Menlo women complete move to NCAA DII, will wrestle 2027 nationals
The Oaks have not wrestled a postseason since winning the 2024 NAIA title by 38 points.
Menlo's women's wrestling team has finished its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, per FloWrestling, ending a process that took longer than expected. Head coach Michael Ayala will lead the Oaks at the 2027 NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships in Coralville, Iowa, on March 5-6. That will be Menlo's first postseason since the 2024 NAIA Championships, a nearly three-year wait.
I'm excited we get the opportunity, but this doesn't guarantee anything for our team
We know we have to earn the opportunity to represent Menlo at the national championship.
What the wait cost
The last time the Oaks wrestled for a team trophy, they won one. Menlo took the 2024 NAIA title by 38 points over Life University, then went dark for the postseason while the NCAA transition played out. FloWrestling described the process as longer than expected and did not report a reason for the delay.
Ayala is not treating the clearance as a finish line.
"I'm excited we get the opportunity, but this doesn't guarantee anything for our team," Ayala told FloWrestling. "We know we have to earn the opportunity to represent Menlo at the national championship. We will continue to work hard and get what we earn."
A program with receipts
Menlo is not a startup arriving in Division II. The program has three team championships, the 2019 WCWA and NAIA titles and the 2024 NAIA title, plus 15 individual national titles across three divisions. It also produced Sara Fulp-Allen, the first women's college national champion, in 2004.
That history is the reason this matters beyond one roster. Women's college wrestling has been reshuffling divisions for years, and Menlo is one of the deepest NAIA programs to land in the NCAA DII bracket. The Oaks arrive in Coralville with a national title on the resume and no recent postseason results to seed off of.
What to watch
The 2027 NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships run March 5-6 in Coralville, Iowa. Menlo's qualifying path in Division II, and how many Oaks earn spots, is the open question Ayala pointed at himself.