National Duals Field Set...Almost

[Idaho]

In the middle of portal craze, the National Duals are set with the exception of 1 team when PSU does not accept. Let's put in CBU...

 

https://nationaldualsinvitational.com/ndi-announces-additional-qualifiers/

"The tournament’s format grants automatic qualification to the top 10 finishers at the NCAA Championships, with the remaining spots filled by teams drawn from those finishing 11th through 20th in the NCAA rankings. Four Ivy League institutions in the top 20 informed organizers they are unable to participate due to a conflict with final exams, opening the door for six additional programs to qualify automatically.

Qualified teams must complete their participation agreements by mid-April to secure their spots.

Virginia Tech, Wyoming, Arizona State, Missouri, Illinois and Lehigh have all received automatic qualifier invitations, joining NCAA top-10 finishers Penn State, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio State, Stanford, Michigan, Iowa State, Minnesota and NC State."

[Kov88]

Who’s the 6th team that declined? PSU and the 4 Ivy schools

[MNRodent]

2 hours ago, Kov88 said:

Who’s the 6th team that declined? PSU and the 4 Ivy schools

I'm not sure who has officially accepted or declined yet.  The deadline to accept is later this month, I think.  Coincidently this year the 17-20 finishers at NCAAs were all Ivy league schools and aren't participating.  Therefore you have the top 16 as auto-qualifiers, and only need to pick one more team if PSU declines.

Edited April 2 by MNRodent

[Kov88]

42 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

I'm not sure who has officially accepted or declined yet.  The deadline to accept is later this month, I think.  Coincidently this year the 17-20 finishers at NCAAs were all Ivy league schools and aren't participating.  Therefore you have the top 16 as auto-qualifiers, and only need to pick one more team if PSU declines.

Well in the article it says VT, Wyoming, ASU, Mizz, Illinois, and Lehigh auto qualified, that’s six teams. The 4 Ivy schools and PSU declined which only equals 5. So I’m wondering what is the other team that declined or did they not say?

[GlassPrison]

22 minutes ago, Kov88 said:

Well in the article it says VT, Wyoming, ASU, Mizz, Illinois, and Lehigh auto qualified, that’s six teams. The 4 Ivy schools and PSU declined which only equals 5. So I’m wondering what is the other team that declined or did they not say?

I don’t think anyone has declined yet.  6 of the 10 teams from 11-20 were going to get a spot.  4 declined outright, so all 6 remaining are in if they accept.

[MNRodent]

1 hour ago, Kov88 said:

Well in the article it says VT, Wyoming, ASU, Mizz, Illinois, and Lehigh auto qualified, that’s six teams. The 4 Ivy schools and PSU declined which only equals 5. So I’m wondering what is the other team that declined or did they not say?

Only 1-10 at NCAAs were automatically qualified to start with. Those 6 teams you mentioned and the 4 Ivy teams weren't automatically in until the Ivies dropped out.  If they wanted in, they would have had to take place in the ping pong ball lottery like last year, and hope to be one of 6 teams drawn who finished between 11-20 at NCAAs.  Since 4 of the teams between 11-20 are declining, no ping pong lottery is necessary, except for Penn State's spot if they decline.

So, If Penn State and all the other top 16 teams accept, then the field is set (no lottery necessary).  If Penn State declines, they will have to add one more team.

 

[AnklePicker]

This event is working towards being outstanding.  It was almost there in its first go round.  Penn State needs to participate to take it where it needs to be.  If they don't my hope is recruits start taking notice.  You only get a finite number of opportunities to showcase your skills at the highest level.  Why take that opportunity away?  Why not make another special moment?  Penn State is supposed to be the fun team right?  What's more fun than actually wrestling in huge duals?  The event has been pushed back to 6-7 weeks into the season so the timing is better.  It's just a bummer the Ivies can't go.  If all qualified teams decide to participate, that needs to be fixed next season.

[Idaho]

The only thing wrong with this is the date. 

[AnklePicker]

14 hours ago, Idaho said:

The only thing wrong with this is the date. 

Even the new date?  It’s been pushed deeper into the season. 

