What is the best wrestling state in the U.S.?

[The Bear 0]

New Jersey, PA, and Ohio come to my mind as some of the best. Illinois could aslo be brought up, opinions?

[pin2win 58]

I think you can add California to that list...

[The Bear 0]

Cali has some great kids but come on, look at the population in Cali. Of course they are going to do well. They should be dominating wrestling with all the people in the state but, they just don't impress me.

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

Cali has some great kids but come on, look at the population in Cali. Of course they are going to do well. They should be dominating wrestling with all the people in the state but, they just don't impress me.

lol  I guess you must have watched a lot of California wrestling to make the statement that they don't impress you?

[119Rider 61]

Pennsylvania is by far the best right now. Its funny to see who has dropped off the most too, Oklahoma.

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

I would think that the top states are:

PA

OH

NJ

Cali

NY

[The Bear 0]

lol  I guess you must have watched a lot of California wrestling to make the statement that they don't impress you?

Actually yes I have watched quite a bit of Cali wrestling otherwise I wouldn't have made the statement I made.

[Zeus 117]

Pennsylvania, Ohio and California are the three best states out there.  PA is usually known for technical wrestlers, leg riding and front headlock throws (especially eastern PA).  Ohio is not generally thought of as a technical state but rather more physical with basic technique but they work it to death.  California is usually a slick moves state with great technique and explosiveness.  Per capita I'd say Ohio and PA are the top and CA keeps up with them simply because of sheer numbers.  I think there has only been one four-timer in California, that tells you how tough it is out there.  Other second-tier states in my opinion are Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, and maybe Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Indiana depending on how you broke it down.

What really separates these states from the rest of the country is their depth.  I hate to say it because I was born and raised here but most of our state champs wouldn't even place in Ohio or PA.  Some would be lucky to even qualify.

[The Bear 0]

I agree with the state champs placing in Ohio or PA. I think one thing that will always hold KY back though is the fact that our population will always be on the lower end and KY is a football/Bball state.

In my opinion my list would go

1. Ohio

2. New Jersey

3. Pennsylvania

4. Illinois

5. Oklahoma

6. Iowa

7. Michigan

8. Wiconsin

9. New York

10. California

[The Bear 0]

The best pound for pound states would be Oklahoma or Iowa their populations are 3,642,361 and 3,002,555. While california has 36,756,666, yeah that's why Cali wrestling doesn't impress me AT ALL. They should be dominating wrestling in general alone with population. Cali is 11 times larger in population that OK and Iowa.

[ridge44 0]

what about minnesota

[bobbythebrick101 0]

1.PA          11.Indian

2.OH        12.Wiconsin

3.Cal        13.Flordia

4.NJ          14.Nebraska

5.NY          15.Minnesota

6.OK          16.Texas

7.Iowa      17.Georgia

8.VA          18.Nevada

9.Illinois      19.Arizonia?

10.Michigan 20.Kentucky?

Just my thought on the top 20

[The Bear 0]

KY def. not top 20 maybe top 30.

[ankle_pick111 0]

I would say its Pennsylvania, and maybe Ohio. I would say Kentucky might sneak into the top 20

[ForeverFearless 0]

Maybe not first or second in the country but people don't list Missouri even in thebtop twenty? I would put them top ten personally

[The Bear 0]

Maybe not first or second in the country but people don't list Missouri even in thebtop twenty? I would put them top ten personally

As a college team maybe but not for wrestling overall in high school. That's what I was typically referring to was level of competition on a high school level. Back on the subject though absolutely not, Missouri is no where near top ten.

[TCmma 0]

Maybe not first or second in the country but people don't list Missouri even in thebtop twenty? I would put them top ten personally

no way man, missouri has brought out the Mango brothers but thats it. Missouri is not in the top 10

[The Bear 0]

no way man, missouri has brought out the Mango brothers but thats it. Missouri is not in the top 10

I agree.

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

The best pound for pound states would be Oklahoma or Iowa their populations are 3,642,361 and 3,002,555. While california has 36,756,666, yeah that's why Cali wrestling doesn't impress me AT ALL. They should be dominating wrestling in general alone with population. Cali is 11 times larger in population that OK and Iowa.

