The Athletics Association sponsored classes in wrestling and boxing in 1927. A wrestling tournament was held during the winter to decide winners in the different weights, and the winners in all classes were awarded medals. In 1933 UT began its intercollegiate wrestling program and folded it into the minor sports program, fielding teams from 1934 to 1943. The captain of the first (1934) team was Harrison Bourkard, and H. D. “Breezy” Wynn served as coach. Matches against YMCA, Maryville, and Appalachian State were held.
Wrestling was added to the list of intercollegiate sports in which the university participated in 1970, with Coach Bob Davis in charge, and six scholarships being given. The first winning season for the team came in 1974. The team began competing as an independent in the NCAA in 1981 after the SEC dropped wrestling as an intercollegiate sport.
UT’s wrestling team—the last in the SEC to be supported as an intercollegiate sport—was discontinued as a varsity sport following the spring 1986 season. The current wrestlers were allowed to remain on scholarship for the 1986–87 school year.