National Wrestling Coaches Association National Dual Championships return to the UNI-Dome

A marquee college wrestling event will return to Eastern Iowa.

And, it will be held in Cedar Falls for the first time in more than a decade.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association announced earlier this week that the 2024 Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships will be held at University of Northern Iowa’s UNI-Dome. The tournament hosted by NUWAY Combat will be held Jan. 5-6 and is presented by ARMS Software, Defense Soap and Capital Construction.

The event was recently held in Louisville, Ky.

“We are beyond excited to bring the National Duals back on campus in 2024,” NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer said in a release on the organization’s website. “We can think of no better place than the UNI-Dome to host this wonderful event. Our team is hard at work getting things in place already, and we can't wait to host almost 100 collegiate programs in Cedar Falls.”

The dual championships will include 96 total teams from six college divisions, including NCAA Division II men, NCAA Division III men, NCAA women, NAIA men and women and NCWA men.

NAIA powerhouse Grand View and the American Rivers Conference’s Wartburg have dominated their respective divisions in the past.

The Vikings’ men’s program rolled through the field in January, beating No. 2 Life (Ga.) University, 22-8, in the finals. They have won 11 straight NWCA national dual titles.

Wartburg placed third last season but has won 12 national dual championships since 2003.

Upper Iowa, the state’s lone NCAA D-II school, placed sixth at the competition last season. The Peacocks have placed 13 of the last 15 dual championships.

University of Iowa’s women’s wrestling team will officially compete for the first time in the 2023-2024 season under head coach Clarissa Chun.

In addition to the National Duals, the NWCA has hosted past tournaments in Iowa. The 2021 NCAA D-III national tournament was canceled. The NWCA offered a D-III national championship, without a qualifier at Xtream Arena in Coralville that year.