Association | NCAA |
---|---|
Founded | April 27, 2006 |
Ceased | July 29, 2015 |
Sports fielded |
|
Division | Division I |
No. of teams | 6 |
Headquarters | Orem, Utah |
Region | Midwestern United States, Western United States |
The Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) was an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference that competed from 2006 through 2015. [1] All of its past members became associate members of the Big 12 Conference, and all but one continue to compete in Big 12 wrestling. The exception is Fresno State, which was a charter WWC member but dropped the sport before conference competition started, revived the sport in 2017 as a Big 12 associate member, and dropped wrestling again after the 2020–21 season.
The conference was formed on April 27, 2006, by eight schools with wrestling squads that had formerly competed as independents since the WWC charter members were all members of conferences that did not sponsor wrestling except one true independent. The original members were the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference, California State University, Fresno (more commonly known as Fresno State) of the Western Athletic Conference, North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University of the Summit League, the University of Northern Colorado of the Big Sky Conference, the University of Northern Iowa of the Missouri Valley Conference, and independent Utah Valley University (then named Utah Valley State College). [2]
Fresno State dropped its wrestling program before competing in the conference. [3]
On October 22, 2006, the conference logo, designed by Flint Communications of Fargo, North Dakota, was introduced. [4]
The conference began competition in the 2006–07 school year. [5]
In 2012, Northern Iowa became an associate member of the Mid-American Conference, reducing the WWC membership to six. [6]
Lacking the required minimum of seven member schools, the NCAA did not recognize the conference and required the WWC schools athletes to qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships through the Western Regional Tournament — a tournament which included only the six WCC schools and also served as the de facto conference championship . [7]
The Big 12 Conference had been wrestling with only four teams since Nebraska moved to the Big Ten in 2011, but the NCAA had annually granted a waiver for its conference championships to be recognized and its champions and runners-up to be granted automatic qualification to the national championships. In 2015, the NCAA declined to grant the waiver, and the Big 12 Conference coaches declined to have their athletes wrestle in the Western Regional Tournament. As a result, Big 12 wrestlers advanced to the NCAA Championships only as at-large invitees. At that time, talk began about the Big 12 inviting the Western Wrestling Conference teams to become affiliate members of the Big 12. [8] [9]
On July 29, 2015, the Big 12 Conference and the six member schools of the WWC announced that Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, and Wyoming were being added to the Big 12's wrestling competition as affiliates, joining Big 12 full-member schools Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia to make a 10-team conference. While expanding the competition by 150%, the Big 12 ended its tradition (carried over from the prior Big Eight Conference) of holding the championships at campus sites, holding the 2016 Big 12 Wrestling Championships at the Sprint Center (now T-Mobile Center) in Kansas City, Missouri. [10]
The WWC's absorption by the Big 12 was completed in 2017 when the Big 12 added Northern Iowa and the resurrected Fresno State wrestling program as associate members. [11]
Year | Champion | Record | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 | [13] |
2008 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 | [13] |
2009 | Wyoming | 5–0 | [13] |
2010 | Wyoming | 6–0 | [13] |
2011 | Northern Iowa | 5–0 | [13] |
2012 | Wyoming | 6–0 | [13] |
2013 | North Dakota State | 5–0 | [13] |
2014 | North Dakota State Wyoming | 4–1 | [13] |
2015 | North Dakota State | 5–0 | [14] |
The NCAA West Regional served as the conference tournament.
Year | Champion | Points | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Northern Iowa | 96.0 | [13] |
2008 | Northern Iowa | 119.0 | [13] |
2009 | Northern Iowa | 94.0 | [13] |
2010 | Wyoming | 75.0 | [13] |
2011 | Wyoming | 93.0 | [13] |
2012 | Wyoming | 93.5 | [13] |
2013 | Wyoming | 79.0 | [13] |
2014 | North Dakota State | 74.0 | [13] |
2015 | North Dakota State | 70.5 | [15] |
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas. It consists of fourteen full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. Its 14 members, in the states of Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia includes two private Christian universities, 11 public universities, and the flagship LDS institution. Additionally, the Big 12 has 12 affiliate members — eight for the sport of wrestling, one for women's equestrianism, one for women's gymnastics and two for women's rowing. The Big 12 Conference is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Brett Yormark became the new commissioner on August 1, 2022.
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana, and New York. For football, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Gloria Nevarez took over as Commissioner of the MW on January 1, 2023, following the retirement of founding commissioner Craig Thompson.
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. As of 2023, full member institutions are located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Four affiliate members each participate in one sport: two from California are football–only participants and two from the Northeast participate only in men's golf.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference.
The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with three members in South Dakota, two members in North Dakota, and one member each in the states of Iowa and Nebraska. It was founded in 1932. With the recent NSIC expansion, the original six member schools have been reunited. With the inclusion of the several new member institutions, it is one of the largest Division II conferences in the country with 16 members.
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western United States. Most member schools are in Colorado, with additional members in Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah.
The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following the 2011 season. The conference became defunct when four of the remaining five full member schools became members of other conferences on July 1, 2013.
The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Illinois on the east of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the West, with additional members in the Western state of Colorado and the Southern state of Oklahoma. Founded as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in 1982, it rebranded as the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989, then again as the Summit League on June 1, 2007. The league headquarters are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I.
Joseph Cassidy Glenn is a former American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at the University of South Dakota, his alma mater, from 2012 to 2015. He was named head coach on December 5, 2011, after the school's athletic director, David Sayler, fired Ed Meierkort. Glenn served as the head football coach at Doane College (1976–1979), the University of Northern Colorado (1989–1999), the University of Montana (2000–2002), and the University of Wyoming (2003–2008). He won two NCAA Division II Football Championships at Northern Colorado, in 1996 and 1997, and an NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship at Montana in 2001.
The North Dakota State Bison wrestling team represents North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. The Bison currently compete in the Big 12 Conference and play their home duals at the Scheels Center. NDSU is currently coached by Obe Blanc.
The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 NCAA-sanctioned sports. Two Wyoming teams compete in other conferences in sports that the MW does not sponsor. The men's swimming and diving team competes in the Western Athletic Conference, and the wrestling team competes in the Big 12 Conference.
The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference.
The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno. The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1992 until 2012, when it left for the Mountain West alongside fellow WAC member Nevada.
The Utah Valley Wolverines represent Utah Valley University in NCAA DI collegiate athletics and sponsor 16 sporting programs. The Wolverines participate in the Western Athletic Conference. The school mascot is the Wolverine, and the colors are green and white. The UVU student section is called The Den. A name change from The Mawl, the student section's previous name, was enacted in 2017. All UVU students can get their Den pass, which includes free admission to all athletic events.
The Northern Iowa Panthers wrestling team represents the University of Northern Iowa and competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Panthers are one-time Division I National Champions and four-time National Runners-up. The team is coached by Doug Schwab.