[Idaho]

9 hours ago, AnklePicker said:

Even the new date?  It’s been pushed deeper into the season. 

The new date is 1 week after Cliff Keen Las Vegas (Dec 4-5) - which has been a standard date - 1st or 2nd weekend of December. 6 of the top 10 teams at CK last year qualified for the National Duals. They have also had Nebraska and OKstate there in years past.  Now teams have to decide what do do.  If you can win money at the National Duals you most likely would choose that route. Now rather than having a great beginning of the season premier duals event with early season ranked matchups, then another premier tournament in Vegas 5-6 weeks later, we will most likely be heading to a weaker CKLV because of the date change. On top of that, there are 4 top Ivys who can't go because of finals. Should have left it alone. 

[HokieDave87]

3 hours ago, Idaho said:

The new date is 1 week after Cliff Keen Las Vegas (Dec 4-5) - which has been a standard date - 1st or 2nd weekend of December. 6 of the top 10 teams at CK last year qualified for the National Duals. They have also had Nebraska and OKstate there in years past.  Now teams have to decide what do do.  If you can win money at the National Duals you most likely would choose that route. Now rather than having a great beginning of the season premier duals event with early season ranked matchups, then another premier tournament in Vegas 5-6 weeks later, we will most likely be heading to a weaker CKLV because of the date change. On top of that, there are 4 top Ivys who can't go because of finals. Should have left it alone. 

It's also finals for other schools. I think VT accepts but I do know that Robie mentioned the timing wasn't great with finals so he'd have to do some digging to see if they could go 

[manatree]

PayCom Duals: Dec 12-13

• Arizona State: study days: Dec 5-6, finals Dec 7-12
• Columbia: study days: Dec 15-16, finals: Dec 17-23
• Cornell: study days: Dec 8-10, finals Dec 11-19
• Illinois: reading day: Dec 10, finals Dec 11-17
• Iowa: finals: Dec 14-18
• Iowa State: prep week: Dec 7-11, finals: Dec 14-17
• Lehigh: review days: Dec 5-7, Dec: 8-16
• Michigan: study days: Dec 12-13, finals: Dec 14-18, 21
• Minnesota: finals: Dec 17-19, 21-23
• Missouri: reading day: Dec 11, finals: Dec 14-18
• Nebraska: finals: Dec 14-18
• North Carolina State: reading day: Dec 2, finals: Dec 3-9
• Ohio State: finals: Dec 11, 14-17
• Oklahoma State: finals: Dec 7-11
• Penn: reading days: Dec 8-9, finals: Dec 10-17
• Penn State: study days: Dec 12-13, finals: Dec 14-18
• Princeton: reading days: Dec 8-15, finals: Dec 16-22
• Stanford: finals: Dec 7-11
• Virginia Tech: reading day: Dec 10, finals: Dec 11-16
• Wyoming: finals: Dec 14-18

Finals wise, it’s an inconvenient date for a lot of schools.

Edited April 4 by manatree

[ScottishSteel]

Mostly kidding but it's nice to see schools pretending they are still students first and athlete's second

[juniorvarsity]

Per the article, "with the remaining spots filled by teams drawn from those finishing 11th through 20th in the NCAA rankings."

I thought they were going to come up with another mechanism for allocating spots because if the situation where Iowa State had a great team but did not have a good NCAA from prior year.

Looking at NCAA team scores, there shouldn't be a similar situation as Iowa State heading into next year unless North Carolina or Oklahoma goes hard in the portal.

[Show_Me]

On 4/3/2026 at 3:11 PM, Idaho said:

The new date is 1 week after Cliff Keen Las Vegas (Dec 4-5) - which has been a standard date - 1st or 2nd weekend of December. 6 of the top 10 teams at CK last year qualified for the National Duals. They have also had Nebraska and OKstate there in years past.  Now teams have to decide what do do.  If you can win money at the National Duals you most likely would choose that route. Now rather than having a great beginning of the season premier duals event with early season ranked matchups, then another premier tournament in Vegas 5-6 weeks later, we will most likely be heading to a weaker CKLV because of the date change. On top of that, there are 4 top Ivys who can't go because of finals. Should have left it alone. 

