The 2025-26 Wrestling Season by the Numbers

The 2025-26 wrestling season is in the books, and the numbers tell a story that no single tournament result ever could. MatMetrics processed data from every major youth, high school, and freestyle/Greco event across the country this season, and the scale of the sport continues to surprise even us. The dataset now spans 1.8 million wrestlers, 5.5 million matches, and thousands of events from coast to coast. But the raw totals are less interesting than what they reveal about how the sport is changing.

Girls wrestling was the biggest growth story of the season, and it was not close. The number of female wrestlers with at least 10 matches tracked by MatMetrics grew by over 40 percent compared to last season. States like Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri — which already sanctioned girls divisions — saw depth increases at every weight class. But the more telling signal came from states that are still wrestling with sanctioning: even without official state series, girls participation in open and freestyle events surged. Our gender-inference system, which classifies wrestlers by event titles, weight-class patterns, and division names, tagged more female competitors this season than any previous year.

On the boys side, the depth of competition continued to tighten. The average Glicko-2 rating deviation — essentially a measure of how uncertain the system is about a wrestler's true ability — dropped across every age group, meaning wrestlers are competing more frequently and against more diverse opponents. The median number of matches per rated wrestler climbed from 14 last season to 17 this season. More matches means more data, which means more reliable ratings, which means better rankings. It is a virtuous cycle that makes every tool on MatMetrics more accurate.

Tournament quality scores also shifted in interesting ways. The highest-quality events were not always the biggest. Several mid-sized invitationals in Oklahoma, Ohio, and Wisconsin posted quality composites above 70 despite fielding fewer than 150 wrestlers, because their fields had high concentrations of rated competitors and minimal forfeits. Meanwhile, some large national events scored below 65 due to high forfeit rates and large pools of unrated first-time competitors. We will be publishing a full tournament quality report in the coming weeks with takeaways for coaches planning next season's schedule.

The Wrestler Performance Rating, which we launched in April, has already changed how coaches and parents navigate the site. WPR's five sub-scores — Technical, Finishing, Mental, Competition, and Consistency — give context that a single rating number cannot. The most common feedback we have heard is that WPR finally explains why two wrestlers with similar Glicko-2 ratings can feel so different to watch. One might be a high-Finishing, low-Consistency athlete who pins most of his opponents but occasionally drops a decision. The other might be a high-Consistency, low-Finishing grinder who never loses to anyone he should beat but rarely ends matches early. Same number, very different scouting report.

As we head into the offseason, the data pipeline keeps running. Freestyle and Greco events are already flowing in, and the Fargo preview series has launched with weight-by-weight breakdowns of returning All-Americans. Whether you are a coach building a schedule, a parent tracking your wrestler's progress, or a fan who just likes numbers, MatMetrics will keep the lights on all summer. See you on the mat.