INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Wrestling Committee has selected the Savvis Center in St. Louis as the site for the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, the Qwest Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska as the host site for 2010 and the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia to serve as host in 2011.

“The Wrestling Committee thought it said a great deal about the sport and these championships to have the number of quality bids that we had, and that made our job that much more difficult,” said Tom Bold, the previous chair of the NCAA Wrestling Committee who presided over the site selections. “We felt the three cities we selected each offer something very unique and exciting, and will offer an outstanding experience to our student-athletes and fans.”

The University of Missouri, Columbia will co-host the events along with the St. Louis Sports Commission March 20-22, 2008, and March 19-21, 2009. St. Louis has been the host for three previous Division I Wrestling Championships in 2000, 2004 and 2005. In 2000, St. Louis set the all-session attendance record of 96,944 fans, which still stands.

"St. Louis has done a tremendous job of hosting the wrestling championships in the past," Bold said. "The wrestling committee has been extremely impressed with the dedication of the staff from Missouri, the Savvis Center and the St. Louis Sports Commission to the championships. In addition, the feedback the committee received from the student-athletes, coaches and fans during the last two years in St. Louis was overwhelmingly positive so we are excited to go back."

In 2010, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln will co-host the event along with the Omaha Sports Commission March 18-20. It will mark the first time the championships have ever been held in the state of Nebraska.

"We were extremely impressed with the proximity of everything in Omaha," Bold said. "The Qwest Center Omaha, hotels, airport and restaurants are all very close. Also, Omaha is conveniently located with regards to many of our institutions and the fans that have supported this event in the past. With the great partnership the NCAA already has with the city of Omaha through the Men’s College World Series, we know that they will to do a tremendous job."

The championships will be back in the state of Pennsylvania for the first time since 1999, March 17-19, 2011. Rider University and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will host the event. Overall, the event has been held in the state 10 times before, but this will be the first time it will be held in Philadelphia. Previous Pennsylvania host sites include Bethlehem, Pittsburgh and State College.

"The state of Pennsylvania is a wrestling hotbed," Bold said, "and this will give our fans on the East Coast a chance to see wrestling's premier event for the first time in a long while. The Wachovia Center is a state-of-the-art venue, and the city of Philadelphia is a perfect site to showcase the championships."

Previously announced, the 2006 championships will be held at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, March 16-18, while the 2007 championships will be held March 15-17, at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.