What is the strongest/weakest state for high school wrestling?

I would say the best wrestling is in Ohio and PA, schools in both states take it very seriously. It is probably tougher to win the state tournament in PA overall, only because there are two divisions, and there are 3 divisions in Ohio, but it really varies for every weight class. It is extremely tough to win a state title in CA, because of the population there and the fact there is only one division, however, wrestling isn't as traditional in the west coast as it is in the midwest, more high school athletes in California are into basketball during the winter (why would you want to stay inside a sweaty wrestling room for 3 hours every day for 4 months when it's nice outside), so in california, the level of wrestling for league matches, and early on post season, is a joke compared to Ohio and PA. Minnesota, Illinois, NJ, Iowa, and Michigan, all have wrestling tradition as well, but they're not at the tier of Ohio and PA, just look at which high schoolers transcend into all americans in the next level. Overall, I would say:1. PA (lots of tradition, tough schools, Penn State)2. OH (lots of tradition, lots of tough school, very in depth, tOSU)3. CA (high population, a few studs come out of here and win national tournaments like super32)4. MN (Always produce alot of studs, Apple valley, and have a great college team)5. NJ (Blair is at their prime)6. MI (pretty good tradition, not quite at the tier of OSU or PA though, Michigan is having a few down years)7. IA (LOTS of tradition, great college, in depth wrestling, not at the tier of the top 2 states however)8. IL (Don't know much about Illinois, but they seem to produce a few studs every year, and their college program is successful and fights for top 5 in the nation every so often)9. NY (Cornell, high population, produced a few studs)10. OK (OSU and OU)

Anybody trying to argue that PA is not the toughest is completely stupid and/or ignorant, they may have two classes (aa and aaa) but either one is harder to compete is that places like Cali as a whole, and if you are talking about both of those classes, then there is no way any state compares.

Anybody trying to argue that PA is not the toughest is completely ed and/or ignorant, they may have two classes (aa and aaa) but either one is harder to compete is that places like Cali as a whole, and if you are talking about both of those classes, then there is no way any state compares.

Illinois strongest, with PA,OH,NJ.***Also, new wrestling rap song for saving Olympic wrestling!!!***http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Wdseiik_E

State Individuals TitlesPennsylvania 55 73Iowa 45 68Oklahoma 34 50Ohio 28 37Illinois 26 30New Jersey 25 39California 25 36New York 24 31Oregon 15 21Michigan 14 24Wisconsin 12 17Minnesota 9 11Virginia 8 10

PA

New Jersey is by far the toughest state to win a state title in...in other states there are different groups like in PA there is aa and aaa new jersey is only one tournament

What about Alabama?

Blair doesnt even wrestle in the NJ state championships so I dont even consider them to be a NJ team just like I dont consider Wyoming Seminary to be a PA team. I'm from PA by the way the best wrestling state in the country hands down.

PA, OH, ILL, IA, CA

Jersey has Blair...enough said

I definitely think Illinois has to be up there we win Fargo in greco and freestyle almost ever year. Cortez, Brill, Murphy, the state is just stacked with talent. Also look at how hard the Illinois state tournament is the #2 kid in the country Brian Murphy never won a state title, that just shows the depth in the state.

I'm biased towards the west coast with the single California high school championship tournament being one of the toughest in the country. But looking at the 330 or so qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA Div I tournament by home state, Pennsylvania is way ahead of the pack with 61 qualifiers. The rest of the top 10 with number of qualifiers: (2) Ohio 30; (3) New York 26; (4) New Jersey 20; (4) Illinois 20; (6) California 17; (7) Michigan 16; (8) Iowa 11; (9) Missouri 10 and (10) Colorado 9. This may not be the definitive way of ranking the quality of high school wresting by states, but is is one objective way to do it -- I'm sure there are others that could lead to an interesting discussion (for example, factoring in population size).

I'm biased towards the west coast with the single California high school championship tournament being one of the toughest in the country. But looking at the 330 or so qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA Div tournament by home state, Pennsylvania is way ahead of the pack with 61 qualifiers. The rest of the top 10 with number of qualifiers: (2) Ohio 30; (3) New York 26; (4) New Jersey 20; (4) Illinois 20; (6) California 17; (7) Michigan 16; (8) Iowa 11; (9) Missouri 10 and (10) Colorado 9. This may not be the definitive way of ranking the quality of high school wresting by states, but is is one objective way to do it -- I'm sure there are others that could lead to an interesting discussion (for example, factoring in population size).

north dakota has a dang good state full of good wrestling. all you are dumb

My son is a strong high school wrestler in MA finishing second in his sectionals as a sopre, ranked 10th in the state. He is losing to the top kids by 4 to 6 points. We want to send him out of state this summer to train with he beat the country has to offer in PA, NJ, or Iowa. What are the best camps out there for him? The best kids in MA get stomped by Pop n' Flo wrestlers from those states! I want him to learn to wrestle like those kids!!!!

