Insider: State Power Rankings

The kids like black, hall, manville, and all those kids are counting for their HOME state, not the state where they attend high school. I think some of them should count for where there school is like black and hall because that institution has developed them as wrestlers. But take Mike Evans three years ago and caleb richardson two years ago for blair, they both transferred after being well developed and accomplished wrestlers in their home state for one season. same with ed ruth, although i believe ruth wouldnt be the wrestler he is today without buxtons help.

Why are kids like Brooks Black counted for PA, but he goes to Blair? And Mark Hall for MI opposed to MN where he wrestles? Probably a dumb question, but I don't know the answer. Sorry.

Yes, Ernie your inferiority complex does get old, tired and played out. Willie rates CA as the 3rd best state in al of the USA and you still feel the need to cry the blues. Maybe you should let "your kids" do their own talking, on the mat.........

More Universities means more kids coming out with College experience and joining the grass roots and hs system as coaches. As your college programs die in a state and your coaching pool becomes older with less experienced coaches available to replace them you slowly see the trend changing.PA alone has more d1 programs than the entire west --

Actually the most important stat is # of d1 universities in the state -- PA has the most I believe which allows the kids in the Keystone state a much better oppertunity to wrestle at the D1 level. In essence if you have to choose between a native who grew up an hour away or a kid 2500 miles away your going to take the local kid as you dont have to worry about certain issues like a kid getting homesick.. The in state tuition is also less than out of state tuition which makes the athletes portion after scholarship cheaper. What does this mean? Means PA is the top state in my mind but the argument is always look at how we do at NCAA Level -- my point NCAA performance is based on oppertunity and PA has most oppertunities ie # of schools. Perfect example OR - as oppertuntities died in teh west and even at places like Univerity of Oregon their aa's percentage is way down.

I don't think population is the key, but it is interesting. Take my state of Fla which would be fourth in population and compare it to say Oklahoma which is 28th. I would say Oklahoma has a more intense wrestling scene. The top states are the best because of their passion that continues to get kids on the mat. A friend of mine from Pa once told me every kid wrestles in Pa. He told me when you turn 6 mom or dad starts dropping you at the club. He said not all kids wrestle when they get to HS, but everyone wrestles. That type of passion will keep them on top.

THIS IS BOSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm not saying that because he threw GA some bones.

CA has a lot more wrestlers than PA. matter of fact, CA has more wrestlers than the whole Midwestern U.S.

State population is interesting when discussing per capita strength but what is more important is number of HS wrestlers. CA has 3x the population of PA for instance but is the ratio of HS wrestlers? Anyone have those statistics.

population is a topic that always comes up. maybe i should have noted that.however, i don't think the per capita argument holds much water. because in the end, you have what you have.you can't hold podium spots at NCAA's because, if Iowa had more people, they'd have more AA's.medals are medals. in hs, and in college.

Top 10 Wrestling States by Population*1) California - 38 million3) New York - 19 1/2 million5) Illinois - 13 million6) Pennsylvania - 13 million7) Ohio - 11 ½ million8) Michigan - 10 million11) New Jersey - 9 million18) Missouri - 6 million21) Minnesota - 5 million28) Oklahoma - 4 millionI thought it would be interesting and add to the conversation if you took a look at these states from a standpoint of population. If you get down to which state is getting the most out of what they have to work with…*numbers rounded to nearest ½ million.

This is awesome Willie

KD - D1 AA's are definitely based on where they graduated hs from, not what college they were from.

Willie, can you confirm that D1 AAs by state are classified by the state they wrestled for in high school and not college? Also, I think an all-time listing is interesting but AAs over last 10 & 20 years is a better indicator of where states stand today.

So in other words, Analyst, you don't like where your state is ranked!

yea, this is one of my favorite pieces of content you've ever put out, Willie! Great stuff. Lotta great data to support your analysis

I think this is a great job doing the rankings. It's not an opinion as much as based on facts. Good stuff Willie. Let's go Nazareth!

Great stuff FLO!!!! I think it is safe to say wrestling is on the rise!

Must have taken a lot of research to come up with these conclusions. Good job WS!

i wish this wasnt insider :(