National Duals Invitational announces eligible college wrestling teams for first event

The NWCA announced the National Duals for Tulsa in the 2025-26 season, sponsored by Paycom, and now have the eligible teams. A 16-team invitational will be the highlight of the early season slate.

According to The Oklahoman, 12 teams will automatically be eligible and entered into the tournament in November. The last four remaining teams will be drawn between a pool of 12 additional teams.

It goes by the team’s finishes at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which were the individual championships for what it’s worth. But, we already know who will be in attendance in Tulsa.

The teams are: Penn State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Cornell, NC State, Northern Iowa, Illinois, Virginia Tech and Michigan. There will be four wildcards picked from: Purdue, Missouri, Lehigh, Penn, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arizona State, Stanford, West Virginia, Navy, Wyoming, South Dakota State, Indiana, Maryland and Oregon State.

According to the report, teams must complete a participation agreement by April 15th to secure their spot at the National Duals Invitational. The tournament director, Matt Surber, released a statement on the process. He noted that the selection process may be funky considering the team standings did not reflect dual meet results.

“While we know this is not an accurate representation of dual team rankings, we believe it will ensure that the event features some of the best competition in the country,” Surber said in a release. “I’m excited to see additional participation as we grow the sport of wrestling.”

There is a prize purse of $1 million on the line. All participating teams will receive money for attending the event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer released a statement regarding the news in January. It’s a step in the right direction for a potential national championship format for the dual meet, should wrestling eventually add that to the calendar.

“Hosting the National Duals Invitational by our fantastic sponsor, Paycom, is a game-changer for D1 wrestling,” Moyer said. “Due to the unprecedented challenges in NCAA Division I athletics today, it is more imperative than ever to have more big moments in intercollegiate wrestling so we can substantially grow our fan base and viewership.”

The top eight teams in the 16-team bracket, as duals progress, will receive payouts. The winner of the National Duals Invitational will receive $200,000. 

Second and third place will receive $150,000 while fourth place gets $75,000. Fifth through eighth place will earn between $50,000 and $20,000 in the end.