2025-26 Boys Wrestling 138-Pound National Champion, All-Americans and Final Rankings

An unbeaten season packed with bonus-point carnage vaulted Gilroy’s Moses Mendoza to No. 1, as the Michigan-bound star overwhelmed the nation’s best with a relentless, title-clinching run from Fargo to California state gold.

Moses Mendoza of Gilroy (CA) is the 2025-26 High School On SI 132-Pound National Wrestling Champion. | SBLive Sports

All Boys Wrestling National Champions, All-Americans & Final Rankings:
106 | 113 | 120 | 126 | 132 | 138 |

2025-26 138-Pound Boys High School Wrestling National Champion:
Moses Mendoza (Gilroy, CA) SR

A glance at the stat line of Gilroy (CA) star Moses Mendoza, in the finals and in other notable matches we have on his sheet, reveals a pattern of dominance on the mat this year. Mendoza finished what appears to be an undefeated campaign by posting a technical fall versus No. 17 Chris Huerta (Buchanan), 24-8, to claim his second consecutive state title. No. 20 Matthew Orbeta (Poway) was dropped in 5:35. Finding results in CA can be hit or miss.

Mendoza’s second Doc Buchanan crown, and first since his freshman season, was earned on a 21-6 tech fall of Roosevelt’s Chris Lalonde (No. 26 at 144 pounds). Mendoza pinned Orbeta for the first time and put a thunderous 20-3 tech on No. 19 Vinnie Gutierrez (Fountain Valley) on the Doc B bracket.

At 5 Counties, the senior who is headed to the University of Michigan in the fall, decked Etiwanda’s Mathius Garza in the finals. 

Mendoza built to this number one plateau with his summer and fall antics. A Fargo Junior Freestyle title was added to the resume as was a Super 32 Belt where Mendoza downed No. 3 Israel Borge (Bixby, OK), No. 4 Dale Corbin (Wyoming Seminary, PA), and Lake Highland Prep’s Shamus Regan (No. 5 at 132). 

To check one more top five name off, Mendoza had an easy time with No. 2 Karson Brown (St. Edward, OH) at the Elite 8 Duals pummeling him with a 17-6 major decision. 

2025-26 High School On SI 138-Pound Boys Wrestling All-Americans

Karson Brown (St. Edward, OH) SR

Final National Ranking: 2

We are going to reverse engineer Brown’s journey to become the 36th four-time state champion in Ohio history. The state title and his district crown came by defeating No. 12 Urijah Lopez (Perrysburg) in both finals. At the St. Edward Quad, Brown placed a major decision on No. 6 Zachary Stewart (Marmion Academy, IL). 

In a meeting with Lake Highland Prep, Brown was tripped up by No. 6 Yandel Morales. The University of Pittsburgh commit will forever be linked to Oklahoma State’s Jax Forrest as part of the trivia question: Who did Jax Forrest wrestle in his final High School match at PowerAde the year he won his first NCAA Title? Years from now, people may think that’s a trick question. Brown also beat No. 15 Ryan Rios (Blair Academy, NJ) at PowerAde.

The elusive Ironman crown was added in Brown’s final opportunity on a 6-5 tiebreaker win over Borge. Brown dealt losses to Stewart and Lopez to kick off the year. At Elite 8, Brown lost to Corbin, but Borge beat Corbin to gain his Ironman finals birth, so the recent timeline and results suggest Brown should be ahead of Corbin as we have it.

Israel Borge (Bixby, OK) JR

Final National Ranking: 3

Borge is from Missouri but wrestled his first two high school seasons at Westlake, Utah, picking up a 6A Gold last year after being second in his first try. Word trickled down in the preseason that Borge had landed in Oklahoma and would be scraping for Bixby. 

Borge prepped hard for Ironman with a runner-up showing at Super 32 and beat PA’s Freddy Bachmann (No. 4 at 126) and No. 13 Gavin Landers (Denver, IA). Hopes of Ironman glory were trampled upon by Brown but big wins were gained against Corbin and Ohio’s Liston Seibert (No. 11 at 132).

Borge stayed at 138 for a bit but went up to 144 pounds for the state tournament and was upset by Edmond North’s Tommy Verrette (No. 15 at 144). We left Borge at 138 pounds because going back well over a year, he’s been at this weight more than any other. 

Dale Corbin (Wyoming Seminary, PA) JR

Final National Ranking: 4

Corbin improved upon his second-place finish at National Preps in 2025 by outlasting Morales, 5-3, in the finals. The road to that improvement began with a bronze at Fargo in Junior Freestyle, then the win over Brown at Elite 8, on to landing in third at Super 32. Corbin beat Bachmann and Huerta at S32. 

The third position once again greeted the junior at Ironman after his loss to Borge. At that gauntlet, he took down No. 9 Tyler Conroy (Malvern Prep, PA) and Bethlehem Catholic’s four-time AAA PA state champ, Keanu Dillard (No. 4 at 132). 

Corbin beat No. 11 Brian Little (St. Joseph Regional, NJ) at the Fab 50 Duals and Seibert. Corbin was one of Forrest’s final victims at PowerAde and took fifth after losing to Lake Highland Prep’s Tyler DeKraker (No. 3 at 144) but put wins up versus Rios and No. 5 Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt, PA).

Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt, PA) SR

Final National Ranking: 5

Baum was a two-time AA state tournament silver medalist and finally hit paydirt on his way out the door with a 7-1 decision of Delone Catholic’s Gavin Green. Baum was fourth at Powerade, forfeiting to DeKraker and losing to Corbin but handled Little, Rios, and Cedar Cliff’s No. 34 Aiden Herndon, who tumbled down the ranks after some struggles at the PA state tournament.

Baum was at Elite 8 and Super 32 in the preseason and shined at both. Baum teched No. 23 Gino Schnina (St. Peter’s Prep, NJ) at Elite 8 as well as two highly regarded 144 pounders, California’s No. 5 Jesse Grajeda and Florida’s No. 17 Jovani Solis.

A seventh-place finish at S32 included wins over No. 16 Justin Beauvais (Mountain View, AZ), Gutierrez, and New Mexico’s Valentine Popadiuc (No. 16 at 157). 

Zachary Stewart (Marmion Academy, IL) SR

Final National Ranking: 6

Stewart won a 3A State Championship as a sophomore, was second last year, then bounced back to first as a senior with a 7-3 decision of No. 24 Griff Powell (Lyons). 

Stewart won the Dan Gable Donnybrook and made it as far as the blood round of Ironman before having to forfeit out. He lost to Brown there, then again at the St. Edward Quad when he also fell to Corbin. 

At the Grappler Fall Classic ahead of the season, Stewart gave a major decision loss to Morales, 11-3. In addition, Stewart beat Ohio’s Garrison Weisner (No. 21 at 144) at National Duals over the summer.

Bodie Abbey (Hartland, MI) SR

Final National Ranking: 7

Abbey’s win over our number one at 132 pounds, Ashton Besmer (Buchanan, CA), was being undervalued due to his loss to Perrysburg’s Urijah Lopez in the Grappler Gold Finals. Abbey beat Besmer 8-4 at the Brecksville Holiday Tournament and then gained revenge on Lopez by sticking him in the finals. 

Abbey compiled a 51-1 record as he captured a second D1 state title in a row. Abbey defeated Morales and Weisner at the Grappler Fall Classic.

Yandel Morales (Lake Highland Prep, FL) SR

Final National Ranking: 8

Morales’ win over Brown has propelled his move up the ranks, but he is not a “clean” guy as far as the top ten is concerned as, in addition to the ones against Abbey and Stewart, Morales has losses to Seibert, Herndon, PA’s Will Detar (No. 12 at 132), and Weisner when he did not place at Ironman. 

Morales picked up the loss to Detar when he took third at PowerAde and gained another bronze at Escape the Rock, where he lost to Conroy for the first time. Morales settled into the familiar three spot of the podium at the Beast of the East, where he lost to Herndon. 

The senior went 1-2 versus Conroy but won the most recent and most important one in the National Prep semis. Conroy has also spilt with Little, which tethers them together a touch. 

Conroy lost to Rios and Seibert, too.

Remaining 2025-26 132-Pound Boys Wrestling National Rankings

9-Tyler Conroy (Malvern Prep, PA) SR

10-Gideon “3G” Gonzalez (Bergen Catholic, NJ) SO

11-Brian Little III (St. Joseph Regional, NJ) JR

12-Urijah Lopez (Perrysburg, OH) SO

13-Gavin Landers (Denver, IA) JR

14-Chase Hansen (Lower Cape May, NJ) SR

15-Ryan Rios (Blair Academy, NJ) SR

16-Justin Beauvais (Mountain View, AZ) SR

17-Chris “CJ” Huerta (Buchanan, CA) SR

18-Justyce Zuniga (Toppenish, WA) SR

19-Vinnie Gutierrez (Fountain Valley, CA) JR

20-Matthew Orbeta (Poway, CA) JR

21-Kiernan Meink (Millard South) SR

22-Amari Vann (Delsea, NJ) JR

23-Gino Schinina (St. Peter’s Prep, NJ) SR

24-Griff Powell (Lyons, IL) SR

25-Ray Rivera (Clovis, CA) SR

26-JoJo Gigliotti (South Carroll, MD) SR

27-Evan Stanley (Lowell, IN) JR

28-Mason Goelz (Avon, IN) SR

29-Blake Bartos (Buckeye, OH) SR

30-Nico DeSalvo (Southeast Polk, IA) JR

HM:

Lorenzo Gallegos (Volcano Vista, NM) SR

Cody Trevino (Bettendorf, IA) SR

Dalton Wenner (Cranberry, PA) SR

Aiden Herndon (Cedar Cliff, PA) JR

Anthony Heim (Shakopee, MN) SO

Connor Peterson (Maple Grove, MN) SR

Nick Strand (Bemidji, MN) SR

Chase Mills (St. Michael-Albertville, MN) SR

Gage Bjerga (Staples Motley, MN) SO

Bryar Hooks (Stillwater, OK) SO

DJ Clarke (Buford, GA) SR

Christian Jelle (Grand Rapids, MN) SR

Aiden Hahn (Farmington, MO) SR

Brody Kell (North Point, MO) JR