WIN’s Wrestlers of the Year: High school stars leaving a long-lasting legacy

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in WIN’s recently published Volume 31 Issue 9, the Annual Awards Issue, which is available for immediate digital access to subscribers. Subscribe here (Print/Digital/Combo) to view the full list of WIN’s Wrestlers of the Year. 

Photo: Wrestlers of the Year in their respective states, Pennsylvania’s Jax Forrest (left) defeated Jayden Raney of Kentucky, 10-7 SV-1, in the Ironman finals. Photo by Robert Preston. 

By Rob Sherrill

It’s that time of the year. Another exciting high school wrestling season is in the books. And that means it’s time for my annual contribution to WIN’s awards issue: our selections as WIN’s Wrestler of the Year in every state.

The iconic U-16 Nationals in freestyle in 2022 took place three years ago, but it continues to shape the Wrestler of the Year selections to this day. Seven of the wrestlers you’ll read about in this story advanced to the finals of that event, and five won titles. Jayden Raney of Kentucky, Marcus Blaze of Ohio, Peter Duke of New York, LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma and Dreshaun Ross of Iowa won that event. Blaze beat Anthony Knox of New Jersey and Davino beat Landon Robideau of Minnesota in finals matches. They’re all part of the 51 wrestlers we selected this year.

As always, many of the selections were extraordinarily difficult. How do you choose between multiple four-time state champions — maybe multiple four-time state champions on the same team? Why did we choose a two-time state champion over multiple four-time state champions? The answers are multifaceted. State titles make a difference. But so do regional and national accomplishments, strength of competition, and maybe even a head-to-head result or two. It’s all connected. Every tournament, every match, is an opportunity to add another bullet point to the resume.

By and large, we held ourselves to one selection per state. Talk about tough calls — there were plenty of them. The only exception was made in Kentucky, for obvious reasons, and the Raney brothers earned that co-distinction for the third straight year.

So here’s a look at the 51 wrestlers, from 50 states, who we named as Wrestlers of the Year, by the numbers:

Grade

Senior – 34

Junior – 13

Sophomore – 4

Repeat selections from 2024

Three-time selections – 4

Two-time selections – 13

State titles won

Five – 2

Four – 25

Three – 13

Two – 10

One – 1

Won state title with all pins – 12 (all in first period – 6)

Losses this season (not including New England Championships matches)

Undefeated – 30

1 loss – 7

2 losses – 5

3 losses – 4

4 losses – 3

5 losses – 1

7 losses – 1

WIN ranking

No. 1 – 6

2 through 5 – 11

6 through 10 – 4

11 through 15 – 6

16 through 20 – 4

21 through 25 – 2

Unranked – 18

State tournament weight class in 2025

106 – none

113 – 1

120/121 – 3

126 – 3

132/133/135 – 8

138 – 3

144 – 7

150 – 2

157/160 – 7

165 – none

175 – 5

190 – 2

215 – 6

285 – 4

Undefeated in career – 1

College commitment (seniors only)

Missouri, Oklahoma State – 3

Penn State – 2

Army West Point, Cal Baptist, Cal-State Bakersfield, Cornell, Cornerstone, Duke, Indiana, Lehigh, Little Rock, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Oregon State, Princeton, Providence, South Dakota State, Stanford, Utah Valley, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Western Wyoming, Wyoming – 1

BYU (football) – 1

Nebraska (football) – 1

Villanova (football) – 1

Other accomplishments (past season only)

NHSCA Sr. Nationals champion – 2

NHSCA Sr. Nationals AAs– 4

NHSCA Jr. Nationals champion – 1

NHSCA So. Nationals champion – 1

Junior National freestyle or Greco champion – 4

Junior National freestyle or Greco All-American – 9

Super 32 champion – 6

Super 32 placewinner – 6

Ironman champion – 4

Ironman placewinner – 8

Dave Schultz Award winner

(NWHOF) – 18

Who’s No. 1 – 8 (5 won, 3 lost)

Pittsburgh Classic – 4 (all 4 won)

Nearly every Wrestler of the Year gave himself plenty of competition opportunities in a variety of styles and venues. The events listed above were common to most of the wrestlers who not only were selected, but to those who were under serious consideration.

Who were the wrestlers we shoehorned into all of these categories? You’re about to find out. It’s time to read all about this year’s Wrestlers of the Year, state by state. Enjoy!

(Rob Sherrill is WIN Magazine’s high school columnist.)