Fans of Penn State and everywhere else in college wrestling now know where the 2027 and ‘28 NCAA Championships will be.
The NCAA announced Wednesday afternoon that the 2027 championships are coming to St. Louis, and the next year’s will be in Minneapolis.
The DI Wrestling Championships will be hosted in St. Louis, MO in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣7️⃣ and Minneapolis, MN in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣8️⃣ 🤼♂️#NCAAWrestling #NCAAHost pic.twitter.com/ZhYylEQBDy
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) October 2, 2024
This will be more challenging for Penn State wrestling fans to travel to that the sites for the 2025 (Philadelphia) and 2026 (Cleveland) championships will be.
The last time the championships were in St. Louis were also the last time a team other than Penn State won it. That was 2021, when rival Iowa beat out runner-up Penn State (a tournament best-remembered for Iowa legend Spencer Lee’s “excuses are for wusses” interview. But St. Louis has also been a place of glory for Cael Sanderson’s wrestling empire. It’s where Penn State won it all in 2017 and 2012.
The last time the championships were in Minnesota was way back in 1996, when Iowa won its second-to-last of 15 national title under the great Dan Gable.
Specifically, the 2027 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at the Enterprise Center, which is home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.
The ‘28 championships will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
Who knows what the college wrestling landscape will look like by then but it’s hard to double that Penn State will be on top by then.
Cael Sanderson’s wrestling empire has won 11 of the past 13 national titles and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
The biggest threat could be Penn State icon David Taylor and Oklahoma State. It remains to be seen how much of a dent Sanderson’s former pupil will put into his alma mater’s domination.
