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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (June 26, 2019) – The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved allowing wrestlers to compete in shorts designed for the sport and removing all language in the sport’s rules book regarding the length of a wrestler’s hair. The changes are effective for the 2019-20 academic year.
NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee members wanted to make the rules for hair less rigid and provide an additional option for the competition uniform.
Previously, wrestlers could compete only in traditional singlets with or without full-length tights or form-fitting shirts and shorts. This third uniform option requires the form-fitting shirt but allows teams to pair this top with loose-fitting shorts designed for wrestling.
Wrestlers’ hair still will be required to be free of oils and/or greasy substances. Hair coverings still will be allowed and considered special equipment. The rule that prohibited a wrestler’s hair from extending below the level of an ordinary shirt collar and the hair on the side of the head from extending below the earlobes has been eliminated.