For Immediate Release                                                                                
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
NCAA Release                                                                               
 
BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The NCAA has awarded the 2024 volleyball & the 2026 wrestling championships to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference & the Sioux Falls Sports Authority.  The Sanford Pentagon will host the volleyball championship while the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center will host wrestling, both which are located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Upper Iowa University will host the 2023 NCAA wrestling championships at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“The NSIC is excited to again partner with the Sioux Falls Sports Authority to host the 2024 Volleyball and 2026 Wrestling NCAA Division II National Championships,” said NSIC Commissioner Erin Lind.  “The Sanford Pentagon and the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center are first class facilities, which have given the student-athletes a second-to-none championship experience.  Having hosted NCAA Championships in these facilities in the past, we look forward to enhancing the experience for all involved”.

This is the third time for this specific NCAA championship bid process, which created the largest host site announcement ever, spanning 86 championships across a four-year cycle. Previously, selection announcements varied by sport. This process now gives the NCAA and host sites more time to plan each championship experience.

“The response of our membership, host cities and local organizing committees to this process was tremendous,” said Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “Thanks to their commitment, we are excited that our student-athletes will play in some of the top locations and venues in the United States.”

Bidding for 86 of 90 NCAA championships began in August 2019 and more than 3,000 bid applications were ultimately submitted. Each sport committee, per division, selected the host sites it believed would provide the ultimate experience for the respective student-athletes, resulting in more than 450 total championship event sites being awarded. More than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships each year. The four championships not included in the process due to preexisting site arrangements are: Division I baseball, Division I football, Division I softball and Division III women’s ice hockey.

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 16-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a 16-team union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 23 team national championships and crowned 77 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes have the opportunity to earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.

About the Sioux Falls Sports Authority
The organization has hosted the Summit League Basketball Championships since 2009, the Sioux Falls Marathon since 2010, NCAA Championships and NAIA National Championships. For more information, visit www.sfsportsauthority.org.