National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) – the NCWA is a 501(c)3 non-profit designed to promote, support, and regulate collegiate style wrestling on the college and university level. Member schools will give regulatory authority to the NCWA.
NCWA Rules & Regulations – the set of rules, policies, and procedures published annually by the NCWA. The most recent rules & regulations, posted at NCWA.net are to be considered the NCWA rules & regulations in use.
Great Lakes Conference of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association By-Laws – this document will be referred to as simply the GLC By-Laws.
The GLC of the NCWA shall be the local regulatory authority of the NCWA. The GLC Board will enforce the NCWA Rules & Regulations and GLC By-Laws. All teams, coaches, wrestlers, and member institutions agree to adhere to the rules and regulations set forth in the NCWA Rules & Regulations and herein.
Institutions who hold membership in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) and are located in the conference borders, as outlined in the NCWA Rules & Regulations, shall be considered members of the Great Lakes Conference (GLC).
GLC member institutions may enter athletes in the Great Lakes Conference Tournament, which serves as the qualifier for the NCWA National Collegiate Championships.
In addition to the NCWA fees, GLC teams will pay a $150 annual fee prior to participating in any competition. Teams competing without paying the fee will pay a $50 late fee.
The GLC will adhere to the NCWA Rules & Regulations to establish a leadership board. The Treasurer Duty may be reassigned/combined with other duties dependent on GLC Tournament host or other considerations.
The Conference Chairman and Commissioner receive a stipend from the NCWA, and may receive GLC funds to attend the annual Vision Forum. The Conference Treasurer may also receive GLC funds for travel to the Conference Tournament.
Institutions and individuals must be eligible according to the NCWA Rules & Regulations. Points of emphasis:
1. A wrestler must have competed in a minimum of two (2) separate collegiate wrestling events. An event is defined as a separate weigh-in at SCRATCH weight and the match must be contested. A ‘forfeit’ is considered a contested match.
2. Student-wrestlers must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA after their freshman season in order to compete.
a. Students who attended an institution prior to their GLC school should have a transcript from the prior institution available for Board review.
b. GLC Board may calculate a GPA using both college transcripts.
3. All fees and fines must be paid prior to entry in the Conference Tournament.
The GLC will follow the guidelines for NCWA National Championships Series included in the NCWA Rules & Regulations.
The GLC will use the following seeding criteria (modified from the Wrestling Rules & Regulations):
1) Head-to-head Competition
2) Returning All-American (same weight)
3) Prior All-American – any weight – any year
4) Returning GLC top-three finisher – any weight – last season competed
5) Common Opponents
6) Season wins
7) NCWA Points
8) A vote by coaches in attendance will resolve any ties/disputes/challenges
3.4a: All changes in weight/entry must be submitted to the conference board by 8 PM on the Wednesday prior to the seeding meeting.
3.4b: All weight classes within a given division (i.e. Men’s or Women’s) shall be bracketed using the same size bracket to properly account for team scoring.
3.4c: After completion of the seeding meeting, the brackets are final and no changes will be made.
3.4d: In the event a wrestler is a “no show” or does not make weight for the event, their bouts will be considered forfeits.
3.4 e: The placement matches will be completed to at least one place greater than the allotment of automatic qualifiers that year. For example, if the GLC is allotted five (5) automatic qualifiers, the tournament will wrestle to six places.
During the seeding meeting the coaches “pre-allocate” the majority of the allotted wild cards, based on size and strength of each weight class. The allocation of such wild cards is discussed and voted on by the coaches in attendance at the seeding meeting. All coaches will be given a copy of the pre-seeds, including suggested allocation of such wild cards, prior to the seeding meeting. This is done to minimize the amount of time allocating wild cards after the conclusion of the Conference Tournament. A few (number is subject to change per the pre-allocation and voting mentioned above) of the wild cards available to the GLC are saved for the conclusion of the Conference Tournament to account for unforeseen bracketing outcomes.
An entry fee of $50 will be charged for each athlete. Late entries will be charged a $50 fine until the scratch deadline. Any athlete scratched from the GLC Tournament after 8 pm EST of the Wednesday prior to the GLC tournament may be responsible for a $10 fine. A physician's note stating appropriate injury or an institutional decision outside the team’s control will excuse the fee. All fees/fines will be considered part of the GLC entry money and used for GLC business.
GLC will provide travel for at least one auto-bid official to each component of the NCWA Championship Series.
Where funds allow, up to two additional GLC officials who receive at-large bids may receive GLC funds to aid in travel.
The GLC will aim to send at least one board member to the annual Vision Forum.
At the GLC Meeting, items for Vision Forum consideration will be approved for forwarding to the Executive Board/Legislative Council for consideration at the GLC.
To be named to the All-Scholar Team, wrestlers must:
a) have completed at least two semesters of college coursework;
b) carry a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher; and
c) compete in the Great Lakes Conference Tournament.
GLC All-Academic Team Award is presented to the team with the highest average GPA from the team’s top 8- wrestlers at the Conference Championships.
Collection and holding of GLC funds will be handled by the GLC Board using the GLC board account. The GLC ledger will be available to all GLC members upon written request to GLC board. A verbal summary of the GLC account will be given at the Conference Tournament seeding meeting, and a one-page report will be made available within two weeks of completion of competition season.
GLC funds shall be disbursed to GLC Tournament and NCWA Championship Series expenses first – official pay and travel and tournament management costs.
Remaining funds may be saved for future use or for travel expenses for GLC Board Members travel to the NCWA Vision Forum.
The GLC will follow the change of rules procedure outlined in the NCWA Rules & Regulations with the following exceptions:
“GLC By-Laws” in place of “NCWA Rules & Regulations”
“GLC”/”Conference” in place of “National”
“Conference Board” in place of “Executive Board”/”Executive Board of Directors”/”Legislative Council”
Ratified 2/24/2017 - Updated 7/20/2026