Well, Cali does have more wrestlers than any other state.  I believe they have close to 1000 school participating in wrestling.  I am not sure of that number, but I know it is close to that.  Those also only have 1 class/division!  In Kentucky we have roughly 80 schools in one class, in Cali they have more than 10 times that.  I am just staying that per close to 1000 wrestlers, they only have 1 champ.  It has to be tough to win their state tournament...

[eville dad 17]

I agree with the state champs placing in Ohio or PA. I think one thing that will always hold KY back though is the fact that our population will always be on the lower end and KY is a football/Bball state.

In my opinion my list would go

1. Ohio

2. New Jersey

3. Pennsylvania

4. Illinois

5. Oklahoma

6. Iowa

7. Michigan

8. Wiconsin

9. New York

10. California

I think the statement about KY not faring well against other states holds true in all sports. If KY football and basketball state championship teams were asked to compete with state Champ teams from larger states they would have a tough time winning too! I dont really think KY has a sport they are better at than other states. Alot of people think this is a basketball state, thats just because its more popular perhaps than other states I dont think the players as a whole are any better. My point is that the wrestling isnt necessarily any worse off in a state to state comparison than other sports.

I do believe some of our state champs in wrestling could place in some of the various divisions in OH and PA. I'm not saying all but the very best, the champs that hold their own at big national events have proven they can compete with anyone.

[FalconWrestling 147]

I just remember at a camp at Oklahoma State there was a 4 time State Champ from California. And the way he wrestled it looked like half if not more of the people in the gym could beat him easily. My list would go

1. Ohio

2. New Jersey

3. Iowa

4. Pennsylvania

5. Oklahoma

[CoachBrown 12]

"I just remember at a camp at Oklahoma State there was a 4 time State Champ from California."

Are you sure? I think there's only been 1 or 2 4xer's ever from California.

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

I just remember at a camp at Oklahoma State there was a 4 time State Champ from California. And the way he wrestled it looked like half if not more of the people in the gym could beat him easily. My list would go

1. Ohio

2. New Jersey

3. Iowa

4. Pennsylvania

5. Oklahoma

[/quote

Yeah, I am going to call BS on this.  The only 4x state champ they had was Darrell Vasquez.  He got second at the Senior nationals in 2002, behind Chase Metcalf (Brent Metcalf's brother).  If half the people at camp could beat him, then congrats, you attended the toughest wrestling camp in history...

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

"I just remember at a camp at Oklahoma State there was a 4 time State Champ from California."

Are you sure? I think there's only been 1 or 2 4xer's ever from California.

Darrell Vasquez

[bluegrassbrawler 2]

Senior National results from 1990-Present (taken from themat.com)

NATIONAL TITLES PER STATE (Individual)

Ohio (46)

California (33)

New Jersey (29)

Pennsylvania (23)

New York (17)

Michigan (11)

Oklahoma (10)

Illinois (8)

Virginia (8)

Kansas (7)

Utah (7)

Indiana (6)

Maryland (5)

Minnesota (5)

Wisconsin (5)

Arizona (4)

Florida (4)

Idaho (4)

Iowa (4)

Missouri (4)

Colorado (3)

Delaware (3)

Georgia (3)

Montana (3)

New Mexico (3)

North Carolina (3)

Washington (3)

South Dakota (2)

South Carolina (2)

Tennessee (2)

West Virginia (2)

New Hampshire (1)

Oregon (1)

Wyoming (1)

ALL-AMERICANS PER STATE

Ohio (240)

California (217)

New Jersey (157)

Pennsylvania (139)

New York (114)

Minnesota (89)

Michigan (86)

Kansas (83)

Oklahoma (83)

Indiana (64)

Virginia (63)

Illinois (61)

Iowa (59)

Florida (53)

Maryland (51)

Utah (44)

Missouri (42)

Wisconsin (38)

North Carolina (32)

Colorado (31)

New Mexico (30)

West Virginia (29)

South Dakota (28)

Arizona (26)

Montana (26)

Washington (26)

Arizona (24)

Massachusetts (23)

Tennessee (23)

North Dakota (22)

Connecticut (18)

Wyoming (18)

Delaware (17)

South Carolina (16)

Texas (16)

Idaho (15)

Kentucky (11)

Nebraska (11)

Nevada (11)

Oregon (11)

Georgia (10)

New Hampshire (10)

Louisiana (7)

Alabama (5)

Maine (4)

Vermont (4)

Alaska (3)

Rhode Island (1)

Hawaii (1)

Mississippi (0)

Arkansas (0)