Facts, Trends, and Numbers from 2026 Who's Number One

Who’s #1 took place on Saturday and we’ve already posted the results from that event. Today, we’re going a little deeper and looking at some of the trends and developments that emerged from the 2026 event. We’re also viewing it from a historical perspective, as the boys version of this event started back in 2013, so there’s plenty of records and data associated with Who’s #1.

Boys Event

There were two wrestlers who appeared on previous WNO cards and had wins but lost in 2026 (Landon Sidun/Camryn Howard).

Melvin Miller was the only wrestler who earned his second win at the event (defeated Max Dhabolt in 2025). He has three total appearances at WNO.

Interestingly enough, Grey Burnett was the first wrestler from Ohio to get a win at this event since 2021 (Dylan Fishback).

Mac Crosson was the first Iowa native to win at Who’s #1 since Nate Jesuroga in 2021.

Pennsylvania had four winners at this dual. They’ve had multiple winners in every year since 2020. The highwater mark is five - a total they touched in both 2021 and 2025.

As of now, Penn State leads the way with two recruits earning wins on Saturday (Grey Burnett and Gavin Mangano). No other school has more than one - though others could commit and change this.

This is the second straight year in which New Jersey wrestlers were held without a win. This is only the second time in the history of the event that New Jersey has been shut out in back-to-back years (2015-16 is the other).

The 2026 dual had three matches go to sudden victory or tiebreakers. The last time the event had that many was in 2015 when they also had three.

Paul Kenny has the distinction of suffering losses in three different Who’s #1 events. (2024-25-26).

25 former WNO participants have gone on to claim 40 NCAA titles during their collegiate careers.

Andrew Alirez, Josh Barr, Roman Bravo-Young (x2), David Carr (x2), Yianni Diakomihalis (x4), Richie Figueroa, Jax Forrest, Patrick Glory, Shane Griffith, Seth Gross, Levi Haines (x2), Mark Hall, Caleb Henson, Vincenzo Joseph (x2), Nick Lee (x2), Luke Lilledhal, Myles Martin, Jesse Mendez (x2), Jason Nolf (x3), Keegan O’Toole (x2), Landon Robideau, Gable Steveson (x2), Nick Suriano (x2), Zahid Valencia (x2), Sergio Vega

Girls Event

Taina Fernandez joins Everest Leydecker as girls who participated in the dual all four years of high school. Fernandez has shut out her opponents in three of the four contests.

Jaclyn Bouzakis registered her third victory. She has not been scored upon in any of her WNO matches.

Sarissa Tucker (Virginia) and Kaylyn Harrill (Nebraska) are the first WNO girls participants from their respective states.

For a second straight year, traditional power California was held without a winner.

The 125 lb matchup pitted a pair of 2026 U17 world champions against each other. Marlee Solomon prevailed 6-6 on criteria over Epenesa Elison.

Along with Fernandez and Bouzakis, Landri Von Gonten (140) and Riley Hanrahan (145) joined the ranks of multiple-time WNO’s winners, as each was also victorious in 2025.

The 2026 event was the first girls WNO event with multiple falls since having two in 2022.