High School Participation Data from the 2016-2017 NFHS Participation Survey:
- 244,804 Male High School Wrestlers
- 14,587 Female High School Wrestlers
- (94% Male Participation - 6% Female Participation)
259,391 Total High School Wrestlers for 2016-2017
- 10,629 Men’s Wrestling Program’s across 49 States
- 2,091 Women’s Wrestling Program’s with 8 States Sponsoring Championships
Collegiate Wrestling Participation Data:
| Collegiate Wrestling Participation Data: | |||
| |||
| Division/ Association | Colleges | Wrestlers | Average Roster Size |
| NCAA I | 76 | 2,461 | 32 |
| NCAA II | 59 | 1,929 | 33 |
| NCAA III | 105 | 2,828 | 27 |
| NAIA | 59 | 1,806 | 31 |
| NJCAA | 40 | 894 | 22 |
| WCWA | 33 | 517 | 16 |
| Other | 31 | 650 | 21 |
| Totals | 403 | 11,085 | 26 |
“Number of College Wrestlers” & percentage of collegiate wrestlers:
- 10,568 Men’s Collegiate Wrestlers
- 517 Women’s Collegiate Wrestlers
- The % of Male High School Wrestlers competing at any College Level is 4.3%
- The % of Female High School Wrestlers competing at any College Level is 3.5%
- The % of High School Wrestlers competing at NCAA Division I Schools is 1.0%
Statistical Data from 2016-2017 ScholarshipStats
Male HS Wrestlers competing in College vs. other Male HS Sports
-Wrestling ranks 1st for the most 1st generation college students
- Who is most likely to be a first-generation student? Division II student-athletes (20%) are more likely to be first-generation students than either Division I (14%) or Division III (15%) student-athletes. Football (25%) and wrestling (23%) have the highest percentages of such students in the NCAA. Twelve percent of white student-athletes and 26% of student-athletes from a racial/ethnic minority group report being first-generation college students.
-Wrestling ranks at the top of NCAA sports in opportunity for minority athletes.