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High School On SI Releases First Look at 2026-27 Boys National High School Wrestling Rankings

With the Class of 2026 graduated, Version 1 of our boys national preseason rankings welcome a new wave of contenders, including standout incoming freshmen, as the road to the 2026-27 season begins.
With Bo Bassett, one of the best high school wrestlers of a generation now officially off to the next level, Florida wrestler Lincoln Sledzianowski of St. John Neumann has taken over the nation’s No. 1 ranking at 144. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The road to the 2026-27 high school wrestling season begins with Version 1 of the High School On SI National Rankings. With the Class of 2026 now graduated, this preseason update resets every weight class, welcomes the nation’s top incoming freshmen and provides the first snapshot of where the country’s best wrestlers stand heading into the new season.

A Fresh Start for a New Season

We will drop a new version in August and another later in the month as we being the process of moving wrestlers into their expected weight classes. For this initial release, wrestlers remain at the weight classes they competed in at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo. Weight-class adjustments will come later this month as wrestlers settle into their expected weights for the high school season. The other neat thing is that it allows you to see how the weights ended up with the seniors removed. Removing the graduating seniors created opportunities for wrestlers who emerged during the spring and summer to enter the rankings.

Building the Rankings

This was step one of building the new rankings. I need to do it in stages since The remaining preseason releases will also coincide with the release of High School On SI’s preseason girls national rankings. Each weight class includes 30 ranked wrestlers. Honorable mention lists will continue to expand as additional preseason evaluations are completed, particularly in the upper weights.
Our intent with the higher weights was to get to 30, but doing that research revealed other paths that needed to be traveled. The other factor with not filling up the honorable mention slots right away is that it allows the list to grow more naturally instead of hunting people down to fill it out. … more at … https://www.si.com/high-school/wrestling/high-school-on-si-releases-first-look-at-2026-27-boys-national-high-school-wrestling-rankings-01kzd0f8yffv?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

August 27, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment

2026-27 Girls Preseason National High School Wrestling Rankings: Version 1

Graduating seniors exit the rankings and incoming freshmen join the national Top 30 in our first look at the 2026-27 girls high school wrestling season.
Consider this the first draft of the High School On SI 2026-27 Girls National High School Wrestling Rankings.
The primary purpose of this update is to remove graduating seniors and add incoming freshmen and other wrestlers who have earned their way into the rankings. We’re also expanding every weight class to a Top 30 ahead of the Super 32 early-entry process.
Super 32 is using our Top 30 as part of its early-entry criteria, but that did not influence where wrestlers are ranked. We did not manipulate the rankings for that purpose. The only changes from our final 2025-26 rankings were removing graduating seniors and adding new wrestlers.

Why Wrestlers Remain at Their Fargo Weights

For this update, wrestlers remain at the weights where they competed at Fargo, including those who may ultimately compete at different weights during the high school season. This allowed us to produce an initial update without projecting where every wrestler will compete in 2026-27.
Our next update, scheduled for later in August, will begin moving wrestlers into their expected high school weight classes.

Next Woman Up

Removing the graduating seniors also provides an early look at how each weight class is shaping up for 2026-27. It opened spots for wrestlers who had been on the edge of the rankings, as well as those who emerged during the spring and summer.
Some weight classes already had enough ranked and honorable mention wrestlers to fill the Top 30 once the seniors were removed, particularly at the lighter weights. As with the boys rankings, the heavier weight classes required additional research to fill out. Current No. 1 Ranked Wrestlers … more at … https://www.si.com/high-school/wrestling/2026-27-girls-preseason-national-high-school-wrestling-rankings-version-1-01kzy76chekf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

August 27, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment