2025-26 Top 40 National High School Wrestling Rankings - Jan. 24, 2026

One shocking dual meet sent the national wrestling rankings into turmoil, forcing a hard truth: results on the mat matter more than projections, hypotheticals, or “what ifs.”

New Jersy's Delbarton climbed two spots, to No. 4, in our national rankings after knocking off then-No. 2 Faith Christian Academy (PA). / Delbarton Wrestling

Sports can be a fickle mistress. She will tempt you with promise and fill you with hope, but what ultimately matters is what occurs during the competitions.

When Preseason Predictions Meet Reality

Yes, in the preseason, we conject, analyze lineups, do side by side comparison in an attempt to identify the best high school wrestling teams in the nation. But once we get underway, regardless of the sport, it’s no longer about what ifs, it’s about what happens. And as anyone involved with sports knows, seldomly do things work out as you planned.

Injuries, upsets, bad luck, it all factors into the outcomes that we use to decide a pecking order for whatever sport we are involved with, in this case – wrestling.

All sports are unpredictable. That’s what makes them fun. If everything played out as we expected, things would be a bit boring. The predictability would cause some to lose interest. On Thursday we got some of that unexpected nonsense that keeps us coming back for more.

The Dual That Changed Everything

The High School on SI National Team Rankings were thrown into chaos when No. 6 Delbarton of New Jersey beat No. 2 Faith Christian Academy (PA), 31-29, in a dual meet. We tend to favor dual meet results over tournaments as an indicator of the better team as it’s just those two duking it out, no third parties interfering with the proceedings.

Other Contenders Make Their Case for Moving Up

That being said, we have spent the last 20 hours or so debating how to handle this quagmire that Delbarton dropped on our lap. Faith Christian placed ahead of Delbarton at two tournaments, Ironman and Doc Buchanan. Should that carry more weight than a single dual meet win?

With Faith Christian falling, the allegiances at Lake Highland Prep (FL) and Blair Academy (NJ), probably feel like that creates an opportunity for them to move up in the ranks.

Injuries, Absences, and the Reality of Wrestling

The problem with that thinking is that Faith Christian placed ahead of both at Ironman as did Delbarton. Now, to be fair, Delbarton was just two points ahead of a Lake Highland team missing Charlie DeSena. Following Ironman, we left Lake Highland ahead of Blair and Delbarton because they were missing perennial tournament finalist, DeSena.

Blair outpointed Lake Highland at the Beast and they are now 3-2 in their five meetings with Blair winning the dual meet as well. The Highlanders claimed crowns at PowerAde and Escape the Rock. During that window in which the earlier matchups took place, one or both of these teams was missing someone from the lineup.

Wrestling Has Many Nuances to Consider

The snow shortened Escape the Rock was the first time both teams were set to have their optimal lineups on the mats. A full set of consolation rounds would have given us a true read on how these two teams are currently stacking up against each other.

The point of all this is: when a team wins a Super Bowl, World Series, etc, they don’t say, yea, we’ll even though you won, so and so is the better team so they get the trophy. No, what happens on the field is what determines the best team. Theoretical awards aren’t being given out. The awards are dished out based on what happens during the competitions.

In wrestling especially, injuries are part of the sport given its brutal nature. At some point, what happens on the mat is all that really matters. We get tired of hearing what ifs, well if we had this guy, or if this did or didn’t happen. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is what actually happened, not what you think should have happened.

Why Buchanan Stays No. 1

So, after a full day of debate, we are leaving Buchanan at number one. Simply put – they earned it. They beat Faith Christian by almost 50 points. Compared to everyone else’s close battles with the Lions, that needs to hold some weight. Nobody has beaten Buchanan. They are unscathed and dominated the previous number one. All of the others in this scenario have lost to someone, somewhere along the line.

Some people are choosing to belittle Buchanan’s standing by saying they don’t put it on the line enough or other nonsense like that. They do what they can within their allowed parameters. It’s all they can do. Going out and wrestling everyone, everywhere is nice if you are able to but not all teams can. In fact, not many do.

Strength of Schedule vs. Results

There are a handful of teams that hit most of the major events each year. That doesn’t make them the best teams. They may be more battle tested but in no way is that akin to automatically being the best. Wrestling a more difficult schedule than other teams does not make you the better team. It can, but it’s not absolute.

Teams train in many ways and what works for one may not work for another due to many different reasons. Some are personal choices others are administrative ones that leave their hands tied. High School on SI will never punish a team because they are limited by their state’s athletic association’s rules. That’s not fair to anyone.

Balancing Résumés, Not Narratives

Honestly, you can take the top five teams and rank them multiple ways and find an explanation that justifies the running order. It’s really that convoluted. We can’t release five different versions of our team rankings, so this is what we settled on with explanations.

After Buchanan, the others at the top have fallen in various ways. We are cognizant of some improvements to the Lake Highland roster (namely the addition of Shamus Regan), and we feel if they had him for the Blair dual, the Highlanders would have won a meeting that was lost due to a forfeit at 106 pounds.

With Blair having placed ahead of Delbarton at Ironman, it provides an avenue for those two teams to move up behind Buchanan. That will not change. Regardless of the circumstances, Buchanan beat Faith Christian. Faith Christian beat Lake Highland. Buchanan was 50 ahead of Faith Christian. The Lions were just 20 ahead of the Highlanders, so with or without DeSena, Buchanan’s margin of victory would have been larger and can’t be ignored.

That places Blair at number three with Delbarton at four, and Faith Christian at five. California’s St. John Bosco finished ahead of Delbarton at Doc B, so we’re balancing the Green Waves total resume by placing them at number four. Because of the Doc B results, Bosco could have an argument to be a top five team, but they were behind Faith Christian at Doc B, so we feel this order is fair to all involved.