Completely agree.  NDI was 3 weeks prior to CKLV in ‘25 & 3 teams participated in both events.  Doubt if any teams do both in ‘26 with the event being separated by a wk.

It stinks for CKLV as it will most certainly impact the quality of that tournament in a very bad way.  And it’s the only decent in season tourney we have.

Wish they would have kept it mid-Nov.  Any reason why they moved it to mid-Dec in such close proximity to Vegas ?

[ionel]

16 minutes ago, Show_Me said:

Any reason why they moved it to mid-Dec in such close proximity to Vegas ?

My recollection there was a good reason but can't remember what exactly.  

[JWC]

The decision comes on the heels of the inaugural 2025 tournament, which delivered exceptional competition, strong attendance and a championship performance by Ohio State, which claimed the title and $200,000 grand prize.

“We were blown away by the reception of this year’s National Duals Invitational,” said Matt Surber, tournament director. “The college wrestling community was all in, and we were able to support the sport in a historic way. Moving the tournament to December next year gives teams and fans a memorable kickoff to the collegiate wrestling season.”

Last month, the 16-team field, which collectively held more than 60 NCAA team titles and over 450 individual national championships, delivered a slate of marquee matchups that further established the National Duals Invitational as one of the premier events in college wrestling.

“I’m a big supporter of a dual-meet championship setup, and the caliber of this year’s performances showed why,” said Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan. “The only way you make progress long term is by starting with something that makes sense, and this event does. We’re excited to see it continue to grow.”

National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom announces dates for 2026, following standout 2025 tournament | National Duals Invitational

[mickpsu]

On 4/2/2026 at 4:16 PM, AnklePicker said:

This event is working towards being outstanding.  It was almost there in its first go round.  Penn State needs to participate to take it where it needs to be.  If they don't my hope is recruits start taking notice.  You only get a finite number of opportunities to showcase your skills at the highest level.  Why take that opportunity away?  Why not make another special moment?  Penn State is supposed to be the fun team right?  What's more fun than actually wrestling in huge duals?  The event has been pushed back to 6-7 weeks into the season so the timing is better.  It's just a bummer the Ivies can't go.  If all qualified teams decide to participate, that needs to be fixed next season.

I'm pretty sure recruits do take notice ....they see that Penn State is winning national championships at the end of the season.

[Simpleman424]

6 minutes ago, mickpsu said:

I'm pretty sure recruits do take notice ....they see that Penn State is winning national championships at the end of the season.

Penn State winning National Championships is a give in…everyone should be extremely numb to that by now. It means basically nothing anymore…a bunch of #1-4 seeds going through a bracket of 33, 16 and maybe a 4 seed to get to the finals…and they get bonus points on these guys? How do they do it?! Seriously the tournament is fun and awesome but the team stuff is a joke. I don’t see how any competitive athlete could look at a venue that says “You mean I can basically have the NCAAs of teams and cut out all the fat? Yep I’ll take that”. Penn State will still win it but it’s an experience for their wrestlers and the sports that they’re missing out on. Won’t effect any of their recruiting because they have such a small pool to begin so I don’t agree with his point there. Either way silly to have an elitist view from the program and even worse to have an elitist view from the fan base…

[Show_Me]

20 hours ago, JWC said:

“Moving the tournament to December next year gives teams and fans a memorable kickoff to the collegiate wrestling season.”

Not much of an explanation on why NDI was moved back a month from mid Nov to mid Dec …. A change which essentially trivializes our only decent in-season tournament, CKLV.

[feet2back]

Great to see they added Rutgers for duals...They will be real solid next season

[Idaho]

I'm assuming that PSU did not accept and they had a drawing? 

[ionel]

39 minutes ago, Idaho said:

I'm assuming that PSU did not accept and they had a drawing? 

@mr.nonothingatall help us out ... what did Carl say?

[jammenz]

No Nebraska and no Iowa because of finals conflict.

[mr.nonothingatall]

23 minutes ago, ionel said:

@mr.nonothingatall help us out ... what did Carl say?

I haven't heard anything.