Top Ten Wrestling States: Part 1

Related: Top Ten Wrestling States: Part 2

The list of America's top ten wrestling states wasn't easy to finalize. The states listed in this two-part series are a combination of the objective (individual performances at NCAAs, Fargo results, recent Olympians) and the subjective (cultural impact, leadership, overall reputation). This is a reflection of what wrestlers, clubs, teams and leaders have done to further the sport both on and off the mat. Special consideration is given to historical influences as well as how each state is trending. Therefore the list is both based on the history of the sport in each of these states and how they are currently influencing our wrestling community.

Here is Part 1 of our two-part series looking at the top wrestling states in America. Let the debating begin!

Honorable Mention: North Dakota

Many of the nation's best high school wrestlers make the trip to Fargo every July (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

Every summer North Dakota's largest city hosts the largest amateur wrestling tournament in North America. Like cauliflower-eared locusts the wrestling masses descend on this farming city with intentions of taking home titles in Cadet and Junior freestyle and Greco-Roman styles of wrestling. The Fargo tournament is one of the largest economic events in the North Dakota every year, and thanks to USA Wrestling's commitment to the city, wrestlers and coaches from several generations have a tournament site from which they can share common stories.

North Dakota State is also improving its wrestling program, having hired former Minnesota Gopher and NCAA All-American Roger Kish as the program's head wrestling coach. The team had two wrestlers in the All-American round at the NCAA tournament in 2012, and with a good recruiting class and improved results the Bison could become a team that could produce All-American candidates every March.

The work of Coach Kish is important, but Fargo is still best known for being the summer home of amateur wrestling in America. Without Wrestling's Oz, who knows how many fewer wrestling stories would start with "So we're on this bus for like thirty hours ..."

10. Virginia

The state that gave birth to the Granby roll is itself on a roll. The high school programs in Virginia are as good as they've been since the 1960's and the collegiate options are the best they've ever been with nationally recognized coaches at the state's four top-tier programs.

Virginia high school wrestling had for decades been dominated by two schools: Great Bridge of Chesapeake and Grundy of the coal-mining town with the same name. But over the past 15 years the power within the state has shifted. The top program is now Colonial Forge, led for the past 13 years by head wrestling coach Bill Swink. The Eagles, who've sniffed around the top fifteen nationally, are starting to also produce quality Division I talent, including the Huntley brothers who are currently on the rosters at the Univ. of Michigan and the United State Naval Academy.

Grundy has alos fallen out of the top rans both nationally and in the state. The new powerhouse is Christiansburg, coached by three-time All-American and NCAA champion Daryl Weber of Iowa. The Hawkeye alum took over the Blue Demons program from Kevin Dresser in 2006 when the latter was offered the head coaching job at nearby Virginia Tech. (He was also the head coach of Grundy when they won eight-straight AA state titles.) Last year Dresser produced two All-Americans for the Hokies and at one point in the season had a top-ranked wrestler in Devin Carter (133 pounds), who he'd originally coached at Christiansburg. Bryan Hazard of Robinson High School and Roy Hill of Hayfield also have quality high school programs and have become charismatic leaders on the local and national stage.

Steve Martin (right) and then-ODU assistant coach Matt Storniolo coached Ryan Williams to the NCAA finals in 2009 (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

The college scene has been improving for the past six years with new coaches taking over at Virginia Tech, University of Virginia (Steve Garland), and George Mason (Joe Russell). Steve Martin, who was hired away from his head wrestling coach duties at former powerhouse Great Bridge to coach Old Dominion program, has experienced some success as well. Martin's aggressive personality has translated into wins for the Monarchs and even an NCAA finalist in Ryan Williams (141 pounds in 2009).

The influence of the Martin family on wrestling in Virginia can't be overstated. The Granby System has been influential for more than forty years, and not just because any bum on Granby Ave. can hit a fancy roll. The entire area, including the media, follows the sport with some passion making it one of the area's top high school sports.

Let us not forget that the state Virginia also gave us Poquoson graduate and the voice of USA Wrestling, Jason Bryant!

