The 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were scheduled to be held at U.S. Bank Stadium in MinneapolisThe NCAA Wrestling Championships in all three divisions -- along with all the remaining winter and spring championships -- have been canceled due to the spread of coronavirus.
The NCAA released a statement late Thursday afternoon.
"Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men's and women's 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities."
The news came after several professional sports leagues, including the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS -- along with conference tournaments and schools -- suspended competition.
The NCAA Division II and Division III Wrestling Championships were scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday, with Division I set for March 19-21 in Minneapolis.
On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that the championship events would take place without fans before making the move to cancel the events on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, it was announced that other wrestling events like the NAIA Women's Wrestling Invitational and Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic were canceled.
The decision to cancel the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships is not totally unprecedented. Since the very first NCAAs in 1928, the Nationals were cancelled in 1942 through 1945 during World War II when most male college athletes were serving in the U.S. military or at factories producing aircraft, tanks and other equipment, as well as weaponry and munitions. The NCAAs returned to the college wrestling schedule in March 1946, and were held at Gallagher Hall at Oklahoma State University at the invitation of then head wrestling coach Art Griffin. The Cowboys won the 1946 NCAA team title by just one team point, edging out what was then called Iowa State Teachers College, now University of Northern Iowa, 25-24.
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