ANAHEIM, Calif. — A pair of sports sponsored by Gannon University heard some great news at last week's NCAA Convention, as both Acrobatics and Tumbling and Women's Wrestling were approved to enter the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program in both Division II and Division III.
The sports will officially join the program on Aug. 1, 2020.
NCAA Release
NCATA Release
USA Wrestling Release
The Emerging Sports For Women program is a pipeline supporting the advancement of women's sports to NCAA championship status. The program also provides athletics opportunities for women and sport-sponsorship options for colleges and universities. Schools also may use an emerging sport to help meet membership minimum sports-sponsorship requirements and financial aid requirements.
A sport must have a minimum of 20 varsity teams and/or competitive club teams that have competed in a minimum of five contests to be considered for the emerging sports program. The sport must reach 40 varsity programs to move forward to the NCAA governance structure for championship consideration.
Currently, 29 NCAA member schools sponsor acrobatics and tumbling at the varsity level, and 20 of those schools are members of Division II. In women's wrestling, 24 NCAA schools sponsor the sport at the varsity or club level, including 13 Division II schools.
The addition of acrobatics and tumbling and women's wrestling brings the total number of Division II emerging sports to five. Equestrian, rugby and triathlon remain on the list.
The Gannon acrobatics and tumbling program is entering its seventh season of competition in 2020. The Knights have qualified as a team for the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association national championships in five of the past six years, and hold three individual event national titles.
The Gannon women's wrestling team is in its second year of competition in 2019-20, and is currently ranked sixth in the nation in dual strength and 10th in tournament strength. The Knights head to the WCWA national tournament next weekend, and will take part in the first Women's National Collegiate Championship — a national championship only for NCAA schools — in March.
