Wartburg has had a strong history in athletics at the Division III level. The Knights wrestling team has an NCAA Division III leading 15 national championships.[2] The Knights also have multiple national championships in both women's indoor track and field(3) and women's outdoor track and field(5), with men's track and field winning one in 2021.[3][4] The Knights made history in the spring of 2012 when they became the first and only school to win two national titles in one day when both wrestling and women's indoor track and field won.[5] In basketball, the Wartburg women have reached the NCAA Final Four on three occasions, most recently in 2024. The men's team has made the Elite Eight once and the Sweet Sixteen on three separate occasions, most recently in 2017.[6] The baseball team has reached the College World Series twice, most recently in 2005. Wartburg's softball team has played in the Women's College World Series once, in 2003.
In the spring of 2024, Wartburg secured their 20th straight American Rivers Conference all-sports trophy.[7] The Knights have won the trophy every year since its inception in 2003. They also won the men's all-sports trophy for the 25th time and have won the women's all sports trophy 18 times.
The NACDA Directors' Cup is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and universities with the most success in collegiate athletics. Points for the NACDA Directors' Cup are based on order of finish in various NCAA sponsored championships or based on various polls. The following is Wartburg's finish out of over 300 NCAA DIII institution's in the Director's Cup since 1995:[10]
Year
Standing
Wartburg Learfield Director's Cup Standings
1995–96
T89th
1996–97
63rd
1997–98
39th
1998–99
T-25th
1999-00
34th
2000–01
10th
2001–02
15th
2002–03
7th
2003–04
13th
2004–05
12th
2005–06
17th
2006–07
24td
2007–08
8th
2008–09
15th
2009–10
32nd
2010–11
15th
2011–12
18th
2012–13
18th
2013–14
11th
2014–15
15th
2015–16
21st
2016–17
26th
2017–18
18th
2018–19
24th
2019–20
N/A (COVID)
2020–21
N/A (COVID)
2021–22
17th
2022–23
16th
2023–24
17th
^indicates a current standing Red indicates ranking down from previous year Green indicates ranking up from previous year
