How to watch and follow the Big Ten and Big 12 Wrestling Championships this weekend

Cody Goodwin
Des Moines Register

There's a lot of wrestling going on this weekend.

The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team is competing at the Big Ten Championships at Penn State.

Iowa State, ranked 13th nationally by Trackwrestling, and Northern Iowa, which is just outside Track's top-25, are both in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 Championships.

There's also Grand View, Graceland, Morningside, Briar Cliff, William Penn, and Northwestern College at the NAIA National Championships in Kansas, and Iowa Wesleyan, as well as South Winneshiek graduate Felicity Taylor, competing at the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships in Ohio.

Again, a lot of wrestling.

But fear not. Here's how you can watch and follow it all this weekend:

The Iowa wrestling team is going for a second-straight Big Ten tournament team title this weekend in University Park, Pa.

How to watch on TV and online

Big Ten Championships

The Big Ten Network announced expanded coverage of this year's conference tournament. Instead of airing just the finals on Big Ten Network, they've decided to air virtually all of Saturday's action on BTN as well.

Session I, which begins Saturday at 9 a.m. CT, will include whip-around coverage on the best matches, with limited commercial breaks. It will run until the session ends, around 1 p.m. CT. BTN is calling this block "red-zone" style coverage, so if you're familiar with the popular NFL Network program, you'll love this.

Session II, which begins Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT, will include live coverage of the semifinals. Big Ten Network will return for the finals in Session IV on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT. You can also catch all of this on the Fox Sports App.

Big Ten Network will have Shane Sparks, Jim Gibbons and Tim Johnson on the call from BTN's Chicago studio. Bo Nickal, a three-time Big Ten and NCAA Champion for Penn State, will join Ray Flores on-site for insight and analysis throughout the tournament. Mute or blast the volume as you see fit.

Additionally, individual mat cameras will be available on Big Ten Network+ for all four sessions.

Session I will all have all four mats available for an individual stream. Session II will have the two consolation mats available for individual stream. Session III will have all three mats available for individual stream. Session IV will the third- and fifth-place matches available for individual stream.

You can find the links in each session below.

For Session I: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Mat 3 | Mat 4

For Session II: Mat 1 | Mat 2

For Session III: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Mat 3

For Session IV: 3rd-Place Mat | 5th-Place Mat

Big Ten Network+ also allows you to watch all four mats at once during Session I, both consolation mats during Session II, all three mats during Session III, and both the third- and fifth-place matches during Session IV

You can also find brackets, live results, mat assignments, stats, and more on Trackwrestling. The 2021 Big Ten Championships program can be found here.

Iowa State's David Carr gestures to the crowd after taking down Northern Iowa's Derek Holschlag on Feb. 14, 2021 at the Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State defeated Northern Iowa 23-17.

Big 12 Championships

ESPN is your go-to for all the Big 12 action this weekend.

The first three sessions — Saturday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., then Sunday at 10 a.m. — will be on a multi-view stream on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The finals, at 5 p.m. Sunday, will be aired live on ESPN2.

You can find the links for each session below:

You can find brackets, live results, mat assignments, stats, and more on Trackwrestling. The 

NAIA National Championships

Trackwrestling is the go-to viewing source for the NAIA wrestlings fans.

The entire tournament will be streamed live and all matches will be archived through Trackwrestling. The championship matches, set for Saturday at 7 p.m., can be watched on ESPN3.

You can also go to Trackwrestling for brackets, live results, mat assignments, stats and more. The 2021 NAIA National Championships program can be found here.

National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships

Trackwrestling is also the go-to spot for the women's wrestling fans this weekend.

The entire tournament will also be streamed live and all matches will be archived through Trackwrestling. You can also go to Trackwrestling for brackets, live results, mat assignments, stats and more.

Live updates and analysis on wrestling action

The Des Moines Register is stationed in Pennsylvania this weekend for the Big Ten Championships, but will provide daily updates, analysis, stories and video interviews on all the wrestling going down this weekend.

You can download the Register app for easy consumption on iOS or Android. on Saturday, we will have analysis from Day One of both the Big Ten and Big 12 tournaments, plus full recaps from the NAIA and national women's college tournaments. On Sunday, we'll provide fuller recaps from the Big Ten and Big 12 tournaments.

On Twitter: Wrestling writer Cody Goodwin (@codygoodwin) is stationed at the Bryce Jordan Center this weekend, but will also be tuning into the Big 12 Championships as well as the NAIA National Championships and the National Collegiate Women's College Wrestling Championships. Check his tweets. He'll be updating constantly.

Be sure to also follow the main Des Moines Register sports account (@DMRSports) and the Register’s main account (@DMRegister). For more team-oriented stories, you can follow Hawk Central (@hawkcentral), Cyclone Insider (@DMRCyclones) and the Register's Northern Iowa account (@DMRPanthers). 

The Register’s Facebook page will share all our wrestling coverage this weekend. And for those of you on Instagram, check out the Des Moines Register’s Instagram page for updates and stories as well.

Iowa State's Sam Colbray (left) wrestles Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen on Feb. 14, 2021 at the Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State defeated Northern Iowa 23-17.

Wrestling Schedules

All times are Central Time

2021 Big Ten Championships

  • Session I: First Round, Quarterfinals — Saturday, 9 a.m.
  • Session II: Semifinals, Wrestlebacks — Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
  • Session III: Consolation Semifinals, 7th-Place Matches — Sunday, 11 a.m.
  • Session IV: Finals, Medal Matches — Sunday, 3:30 p.m.

2021 Big 12 Championships

  • Session I: First Round, Quarterfinals — Saturday, 11 a.m.
  • Session II: Semifinals, Wrestlebacks — Saturday, 5 p.m.
  • Session III: Wrestlebacks, Medal Matches — Sunday, 10 a.m.
  • Session IV: Finals — Sunday, 5 p.m.

2021 NAIA National Championships

  • Session I: First & Second Round, Wrestlebacks — Friday, 9 a.m.
  • Session II: Quarterfinals, Wrestlebacks — Friday, 5:30 p.m.
  • Session III: Semifinals, Wrestlebacks, Medal Matches — Saturday, 10 a.m.
  • Session IV: Finals — Saturday, 7 p.m.

2021 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships

  • Starts at 9 a.m. (In-depth, daily schedule was not found.)

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.