State Freestyle and Greco Participation: Who's Growing, Who's Shrinking

Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States just had its biggest season on record. MatMetrics has tracked over 143,000 freestyle and Greco matches this season, up from roughly 78,000 at the same point last year — an 85 percent increase. Nationally, freestyle match volume is up 83 percent and Greco-Roman is up 92 percent. But the national numbers mask enormous variation at the state level. With state championships now complete or still wrapping up across the country, we can compare the 2026 results to 2025 on a tournament-by-tournament basis — and the picture heading into the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo is one of explosive growth in some states and genuine concern in others.

Illinois is the runaway story. The state restructured its offseason program this year, splitting what had been a single combined event into three dedicated championships: boys freestyle, girls freestyle, and Greco-Roman. The results speak for themselves. Illinois boys freestyle surged from 2,461 matches in 2025 to 2,978 in 2026. Girls freestyle, now with its own standalone championship, added 738 matches. And the Greco-Roman state championship drew 1,484 matches, up from 949 — a 56 percent increase. When you add the Illinois kids freestyle and Greco state finals (2,244 freestyle, 722 Greco), the total Illinois state championship ecosystem produced over 8,100 freestyle and Greco matches this year. That is more than any other state and a model for what dedicated infrastructure can do for international style participation.

Oklahoma posted the most dramatic raw growth among states with established programs. The OWA Freestyle and Greco State Championships on April 19 drew 1,434 freestyle and 773 Greco matches. A second event, the USAOKW State Championships on May 9, added another 1,153 freestyle and 461 Greco. In 2025, Oklahoma's single state championship produced 613 freestyle and 353 Greco matches. Whether you compare event-to-event or aggregate, Oklahoma's freestyle and Greco participation at the state championship level roughly tripled. Alaska also surged, jumping from 268 freestyle and 111 Greco matches at its 2025 state tournament to 1,955 freestyle and 660 Greco in 2026 — a sevenfold increase that reflects both a growing program and improved data coverage. Other notable gainers include Minnesota, which posted modest freestyle growth from 1,047 to 1,199 matches at its state tournament, and Nebraska, which grew freestyle from 548 to 632.

The Greco-Roman numbers tell a more complicated story. Outside of Illinois, Oklahoma, and Arkansas — where Greco nearly doubled off a small base, going from 98 to 194 matches — most states with comparable year-over-year data posted Greco declines at their state championships. Nebraska dropped from 517 to 272 Greco matches, a 47 percent decline. Minnesota fell from 889 to 706, down 21 percent. Wisconsin's Greco went from 211 to 131, a 38 percent drop. Iowa, the traditional heartland of offseason wrestling, saw Greco dip from 527 to 423, down 20 percent. The pattern is consistent: wrestlers are showing up for freestyle in greater numbers, but Greco-Roman continues to struggle for traction at the state championship level in states that treat it as a secondary offering.

Several states have not yet held their 2026 state championships or their results are still being processed. Washington led all states in 2025 with 1,891 freestyle and 1,076 Greco matches at its WSWA State Championship — those numbers will be the benchmark when Washington's 2026 event reports. Colorado posted 1,123 freestyle and 411 Greco in 2025. Pennsylvania's PAUSAW championship had 130 freestyle and 102 Greco last year, and North Carolina's Team NC championships drew 974 freestyle and 185 Greco. These late-May and June events will fill in the remaining gaps and could shift the national narrative in either direction. Ohio's picture is already emerging through different event types: the USAW-Ohio State Duals Festival drew 938 freestyle and 287 Greco matches in April, and the 14U and Under State Championships added 434 freestyle and 182 Greco in May, putting Ohio's combined 2026 total close to its 2025 baseline of 1,391 freestyle and 491 Greco.

The states that are growing share a common thread: dedicated events and intentional programming. Illinois proved that separating boys freestyle, girls freestyle, and Greco into distinct championships triples participation. Oklahoma expanded from one state championship weekend to two, and participation followed. Alaska invested in its state tournament infrastructure and saw a massive return. The states posting declines are generally the ones treating Greco-Roman as an afterthought — tacked onto a freestyle weekend rather than given its own event, its own focus, and its own identity. The data is clear: if you build it, they will come, and if you do not, they will not.

These state championship numbers are more than a scoreboard — they are the pipeline that feeds the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo this July. States investing in freestyle and Greco infrastructure are the ones producing deep Fargo entry lists and returning All-Americans. Our Fargo preview series, which broke down every returning 16U All-American weight by weight, showed that the deepest talent pools come from states with robust offseason programs. For state associations still on the fence about investing in international styles: the evidence from Illinois, Oklahoma, and others this spring should settle the argument. The freestyle and Greco season is not over — more state championships are on the calendar through June — but the early returns are in, and the lesson is unmistakable.

Data notes: comparisons include state-level freestyle and Greco-Roman championship events tracked by MatMetrics in both 2025 and 2026. Match counts include all age divisions within each state championship event. States where 2025 data was incomplete due to limited scraping coverage are excluded to avoid overstating growth. We will update these comparisons as more state tournaments wrap up through May and June.