The question is why dont the midwest and eastern teams travel to CA.Would love to see participation from those top teams not just a couple of them.Would love to see a Walsh like tournament happen in CA.Ernie and tirapelle have been working hard to make it happen,but its slow coming.Then we could possibly see #1 action,my anks are PA,CA,OH.If based on last yr showing CA,PA,AND OH ,MN NJ,NY

Tom Brands was born in Nebraska but grew up in Sheldon, Iowa so he should be considered an Iowan.

Tom was born in Nebraska but grew up in Sheldon, Iowa so he should be considered an Iowan.

This online community is dedicated to you. Created in order to provide a flowrestling where you can post your questions about on Website entrepreneurs want cost-effective Affordable SEO service to be able to advertise their organizations on the Internet over Google. Some SEO organizations can have expensive solutions and offers, and there are many small companies that cannot manage the price certain organizations cost. To find the company that is cost-effective and professional, entrepreneurs will need to perform research. Many organizations have reasonable costs, but restricted outcomes. Consider cost compared to outcomes when choosing SEO solutions.

oklahoma, they are a tough as state, they would be number 1 if they had a larger population, thats the only reason put cali on the board. penn is always good then ohio. and minnesota. everyone is basing it off a few good wrestlers in the states, oklahoma has the most top ranked schools in the nation though...

Tom Brands is from Iowa

Vermont, case closed.

I prefer to think of tiers:Top Tier - PA, NJ, OH, CANext Level - Ill, MI, MN, NY, IANext Level - OK, MO, FL, VAHard to say who the worst State is since we do not ever see them. But Al, Ark, Nev, AR all seem to be devoid of talent and numbers. Numbers being the crucial one.

There is over 27,000 high school wrestlers in California with only 1 state champion per weight. The next highest state for high school wrestlers is Illinois with over 17,000 participants... but they have multiple state champs. Iowa has around 6,000 high school participants with 3 state champs per weight. Its apple and oranges though, if you ask what is the hardest state to win a title in, it depends on the year and the weight. California leads in high school participants by a large number with only 1 division. I have a whole spread sheet of all the high school wrestling participants per state.

How do you define the "strongest" state for High School wrestling. I don't think it can only be defined by who is in College wrestling. That may be one criteria...but there are many factors why wrestlers do not continue into College. I think the only way to measure is head to head wrestling. Those of you who want to use Beast of the East or Ironman as your "rationale"...you are being very myopic. Proximity is probably the biggest determining factor for participation in those tournaments. These tournaments are very strong in terms of some of the "best" wrestlers but they are very limited geographically as well as by style. Do you only measure "folkstyle" or would it be more accurate to measure all three styles?Do you measure "strength" only by the best or are there other factors involved? I think there are several factors to be considered. Sheer numbers would probably point toward California...only because of it's population. But it's still a factor....because you have a larger pool to draw from in terms of your athletes...and by having a "single division" you are better able to determine a "true" champion. Secondly, if you define "strongest" by quality of wrestlers while in High School...that's a more difficult debate. One of the criteria would have to be "National" tournaments such as Flo and Fargo Freestyle & Greco Roman. Both of these tournaments take place in "seasons" where wrestlers are mostly available to go...also because Fargo is in the "middle" of the Country proximity wise....but that is still a limiting factor.The more I think about this...the more the answer becomes foggy. The simple answer is that the only way to find out who is best is by getting your best from each State and have them wrestle three dual meet matches...(one for each style)...and tally the scores ulatively. That's the best answer to the question...all other answers are educated guesses at best.

CaliCoastal- New Jersey only has one individual state tournament. Wrestlers must qualify through districts (top 3), then regions(top 3) to qualify for the state tournament. In our history we've only had two 4 time champs (Mike Grey and Anddrew Campolattano), although Anthony Ashnault is probably going to make it three this year. Hard to find a tougher state tourney in the country. That being said, IMO the best high school wrestling states are OH and PA. NJ and CA are both up there but I'd take OH and PA over anybody.

It's hard to say which state produces the best wrestlers. I live in Oklahoma and there are a lot of great high school wrestlers here. However we don't have a deep talent pool like some other states. PA has a really deep talent pool and has a lot more kids wrestling than in other states. That's why they produce so many All Americans. It's crap shoot on who's the best state and depends on how you look at it.

