How We Rank

We collect as much public match data as we can from tournaments and coaches who submit results directly. We run it through a proprietary algorithm that evaluates records, opponents, common opponents, head-to-head results, win/loss methods, and tournament size and quality. Then we do a human review and make adjustments where the data is incomplete or misleading. We rank from 95lb to 275lb across both Class AA and Class A.

We do this because we love wrestling and we love covering it. These rankings are meant to be fun. They're meant to spark conversation, give wrestlers and families something to follow, and shine a light on kids who are putting in the work.

That said, we're human. We make mistakes. Sometimes we're missing data, sometimes we weigh something wrong, and sometimes a wrestler just isn't on our radar yet. If your kid isn't ranked where you think they should be, or isn't ranked at all, it's not a slight. It almost always comes down to what data we have (or don't have) at that point in the season.

Think of rankings like a resume. They reflect what a wrestler has done so far this season. They don't predict what's going to happen next. Upsets happen every single day in wrestling, at every level. That's part of what makes the sport so great.

Our rankings change often, and they should. As new results come in, the picture shifts. A wrestler ranked 8th today could be ranked 2nd next week if they put together a strong showing. That's the whole point.

Our primary data source is public varsity-level tournament results (we don't use JV events). The most active IESA schools might compete in 4 or 5 tournaments a year. We're lucky to see most schools at even 2. And roughly a third of all IESA schools don't participate in any tournaments at all until regionals. That's a huge blind spot, and it's just the reality of IESA wrestling.

Here's our biggest blind spot: duals. We rarely have dual meet results. This is where the most frustration comes from. “My kid pinned that wrestler at our dual.” “He beat that guy twice in duals this season.” We hear you. But unless a coach submits those results to us directly, we simply don't have them.

This is usually the biggest gap between what you know and what we know. Now multiply that across 7,000+ IESA wrestlers every season, and you can start to see how we might miss some things. It's not that we don't care. It's that we can't rank what we can't see.

If a wrestler hasn't appeared in any tournament results and their coach hasn't reached out, they won't show up in our rankings until after regionals. Coaches, if you want your wrestlers on our radar, reach out. We want to hear from you.

We only rank from 95lb to 275lb. Two reasons.

First, this is a ton of work. Each weight class takes real time and effort to research, cross-reference data, and get right. We'd love to cover every weight class, but there are only so many hours in the day.

Second, and more importantly, these are the weight classes that translate directly to high school varsity spots. The lowest high school varsity weight is 106lb, and we consistently see 95lb and 100lb state placers grab those 106lb varsity spots once they get to high school. So these rankings give you a real preview of the kids who'll be competing for roster spots down the road.

Our rankings aren't a static list. They change in purpose and precision as the season unfolds, because the amount of data we have changes dramatically from month to month. Here's how that plays out.

This is something unique to Illinois middle school wrestling. A lot of top kids wrestle both IKWF and IESA during the season. Before regionals, many of them decide to go one route or the other. So we regularly remove a dozen or more wrestlers from our rankings when they commit to the IKWF path. Sometimes wrestlers even compete at the IESA regional and then still go IKWF.

It's disruptive, honestly. But it happens. While those wrestlers absolutely have merit, it's tough to keep them ranked when the IESA state series continues and we can't know how they would have fared if they'd stayed in.

IKWF data isn't all negative though. For wrestlers who rank highly through IESA data alone, we also dig into their IKWF tournament results to get a fuller picture. The top wrestlers typically compete in both throughout the year, so it gives us additional data points to work with.

In the future, we may produce IKWF Senior level rankings (IKWF has divisions starting as young as 4–5 years old, but we'd only rank the Senior division, which is mostly 8th graders and some 7th graders) and even an “all middle school” ranking that brings both together. But right now, that isn't feasible.

Once the state series starts, we only rank wrestlers who are still competing. If you get bounced at regionals or sectionals, you come off the rankings on our next update. If a wrestler was ranked 2nd going into sectionals and didn't make it through, they're removed. If someone is having an incredible season and gets injured, same thing.

But still competing doesn't mean you're automatically ranked. At any given class and weight, there might be 100–200 wrestlers going into regionals. After regionals, 48 remain. After sectionals, 16 make state. At every stage, we rank the top 10 plus a handful of honorable mentions. So even if you make it all the way to state, you're not guaranteed a ranking. You're eligible, but you still need to rise to the top 10 of those remaining.

This isn't meant to slight anyone. It's just really difficult to project where a wrestler would land without additional match data, and it gets confusing for wrestlers still in the tournament to see someone who's been eliminated still occupying a ranking spot.

Ultimately, our rankings work as a hybrid. Early in the season, it's about the best resume and body of work. Once the state series begins, it shifts to the best wrestlers among those still competing.

In wrestling, and especially at this age, recent results are the strongest signal we have for where a wrestler stands right now. We've seen IESA wrestlers qualify and even place at state one year, then fail to get out of sectionals the next. This happens a lot at the lower weights, where kids can make state for the first time as 5th or 6th graders, then get knocked out at sectionals the following year at a higher weight where the competition is stronger and more physical.

So we really focus on “what have you done lately.”

All things being equal, we'll give some extra weight to previous state experience. But if a wrestler who never made state beats a returning state placer twice in a row, the conclusion is clear. That's the better wrestler right now. And “right now” is what our rankings are about.