For years, Pennsylvania has been considered a powerhouse wrestling state, the best of the best, having very successful high school wrestlers, and dawning one of the most historic programs in college wrestling, Penn State. It would seem pretty clear for people to believe that Pennsylvania could be the best wrestling state. However, there is a good chance that there is another contender.

The 2019 NCAA tournament statistics shows some interesting numbers. While Pennsylvania had the most All- Americans (16) to New Jersey’s 10, New Jersey put 5 in the NCAA finals with 4 coming out as champs. PA only put 3 in the finals with 2 coming out as champs. While PA produces a higher quantity of good wrestlers, NJ produces a higher quality of good wrestlers.

New Jersey also holds many of the widely regarded wrestling greats. Jordan Burroughs who has won 5 world/olympic gold medals and has made 9 straight world teams, comes out of Sicklerville, NJ. Bruce Baumgartner who was a 2x olympic champ and a 3x world champ, comes out of Haledon, NJ. Steve Mocco, 2008 Olympian who is one of the most feared wrestlers ever, comes out of North Bergen, NJ. James Green, who is a 5x world team member, comes out of Willingboro, NJ.

Aside from having some of the most historic wrestlers to walk the earth, NJ has been a dominating force in the USA. New Jersey has had at least 2 members on the world team for the past 5 straight years, and at least 1 for the past 9 years.

For anyone looking to be a high level wrestler or even to watch high level wrestling, there is only one place to be and that’s New Jersey!