This is one of the biggest problems. In 1980 152 Division I schools had wrestling in 2002 there were 86. 1,520 scholarships vs 860 scholarships.
Divison II and Divison III also lost programs. More kids are forced to walk on and earn a scholarship the hard way. I am not positive but I would think the numbers are similar in Junior colleges, NAIA, and all levels post High School.

1979-80 - 152 Div. I; 72 Div. II; 150 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 374
1980-81 - 150 Div. I; 74 Div. II; 148 Div. III, total NCAA schools- 372
1981-82 - 146 Div. I; 68 Div. II; 149 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 363
1982-83 - 136 Div. I; 69 Div. II; 146 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 351
1983-84 - 136 Div. I; 62 Div. II; 144 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 342
1984-85 - 136 Div. I; 52 Div. II; 137 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 325
1985-86 - 133 Div. I; 51 Div. II; 133 Div. III, total NCAA schools- 317
1986-87 - 124 Div. I; 46 Div. II; 130 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 300
1987-88 - 121 Div. I; 41 Div. II; 127 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 289
1988-89 - 117 Div. I; 43 Div. II; 126 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 286
1989-90 - 112 Div. I; 44 Div. II; 122 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 278
1990-91 - 111 Div. I; 49 Div. II; 120 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 280
1991-92 - 110 Div. I; 48 Div. II; 117 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 275
1992-93 - 108 Div. I; 44 Div. II; 113 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 265
1993-94 - 107 Div. I; 49 Div. II; 108 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 264
1994-95 - 104 Div. I; 46 Div. II; 111 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 261
1995-96 - 98 Div. I; 48 Div. II; 112 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 258
1996-97 - 96 Div. I; 48 Div. II; 107 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 251
1997-98 - 96 Div. I; 42 Div. II; 101 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 239
1998-99- 94 Div. I; 43 Div. II; 101 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 243
1999-00 - 91 Div. I; 41 Div. II; 106 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 238
2000-01 - 90 Div. I; 41 Div. II; 104 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 235
2001-02 - 86 Div. I; 43 Div. II; 100 Div. III, total NCAA schools - 229