No Perfect Answer, Just the Fairest One

We have no biases and can look at this objectively. If you have a dog in the fight, you are only going to see it your way. No doubt this is a can’t win situation for us. Somebody’s results need to be set aside, and the big picture needs to be used. It’s not fair, but tough calls and decisions are part of life. It was a difficult debate. But in this report, from our perspective, we are being as fair and reasonable as we can to each team. All results matter, not just one that you want to isolate.

2025-26 Top 40 National High School Wrestling Rankings - Jan. 24, 2026

1-Buchanan, CA

Previous No. 1

Reinforced their neighborhood superiority over Clovis with a 38-21 win in this year’s “The Big One”.

2-Lake Highland Prep, FL

Previous No. 4

Finished ahead of Blair Academy at Escape the Rock. While the team scores at “The Rock” were altered due to the altered format and skewed things for some teams, these two have been so close to each other all season that all results between them count.

3-Blair Academy, NJ

Previous No. 3

Were second in the Escape the Rock standings.

4-Delbarton, NJ

Previous No. 6

Captured the Jack Welch Duals Title. Defeated Faith Christian Academy, 31-29 in a home dual meet.

5-Faith Christian Academy, PA

Previous No. 2

Lost to Delbarton on Thursday night.  

6-St. John Bosco, CA

Previous No. 5

Sent a partial team to 5 Counties.  

7-Malvern Prep, PA

Previous No. 7

Placed third as a team at Escape the Rock.   

8-Poway, CA

Previous No. 8

Won the championship at the Temecula Valley Battle for the Belt.

9-Christian Brothers Academy, NJ

Previous No. 9

Landed in fifth at Escape the Rock behind St. Joseph Regional, who they beat in a dual earlier this year. We feel the dual should hold more weight given the Escape Format, where you needed to reach the quarterfinals to earn placement.

10-Bishop McCort, PA

Previous No. 11

Won the crown at the DCC Super Duals with wins over Dundee, 48-19, and St. Edward, 35-32. Defeated Wyoming Seminary, 29-28, in a dual.

11-Wyoming Seminary, PA

Previous No. 10

Placed 8th at Escape the Rock. Fell to Bishop McCort in a dual.

12-Clovis, CA

Previous No. 12

Lost “The Big One” to Buchanan, 38-21.

13-Edmond North, OK

Previous No. 13

Brought home the team title at the COAC Tournament.

14-Perrysburg, OH

Previous No. 15

Came in first at the Maumee Bay Classic.

15-Massillon Perry, OH

Previous No. 16

Idle.   

16-Bishop McDevitt, PA

Previous No. 17

Ended Escape the Rock in sixth place. They were ahead of Wyoming Seminary, but finished behind the Knights at PowerAde, which ran under normal circumstances, so we’re defaulting to that result.     

17-St. Edward, OH

Previous No. 18

Second at the DCC Super Duals. Lost to McCort and beat Dundee, 39-26.

18-St. Peter’s Prep, NJ

Previous No. 19

Idle as their scheduled dual with Faith Christian was cancelled.

19-St. Joseph Regional, NJ

Previous No. 20

A look at the Escape the Rock standings shows them finishing fourth. But given the changes and limited consolation rounds, as we did with McDevitt, we are doing here and honoring dual meet results where Massillon Perry, Wyoming Seminary, and Christian Brothers Academy beat St. Joseph.

20-Clovis North, CA

Previous No. 21

Traveled to Ohio and downed Brecksville, 44-18, in a dual meet then took home the championship trophy at the Top Gun Tournament.

21-Gilroy, CA

Previous No. 22

Locked down the crown at the 5 Counties Tournament.    

22-Greens Farms Academy, CT

Previous No. 23

Sent a “B” Team to Maryland for The Haswell Franklin Gilman Duals.

23-Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA

Previous No. 24

10th at Escape the Rock

24-Brecksville, OH

Previous No. 25

Lost a dual meet to Clovis North and then finished second to them at Top Gun.

25-Stillwater, OK

Previous No. 14

Took a tumble down the ranks after finishing third at the COAC Tournament behind Mustang.

26-Marmion Academy, IL

Previous No. 26

Won the title at the Chicago Catholic League Tournament over IC Catholic Prep.  

27-Crown Point, IN

Previous No. 28

Took top team honors at the Duneland Athletic Conference.

28-Brownsburg, IN

Previous No. 29

Won the Hoosier Crossroad Conference Tournament.

29-Dublin Coffman, OH

Previous No. 30

Idle.

30-Bixby, OK

Previous Not Ranked

Came out ahead of the team chase at Bobby Lyons, ahead of Broken Arrow and Allen.

31-Broken Arrow, OK

Previous No. 31

Came in second behind Bixby at Bobby Lyons.  

32-Allen, TX

Previous No. 32

Finished behind Bixby and Broken Arrow at Bobby Lyons.

33-St. Michael-Albertville, MN

Previous No. 33

Beat Minnesota’s Stillwater in a dual, 35-30.

34-Dundee, MI

Previous No. 27

Lost to St. Francis out of New York at the DCC Super Duals, but their tournament placing at Carnahan over Crown Point keeps them in the rankings.   

35-Center Grove, IN

Previous No. 34

Idle.    

36-Grassfield, VA

Previous No. 35

Finished low in the Escape the Rock standings, but only one of their wrestlers advanced to the quarters.

37-Nazareth, PA

Previous No. 36

Beat East Stroudsburg, 69-5, in a dual.

38-Bergen Catholic, NJ

Previous No. 37

First at the George Jockish Bergen County Tournament.

39-Stillwater, MN

Previous Not ranked

Lost to St. Michael-Albertville in a dual meet, 35-30.

40-Bethlehem Catholic, PA

Previous No. 40

15th at Escape the Rock.