Division III delegates approved all six proposals on the table at their business session Friday at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
The six measures are highlighted below and available in more detail here. The division:
- Approved adding women's wrestling as a national collegiate championship.
- Expanded the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee composition to include one representative from every multisport conference.
- Reduced the requirement for multisport conference membership from seven to six member schools.
- Approved amendments to the legislative process.
- Established a process to exempt the division from applying certain playing rules.
- Established a waiver to reduce the reclassification process from three to two years.
Women's wrestling
Along with the other two divisions, Division III approved a recommendation to make women's wrestling an NCAA championship sport. Women's wrestling will become the NCAA's 91st championship and the sixth sport to reach NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program.
"We are thrilled to establish women's wrestling as our 91st championship. Adding the championship aligns with the NCAA and Division III's increased focus on investment in women's sports. The NCAA is committed to fostering equity and growth in collegiate athletics, and this decision will launch new opportunities for female student-athletes across our divisions," said Louise McCleary, vice president of Division III.
A women's wrestling committee will be established to begin preparing for the first championship, to be held in winter 2026. Fifty-five Division III schools are projected to sponsor women's wrestling during the 2024-25 academic year.
Playing rules exemptions
Members approved a proposal to establish a process by which the Division III Management Council may exempt the division from newly adopted sport-specific playing rules that have either a financial or philosophical impact on Division III schools.
The proposal, effective immediately, will not change the process for the establishment of common playing rules or federated playing rules.
"The federated playing rules proposal allows Division III to continue to have meaningful input for our membership for playing rules. It allows the Management Council, a body legislatively designed to be representative of the division, to review rules changes with a philosophical or financial impact on Division III and, as needed, exempt Division III from newly approved common playing rules. This proposal strengthens the representation and voice of Division III in the playing rules process," said Jason Verdugo, chair of the council and athletics director at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
The division approved a membership-sponsored proposal to establish a primary representative on the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for each multisport conference and the group of independents.
The adoption of the proposal is effective immediately. The first meeting of the revamped committee will be in July.
