INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Wrestling Committee announced today that there are five finalists remaining in contention to host the 2008-2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. These cities listed in alphabetical order include Cleveland; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia; and St. Louis. According to Tom Bold, NCAA Wrestling Committee chair and associate director of athletics at Brown University, “the wrestling committee was extremely impressed with the quality of the bids that were received in this process.” Bold also added, “We are thankful for the opportunity to have been able to conduct in-person site visits in advance of making selections for the first time ever, and the committee strongly believes that this was an extremely beneficial added component in the site selection process.”

There were 15 cities that originally submitted bids for the championships, and the five remaining finalists will make in-person presentations to the wrestling committee Saturday, April 16, in La Jolla, California at the committee’s annual meeting. The wrestling committee hopes to forward a site recommendation for all four years to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for their review and approval at either their June or September 2005 meeting.