Women's wrestling grew steadily among NAIA schools starting in the early 2000s, when only a handful of programs existed. The NAIA began holding a National Invitational Championship, with Menlo winning the first in 2019. The 2020 invitational was canceled due to COVID-19, and Campbellsville won in 2021. On April 9, 2022, the NAIA voted to make women's wrestling its 28th full national championship sport -- becoming the first collegiate association to do so -- after the sport crossed the required threshold of 40 sponsoring institutions. Since gaining full status for the 2022–23 season, champions have included Southern Oregon (2023), Menlo (2024) and Life U (2025-2026). The NAIA holds the distinction of being the first governing body to sanction women's collegiate wrestling as a championship sport.