NCAA Division I All-Americans (since 1961): 38

9. California

You'd expect the state with the largest population to be higher on the list, and were it not for a rapidly declining range of collegiate options, California might still have the momentum necessary to be one of the top five overall wrestling states in the country. However, as it stands now the state of wrestling in California is mirroring the state of its economy: dismal and trending south. Still, though there are some general disappointments the state has some notable bright spots.

The high school scene in California is solid, largely because of the vast numbers of competitors at the prep level. The California high school state tournament is one of the top five toughest tournaments in the country meaning that multiple time champs like Darrell Vasquez, Ryan Flores and more recently Alex Cisneros are solid contenders for NCAA titles and locks for multiple All-American plaques. The state also shows well every year in Fargo, FloNationals, and NHSCA Nationals.

California natives Jamill Kelly, Eric Guerrero, and Stephen Abas were teammates on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

Much of the state's top talent hails from the Central Valley, including the cities of Bakersfield and Fresno. CSU Bakersfield won several NCAA Division II team titles in the 1980's and produced megawatt wrestling superstar Stephen Neal in the 1990's. Until its sudden dismissal in 2010 the program consistently placed wrestlers at the NCAA tournament. Similarly the Abas brothers from Fresno State were some of the most influential wrestling of the past two decades, with a style that evoked creativity and on-the-feet mastery. Unfortunately the recent troubles stemming from Title IX and budget concerns has dismembered the Bulldogs program and forced Bakersfield into what essentially amounts to a self-funded status. In their stead Cal Poly and Stanford each rolled out two All-Americans in 2012 and hope to build on those traditions with young coaching staffs and top recruiting classes. Canadian Olympic Team member Matt Gentry is also a NCAA champion from the Stanford Cardinal.

Every season California produces some of the most exciting wrestling talent in the country and with investment at the grassroots level (BTS coming to Los Angeles in 2012-13) that state that made popular the skank roll and cheap tilt could climb the rankings and once again become a top five wrestling state.

NCAA Division I All-Americans (since 1961): 152

8. Minnesota

Written by InterMat co-owner & senior editor Andrew Hipps

The land of 10,000 lakes has a rich wrestling tradition, especially in Greco-Roman. Minnesota has produced an Olympian in Greco-Roman in each of the past 12 Olympic Games, dating back to 1968. Chas Betts (84 kilos) will compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. But Minnesota is much more than just a Greco-Roman wrestling hotbed. High school and college wrestling programs in Minnesota thrive on the national level year in and year out. Seven-time defending state champion Apple Valley is one of the nation's premier high school wrestling programs. The Eagles have won two national titles over the past three seasons.

Jayson Ness won an NCAA title in dramatic fashion in 2010 (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

The University of Minnesota (Division I) and Augsburg College (Division III) have combined to win nine national championships since 2000. In 2007, Augsburg's Marcus LeVessseur, a native of Minneapolis, became only the second college wrestler ever to finish his career as a four-time undefeated NCAA champion. (Iowa State's Cael Sanderson was the first.) In 2010, Jayson Ness, a native of Bloomington, Minn., claimed the Dan Hodge Trophy and InterMat Wrestler of the Year honors after an undefeated national championship season for the Gophers. University of Minnesota coach J Robinson remains a leader in college wrestling and one the sport's greatest promoters. Robinson and the Gophers have attracted some of the largest crowds ever for dual meets. The 2002 Border Brawl between Minnesota and Iowa in downtown Minneapolis attracted 15,646 fans, which set an NCAA attendance record for a collegiate wrestling dual meet.

Rochester, Minn., located in Southern Minnesota, hosts The Clash National High School Wrestling Duals, and has hosted the Cadet National Duals, InterMat JJ Classic, and Minnesota Christmas Tournament, among other high-level wrestling events. The 1996 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships took place in Minneapolis, and the NWCA/Cliff National Duals finals will take place in Minneapolis in 2012. Minnesota/USA Wrestling is one of USA Wrestling's leading state associations. The Guillotine, a Minnesota wrestling news magazine that has been around since 1971, remains one of the nation's top wrestling state publications. InterMat's headquarters is also located in Minnesota.

