High School On SI Girls Pound-for-Pound Wrestling Rankings: Top 10 in the Nation

High School On SI presents its inaugural Girls Pound-for-Pound Wrestling Rankings, identifying the 10 best high school wrestlers in the country regardless of weight class.

The No. 1 selection was an easy one. Maryland's Taina Fernandez is a three-time U17 world champion and U20 bronze medalist, giving the Archbishop Spalding senior a body of work unmatched by anyone else on the list.

This marks our fifth season covering high school wrestling nationally, but it's the first time we've ventured into pound-for-pound rankings.

There's a reason for that.

How We Determine the Pound-for-Pound Rankings

Our individual weight-class rankings rely heavily on results and head-to-head data. Pound-for-pound rankings require a different type of analysis. Wrestlers separated by significant weight differences will never meet on the mat, requiring us to evaluate their complete bodies of work — national and international results, head-to-head meetings when available, quality of competition and overall accomplishments — to determine how they stack up against one another.

There are instances in this inaugural Top 10 where wrestlers have met, and we'll address those results in the individual breakdowns. In other cases, comparing wrestlers from the lower and upper weights requires looking beyond direct competition.

A Ranking That Will Evolve Throughout the Season

These rankings won't be static.

We'll update the Pound-for-Pound Top 10 throughout the season as new results reshape the national landscape, and we welcome the wrestling community's input.

We welcome opinions, disagreements and suggestions. If you believe there's a wrestler who belongs in the Top 10, tell us not only who we're missing, but why. Give us the case for that wrestler compared with those already on the list.

Questions, comments and suggestions can be sent to Billy Buckheit at billybwrestling@yahoo.com.

High School On SI Girls Pound-for-Pound Top 10

1. Taina Fernandez, Archbishop Spalding (MD), SR

Fernandez is the clear choice for the No. 1 spot after winning three consecutive U17 world championships, establishing herself as the world's dominant wrestler in her age group.

After nearly two years without a loss to a female opponent, Fernandez fell to India's Mansi Lather at the U20 World Championships. Lather went on to finish second, while Fernandez wrestled back to earn bronze. Fernandez's previous loss came as a sophomore against Nigerian world medalist Esther Kolawole in a collegiate open tournament.

This fall, Fernandez will pursue a fifth Super 32 championship after setting the girls record with her fourth title in 2025. (Bo Bassett won a fourth boys title as well in 2025). The Super 32 Tournament as a seventh grader was the only other occasion Fernandez took a loss to a fellow female (Jenavi Alejandro) and she came back to take third.

Fernandez will also have opportunities to pursue a third Women of Ironman title and fourth championships at both Beast of the East and the National Prep Tournament.

2. Marlee Solomon, Canon-McMillan (PA), SR

Solomon’s junior season included winning the inaugural Women’s Triple Crown, along with Fernandez, that goes to girls who win the Ironman, Beast of the East, and PowerAde Tournaments.

Solomon finished second to Morgan Turner at the 2025 Super 32 and runner-up to Everest Leydecker at U20 Women's Nationals. Both have since graduated. At the U20 Nationals defeated Epenesa Elison 10-5.

Solomon went unbeaten on her way to the U17 national title and a spot on the U.S. world team, then captured the 53-kilogram freestyle world championship. The senior also collected her first Junior Fargo Gold after being a 16U runner-up the prior year.

3. Epenesa Elison, Los Altos (CA), JR

For the second year in a row, Elison found herself at the U17 World Championships. In 2025, the trip concluded with Elison as a silver medalist. Elison returned to the U17 World Championships in 2026 and improved on her silver medal from a year earlier, pinning India's Sehrawat in the 57-kilogram final to win gold.

Elison was a Super 32 and state champion as a freshman. The junior won Super 32 again in 2025 but did not compete in the state tournament. After falling to Solomon at the U20 Nationals, Elison bounced back to take third place.

4. Ella Poalillo, Valiant Prep (AZ), SR

Poalillo won three New Jersey state championships on the mat before the NJSIAA later vacated her most recent title. She subsequently transferred to Valiant Prep in Arizona.

Poalillo was third in the world at the 2025 U17 Championships and moved up to the U20 level this year and placed third at Women’s Nationals. Prior to the season, Poalillo won her first Super 32 belt by edging Michigan’s Kaili Manuel (Romeo), 5-4.

5. Kaili Manuel, Romeo (MI), SR

Over the course of the 2025/2026 rankings period, Manuel lost only twice during the 2025-26 ranking period — to Poalillo and Fernandez. The loss to Poalillo came in the 135-pound Super 32 Finals and then in the spring of 2026, Manuel lost 6-2 to Fernandez, in the finals of the Phil Portuese Northeast Regional at 155 pounds.

A third state championship was added as was a second Fargo Gold Medal (one 16U and one Junior). A national title at 73 kilograms earned Manuel a spot at the U17 World Championships, where she went on to win gold.

6. Jaclyn Bouzakis, Wyoming Seminary (PA), SR

Bouzakis earned back-to-back U17 World Bronze Medals before moving up to the U20 Division and placing fourth at Women’s Nationals. In those brackets, Bouzakis was tripped up by Virginia’s Sarissa Tucker (Midland) and California’s Christina Estrada (Buchanan).

Bouzakis holds the No. 6 spot ahead of Tucker because she avenged that loss with victories over Tucker at the U.S. Open Showcase and Phil Portuese Northeast Regional. Bouzakis also earned a second straight Junior Fargo Freestyle Gold.

7. Sarissa Tucker, Midland (VA), SR

Tucker placed fifth at the 2025 Super 32 after losing to Texas' Hailey Delgado, but elevated her national standing with victories over Bouzakis and Estrada at U20 Women's Nationals. Tucker was at 110 pounds for Fargo and won her first Junior freestyle title after being fifth in 2025. At Fargo in 2025, Tucker beat Estrada for the first time.

8. Christina Estrada, Buchanan (CA), SR

Estrada won a Super 32 title in 2025 by beating Delgado in the 106-pound finals, 9-5. After winning another California state championship, Estrada was third at the U20 World Championships with a win over Bouzakis and a loss to Tucker.

9. Hailey Delgado, El Paso Eastwood (TX), JR

Delgado won Super 32 as a freshman by taking out Pennsylvania’s Isla Silva, 10-0. In 2025, Delgado reached the Super 32 finals again but could not pick up another belt as she fell to Estrada. She also owns victories over Tucker and Madison Healey.

A second undefeated high school season led to Delgado’s second 6A Texas State Title. A U17 Pan American Games Gold was won in the spring. Delgado's bid to make the U17 world team ended with a 9-2 loss to Arizona's Reagan Mathers at [EVENT]. Delgado responded by earning bronze with a victory over Florida's Abigail Gonzalez.

Mathers also received consideration for the Top 10. Her spring and summer included significant victories, including the win over Delgado, but she later finished sixth in Junior freestyle at Fargo.

10. Madison Healey, Wyoming Seminary (PA), JR

Healey earned her second consecutive U17 world bronze medal this summer. The two-time National Prep champion will also pursue a second Women of Ironman title after placing third at the event as a freshman.

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