For all of you who want to use East Coast Tournaments as your standard...I'm glad you feel better about yourself. The fact of the matter is that we really don't know what State is the best. We only have conjecture. Personally I would love to see a California State Champion Team vs. a PA State Champion team. At that point we would have some solid facts to go on.

if you look at the wreslters that make it to collage nationals every year and what state those kids went to for highschool......pa almost triples any other state.also for the california people that think that flo nationals meant something......ca and pa went to super 32 and we absolutely desroyed you. pa depth is what makes us untouchable

i say PA even though i am a jersey boy and for our extremely small size we are a powerhouse3 PA has the upper hand on us.

Easy question that I am tired of seeing on this site. Just look at the NCAA tourney and tell me where all the top 4 finishers went to high School. Discussion over.

I read an article somewhere (can't find it now) showing D1 recruits, and the states that provided the most, in order, were: OH, PA, MN, & IA. That being said, I wrestled in OH growing up, coached there for 6 years, and have now coached in MN for 4 years. While the top-tier wrestlers seem about the same between the two, OH has significantly more depth, and the overall quality of wrestling here in MN less than in OH (looking at mid to final rounds of average tournaments). The closest "proof" we can get are the big national tourneys: Walsh Jesuit Iron Man, Beast of the East, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of schools don't have the funding to travel to those. I watched the state champs from HI come to the Clash last year in MN, and a 3-time state champ from HI got teched by an un-ranked OH freshman. With 10 years of coaching experience, and about 7 years of working/wrestling at the Ironman, I'd pick OH, PA, & NJ as the top 3, followed by MN (can't ignore the handful of powerhouse teams they have up here). The order of those 4 varies on a year to year basis.

no offence to michigan but i saw a michigan state placer (8th) get beat by a 8th grader at the tournament of champions in ohio

i think the best are ohio, pa, iowa, minn in no order but i do think ohio has the most depth just for example David Taylor from Paris Graham in ohio which is d2 and logan stieber national champ as a freshmen, hunter stieber, cam tessera all ncaa all americans from a d3 school called monroeville which is why i think ohio has the most depth

Maryland is pretty tough especially with all those eastern shore boys but i know that PA and the midwest they live and breath wrestling

pa nj ny ca il no doubt the strongest

Iowa.

Well I am not one to say which state is best since I'm personally a man of limited information. To ease up this argument about worst state vs. best state etc. I'm aware of the critical arguments on most sides, and I could agree with alot of them. If you really wanted to have a true "Best State" type of contest.....I think the best way to appropriate this format would be to integrate not only a FLO Nationals HS Individual tournament, but also a FLO Nationals HS Dual based tournament. We could then judge who the top dogs are in an overall basis. I mean of course, I'm just a man of limited information so shoot me down if you'd like. Take it into consideration?And on the basis of the duals, 64 team bracket. (I'm saying 64 instead of 50 states since I'm aware of the many branches such as MYWAY or SCWAY would probably be interested in making special teams as well) And then maybe seed not through critics of rank but of like sections of the country. Similar to California CIF->Masters->State regulated style. Elimination would be based on some occurrence of 2 and out. So it'd be like western states duke it out, eastern states duke it out, blah blah etc. After that the last 8 teams (2 top of each state from section) could then do a Quarter finals and lead it on to finish it off.The reason I'm stating this as a potential possibility is because I believe the question was about which state "Overall" was stated as best or worst. Overall is generally stated through dueling, in my opinion, and The "Average Stud Ratio" should define which state would be top in the end of the duals.Now all I just said only would work if EVERY STATE THAT WRESTLES forced their State Champions and/or Finalists over to this tournament. And the credentials would have to be verified unless supported through alternative reason such as funeral, wedding etc. I think this would really work out, but of course this is almost similar to that argument concerning the NCAA Finals being in Dual Format.I hope this could help concerning this argument.

i see ohio, pennsylvania, new jersey, michigan, indiana, california, illinois all formidable in high school wrestling.

I'd have to agree with coachD PA probably top of the heap. Tx is still young it's not just starting really taking the turn to becoming a top contenders, more of them are getting nationally ranked and I believe more and more will get on that list as years go on. I say within the next 5-10 yrs Tx will be on of the top states.

Illinois is always one of the top states, IKWF thru H.S.

Illinois is always one of the top states, IKWF thru H.S.

Iowa all the way

Nebraska is very dominant. So is missouri.

Mississippi is the weakest

I have watched most the states here on Flow. NY is strong in both D1 and D2. NJ strong also but comparable. PA,Illinios, California and Ohio amongst the best

PA of course. Ohio, California, and Ill beging to impress. NY always strong and NJ a good level of competition

Lot of people saying Ohio I would agree to bad we cant get top officials also.

i am a junior high wreslter from ohio and ohio's best can definitely go with any states but the multiple times i have wreslted in PA there has been more depth in those tournaments than their are in most ohio tournaments