NCAA Division I All-Americans (since 1961): 78

7. New Jersey

My roommate is from Toms River and nothing gives me more satisfaction than placing New Jersey in seventh place as he pleads for a spot in the top five. I've loved my visits to the Jersey Shore, but the Garden State's resume for inclusion as a wrestling powerhouse while impressive at the prep level is still very incomplete.

Returning World champion Jordan Burroughs is from New Jersey (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

On the prep side, Blair Academy is the most successful high school wrestling program in the country. For the past 20 years Jeff Buxton has been creating some of the most coachable college wrestlers in the country, including recent two-time NCAA Champion Kellen Russell. High school wrestlers from New Jersey have recently gone on to win NCAA titles in the Big Ten, the Big 12 and even the Ivy League and many more have placed for other conferences across the country. The talent and toughness of a Jersey-trained wrestler is beginning to translate well. In addition to the NCAA titles, the state is also home to 2011 World champion and current Olympic gold medal favorite Jordan Burroughs. The state is filled with all-star talent, but for a state with arguably the third best stable of college-ready talent they're still missing a dominant Division I program.

This list doesn't rate states based solely on the talent of their prep wrestlers because NCAA programs have enormous influence over the future of the spot on a local and national level. That Rutgers program has struggled getting wrestlers to the podium and Rider is serviceable, but not excelling, which presents a problem in ranking the state ahead of nearby competitors. States like Pennsylvania and Ohio recruit locally AND win, which in turn creates more interest at the local level. Should Rider and Rutgers start pumping out locally sourced All-Americans and NCAA Champions -- and I've predicted in the past that they will -- the state will be much easier to place in the top five, much to the pleasure of my roommate.

Notable wrestlers: Jordan Burroughs, Damion Hahn, Donny Pritzlaff, Steve Mocco, Matt Valenti, and Kellen Russell.

NCAA Division I All-Americans (since 1961): 123

6. Illinois

The city of Chicago might be wanting for great talent, but the surrounding metropolitan area has some of the country's best clubs and fastest-rising high school programs. The state is undergoing a bit of a youth movement as well as increased success at the collegiate level. Team Illinois recently took home three straight Cadet National Dual championships, while the University of Illinois placed seventh and Northwestern placed ninth at this year's NCAA tournament. Illinois is the state that shows the most potential for becoming a future prep and collegiate powerhouse.

Olympian Ellis Coleman wrestled for Mike Powell at Oak Park-River Forest, Ill. (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

At the prep level, Illinois has been led by Montini Catholic head wrestling coach Izzy Martinez and his complimentary clubs with the ubiquitous Izzy Style Training shirts. In Naperville, a suburb 45-minutes to the southwest of the Chicago, Team Overtime has become a juggernaut of a club. That team, first created by now-Michigan assistant Sean Bormet has been placing their top wrestlers in Division I programs across the country for several years. Another force on the high school scene is Mike Powell at Oak Park-River Forest, who has had the most success programs of the past five years coaching what has become an impressive roster of studs, including the Dardanes twins, Sam Brooks, and now-Olympian Ellis Coleman (Greco-Roman, 60 kilos). That program, which also competes for state titles year in and year out, is part of a long tradition in Chicago that includes the careers of the Williams brothers (Steve, Joe, and T.J.) from Mount Carmel. Pat McNamara is heading up a local youth movement in the southern portion of the state which is sure to produce some high quality talent that are guaranteed to be BEASTS on the mat. City champion and two-time state champion Max Schneider (Cal Poly) was the nation's No. 3-ranked wrestler at 152 pounds by InterMat.

Illinois has some legitimate wrestling history between the collar-and-elbow bouts of Abraham Lincoln, the high school coaching days of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (IL-14) and the long-standing quality of the Midlands Championships. In spite of all that history it's actually the rush of new talent taking the podium at national and international events that makes Illinois one of the best wrestling states in the country.

NCAA Division I All-Americans (since 1961): 137

Want to see the top five? Read Part 2.

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Top Ten Wrestling States: Part 1

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