Panther Train cracks top-15 in national attendance for 2023-24

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. --- The UNI wrestling team notched the nation's 12th-highest attendance average during the 2023-24 season according to the National Wrestling Media Association (NWMA).

In four home duals during their 100th anniversary season, the Panthers averaged 3,103 fans inside the McLeod Center, the program's second full season competing inside the arena. A season-high 3,411 spectators filled the building for UNI's Feb. 23 dual against No. 7 Missouri, while all four duals saw at least 2,700 fans in the stands. Northern Iowa is one of 12 Division I programs to average over 3,000 fans this year.

UNI has ranked inside the top-20 nationally for attendance every year since the 2007-08 season and have cracked the top-ten five times in the last 11 years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023).

Iowa led Division I attendance for a 17th consecutive year with an average of 14,847 attendees this past season, while Penn State ranked second (12,049). Northern Iowa ranked fourth among programs in the Big 12 Conference behind third-ranked Iowa State (6,691), fourth-ranked Oklahoma State (5,871) and tenth-ranked Missouri (3,393).

Founded in 1989, the NWMA is a professional organization of wrestling journalists, photographers, content creators and athletic communications professionals. The group assumed the responsibility of tracking Division I wrestling attendance records in 2017. More information on the NWMA can be found at nationalwrestlingmedia.com.

2023-24 NCAA Division I Wrestling Attendance Figures (Home Dual, Tri and Quad Events)

Rank	School	Avg.	Total	Dates	1K+	Best	Top Draw
1	Iowa	14,847.0	89,082	6	6	14,847	Six Opponents
2	Penn State	7,337.1	51,360	7	7	12,049	Rutgers
3	Iowa State	6,691.7	40,150	6	6	14,276	Iowa
4	Oklahoma State	5,871.0	52,839	9	9	13,721	Iowa
5	Oregon State	5,240.5	10,481	2	2	8,540	Penn State
6	NC State	4,340.8	21,704	5	5	5,500	Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
7	Michigan	4,196.0	16,784	4	4	6,522	Penn State
8	Ohio State	4,072.4	28,507	7	7	4,759	Michigan
9	Rutgers	3,990.1	35,911	9	9	5,769	Ohio State
10	Missouri	3,393.7	20,362	6	6	6,207	Oklahoma State
11	Nebraska	3,353.0	23,471	7	7	5,208	Iowa
12	Northern Iowa	3,103.5	12,414	4	4	3,411	Missouri
13	Minnesota	2,615.3	15,692	6	6	3,155	Wisconsin
14	Virginia Tech	2,254.0	15,778	7	7	5,107	Ohio State
15	Wisconsin	2,176.3	13,058	6	6	3,563	Ohio State
16	Indiana	2,111.0	14,777	7	7	3,008	Purdue
17	Lehigh	1,594.9	11,164	7	7	1,944	Pittsburgh
18	West Virginia	1,579.7	9,478	6	4	4,139	Glenville State (Beauty & The Beast)
19	Arizona State	1,526.8	6,107	4	4	1,727	Nebraska
20	South Dakota State	1,474.5	8,847	6	5	2,241	North Dakota State
21	Pittsburgh	1,419.9	9,939	7	4	2,510	Oklahoma State
22	Oklahoma	1,380.0	6,900	5	1	3,571	Oklahoma State
23	Virginia	1,254.5	2,509	2	1	2,112	Virginia Tech
24	Navy	1,140.0	4,560	4	2	2,546	Army West Point
25	Utah Valley	1,123.8	4,495	4	4	1,315	Wyoming
26	Cornell	1,112.7	6,676	6	3	1,623	Missouri
27	Lock Haven	1,074.3	4,297	4	3	1,357	George Mason
28	Cal Poly	993.4	4,967	5	2	1,287	Rutgers/Duke Tri
29	Penn	962.5	5,775	6	3	2,141	Iowa
30	California Baptist	958.3	5,750	6	1	4,676	Iowa
31	Bellarmine	853.0	4,265	5	2	1,918	Kentucky Wesleyan
32	Illinois	816.7	4,900	6	2	1,757	Iowa
33	Wyoming	779.2	4,675	6	0	957	Oklahoma State
34	Central Michigan	748.6	3,743	5	2	1,340	Oklahoma
35	Maryland	748.5	4,491	6	1	2,000	Penn State
36	Northwestern	723.2	3,616	5	1	1,932	Iowa
37	Northern Colorado	692.4	3,462	5	1	1,402	Wyoming
38	Little Rock	687.8	3,439	5	1	1,027	Arizona State
39	Kent State	652.0	2,608	4	1	1,006	Ohio
40	Appalachian State	610.7	3,664	6	1	1,000	NC State
41	North Carolina	591.0	4,137	7	0	813	Navy
42	Michigan State	582.9	4,080	7	1	1,010	Penn State
43	Princeton	558.1	4,465	8	0	798	Columbia
44	Franklin & Marshall	541.7	1,625	3	1	1,250	Home Quad
45	Purdue	407.7	2,446	6	0	438	Wisconsin
46	Bloomsburg	406.3	1,625	4	0	475	George Mason
47	Campbell	403.3	1,613	4	0	838	App State
48	Chattanooga	382.4	1,912	5	0	475	Davidson
49	Cleveland State	382.0	1,528	4	0	632	Ohio
50	Hofstra	375.4	1,877	5	0	808	Ohio State
51	North Dakota State	373.3	2,240	6	0	557	Nebraska
52	Air Force	335.5	2,013	6	0	546	Northern Colorado
53	Drexel	320.9	2,567	8	0	400	LIU
54	Northern Illinois	312.0	1,248	7 (4)*	0	435	Lindenwood/St. Ambrose (Incomplete)
55	Bucknell	307.7	2,154	7	0	893	Minnesota
56	Gardner-Webb	300.0	2,100	7	0	350	Davidson
56	Buffalo	300.0	1,500	5	0	0	N/A (Estimated)
58	Duke	297.2	1,486	5	0	417	Pittsburgh
59	Rider	272.4	2,179	8	0	485	Michigan
60	American	202.6	1,621	8	0	439	Maryland
61	VMI	165.8	995	6	0	200	Campbell
62	Queens	101.8	407	4	0	164	Duke/The Citadel
63	LIU	95.3	381	4	0	122	Sacred Heart

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