2020-21 National Girls HS Rankings Presented By ASICS

100

USA Wrestling, FloWrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum are again partnered to create its preseason national rankings for high school girls wrestlers for the 2020-21 season.

This ranking evaluates all girls enrolled in grades 9-12, and athletes from all 50 states are eligible for selection.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last National Girls High School Rankings were published in March 2020. The committee chose to publish the 2020-2021 preseason ranking earlier than last year, due to the changes in the sport which have occurred because of this historic international challenge.

Almost all of the major national and international events which are used to evaluate performance were either canceled or postponed in the spring and summer. There were a limited number of competitions for high school girls in the last few months, and a number of the nation’s best athletes did get opportunities to wrestle. These events were researched and used as part of the preseason rankings.

The first decision for the committee was to rank all of the athletes based upon their weight class back in March 2020. Since the pandemic affected the sport in different ways based upon what region or state an athlete is living, not all of the athletes had the same opportunities to train or compete. This ranking, using last year’s weights, will create the baseline for the rankings for the rest of the year.

The next ranking will be published in early November 2020, after major competitions such as the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals and Super 32 are held. The committee will move athletes to new weight classes, if appropriate, based upon where they compete at the major events this fall.

There are eight seniors and six juniors who are ranked No. 1 in this preseason ranking.

The high school wrestling season has been changed on a state-to-state basis. Some states have delayed the start of the season. Others have shortened the season. Others have pushed high school wrestling completely into the next semester, starting in January 2020. There are actually official state high school championships for girls scheduled as late as June 2020.

Because of this, starting in November, there will be a National Girls High School Rankings published every month through early July, prior to the 2021 USA Wrestling USMC Junior and 16U National Championships. The exact publishing schedule will be announced once more information becomes available on the high school season, as well as the schedule for major USA Wrestling spring and summer national events, international events and other important competitions.

The ranking list will indicate what the athlete’s previous ranking was in March’s final 2019-20 ranking.

The girls high school ranking will appear on the websites of all three organizations, and be promoted through each of their different media platforms.

Last year, the first National Girls High School Team Ranking was published at the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season. A preseason national team ranking will be developed later this fall, and a schedule for updated team rankings announced at that time.

Coaches, parents and athletes are encouraged to provide information about specific athletes and their achievements throughout the year for the committee to consider. If they have information on specific girls who should be considered for ranking, please send it by email to girlsrankings@usawrestling.org

In addition, the committee seeks to add high-quality in-season competitions to their watch list. Wrestling leaders at the state level are encouraged to recommend the “best” girls high school events, so the results can affect the rankings.