionally, 66 at-large selections will be made, three from each weight class.

After the conference tournaments have concluded, a 16-member committee consisting of conference raters and oversight members will meet to select the remaining at-large qualifiers, which will be released Tuesday, February 24, 2025, by 5 p.m. (CST), while the preliminary brackets and seeding will be announced on NAIA.org by 5 p.m. (CST) on Friday, February 27, 2025. All weight classes will consist of 32 wrestlers.