First, let me apologize for not posting as often as I usually do, I’ve been dealing with some issues that have made it challenging for me to sit down and get as many things up onto the site as I would like. I have also been finishing up a project that I have been working on for the past couple of years and which I believe is finally ready for me to unveil in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, it’s about time I release the 4th Annual Best High School Girls Programs in California Top-30 List. This year it’s much earlier than last year’s (which I posted in August) but still not as early as I would like (I would like to shoot for April next season).
Albany HS has moved up to the number 3 spot this year. Northview seems unmovable from the number 1 spot, sending multiple wrestlers to state every year. The biggest jump in the rankings come from Menlo Atherton (from 19 to 10) and Beaumont (32 to 23). I’m please to say that girls wrestling continues to grow at a healthy pace and that is reflected in my list where more and more schools seem to be trading spots every year. But enough of my blabbering.
In 2011, when the first official CIF girls wrestling state championships took place, 154 schools participated. In 2019, with the increase from 25 to 32 wrestlers per weight class, a total of 263 schools competed (an increase of 43 schools over last year). Since that first championship tournament, 541 different schools have sent at least one wrestler to represent them. This year, 50 schools that had not sent a single wrestler to the tournament since 2011 were represented by at least one! Programs have come and gone but a few have continued to thrive year after year.
Inevitably, at the end of each season the question gets asked, which are the best high school girls wrestling programs in California? This is not a question that is answered as easily as one might think. What are the criteria that should be used to decide? Does the number of individual champions trump the number of team championships? Does a team with acclaimed consistent coaching out-rank one from a school that has supported girls wrestling year after year but has been unable to find staff that will stay longer than a season or two? And, is a program with a single wrestler that places at state better than a one that sends 6 wrestlers that do not place? Some coaches have even commented that the number of boys sent to their respective state championships should be included when deciding, in effect throwing the girls back into the fold that they have tried to separate themselves from for so long.
As difficult as the question may be to answer, I have decided to make an attempt at doing just that. In the year’s best list, I have taken 2 factors into consideration and given them point values. The first is the number of wrestlers sent to state. The second is the final top-8 placings of wrestlers, giving a higher value to higher placings.
I have also included an All-time best program list. The method I used to decide who goes on that list is to simply take the points accumulated by a program in each year and add them up. There are 3 points of contention I expect to hear:
- The fact that I only go back to 2011 in my rankings, when the first CIF-sanctioned state championship was held, there may be some who believe a certain program is not being recognized because I did not go back far enough in time. To those who feel that way, I apologize and can only say that I wish getting hold of records from earlier dates was as easy as getting them since the time CIF recognized the sport.
- There will be those who feel the programs at the top of the list are there because they dominated the sport when the competition was not as developed as it now is and it will be difficult to catch up to them. My response to that is, a program cannot rest on its laurels it must continue to work, even if it no longer dominates the state championships, every wrestler it sends to state cements its standing atop the list (and sending wrestlers to state is no longer a cakewalk). As for a program being unable to catch-up, I believe this sport is here to stay, I think there is plenty of time for the All-time list to see some changes (pun intended).
- Some will wonder why some schools are not in the top 30 when they have had a dominant wrestler, for example Gabby Garcia (Valencia of Placentia)— a 4-time state champion (2013-2016). Unfortunately, even though Miss Garcia is a legend in her own right, a single wrestler cannot constitute a top program. Schools can build a successful program out of having a single dominant wrestler but the program, to be considered a top program, in my opinion, needs to continue to produce results beyond that single wrestler.
As I said at the opening, there have been 491 different schools that have competed at state since 2011, for the sake brevity I will only list the top-30 in both the year and the all-time list but I will give as much context and justification as possible to each listing. I hope you enjoy this list and see it as my humble effort to continue to celebrate and record the history of this great sport. If someone disagrees with my lists or methods please feel free to contact me, I will be more than happy to discuss differing viewpoints but the bottom line is that these ranking are a product of what I consider the most important factors in rating a successful program and they may be very different from other people’s.
- Central Coast Section, CCS
- Central Section, CS
- Los Angeles City Section, LACS
- North Coast Section, NCS
- Sac-Joaquin Section, SJS
- San Diego Section, SDS
- Southern Section, SS
Top-30 All-time Best High School Girls Wrestling Programs in California (as of 2019)
In the table below, along with the school’s all-time ranking, I have also included their all-time ranking prior to the end of the 2018-2019 season, the total number of wrestlers they have sent to the state championships, as well as the total number of placers the school has had since 2011.
Rank | School | Section | All-time Ranking Previous Season | Total Wrestlers to Have Competed | Total Placers (including Champions) | Total Top-3 Placers (including Champions) | Total Champions |
1 | Northview | SS | 1 | 68 | 22 | 15 | 3 |
2 | Selma | CS | 2 | 43 | 21 | 12 | 11 |
3 | Albany | NCS | 5 | 41 | 15 | 9 | 4 |
4 | West Covina | SS | 3 | 37 | 6 | 10 | 5 |
5 | James Logan | NCS | 4 | 35 | 17 | 6 | 2 |
6 | Birmingham | LACS | 11 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 4 |
7 | San Fernando | LACS | 17 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
8 | Corona | SS | 7 | 25 | 15 | 6 | 0 |
9 | Jesse Bethel | SJS | 6 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
10 | Menlo-Atherton | CCS | 19 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 2 |
11 | Pioneer Valley | CS | 9 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
12 | Hillcrest | SS | 9 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 0 |
13 | Del Oro | SJS | 12 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 3 |
13 | Enochs | SJS | 7 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
15 | Walnut | SS | 18 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
16 | Benicia | NCS | 13 | 19 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
17 | Tokay | SJS | 15 | 29 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
18 | Santa Ana | SS | 14 | 28 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
19 | Terra Nova | CCS | 15 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
20 | Newark Memorial | NCS | 20 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
21 | Steele Canyon | SDS | 21 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
22 | Santa Paula | SS | 22 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
23 | Beaumont | SS | 32 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
24 | Bella Vista | SJS | 35 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
25 | Porterville | CS | 23 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
25 | San Dimas | SS | 28 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
27 | Millikan | SS | 24 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
28 | Lincoln-Stockton | SJS | 26 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
29 | Overfelt | CCS | 25 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
29 | Santa Monica | SS | 32 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
Top-30 Best High School Girls Programs in California of the 2018-2019 Season
In the table below, I have listed the top-30 programs out of the 263 schools that participated in the state championships of the 2018-2019 wrestling season. I have also included the programs’ all-time ranking as of the end of the season.
Something that might be noticed, my formulation does not guarantee a top-spot by simply having a champion, though it does help. The best way to insure a high ranking in the list is to send a large delegation and to get as many placers as possible.
Rank | School | Section | All-time Ranking After 2018-2019 Season | Competing Wrestlers | Champions | Top-3 Placers (including Champions) | Placers (including Champions) |
1 | San Fernando | LACS | 7 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
2 | Birmingham | LACS | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
3 | Menlo-Atherton | CCS | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
4 | Albany | NCS | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
5 | Northview | SS | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Norte Vista | SS | 101 (tied) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
7 | Monroe, James | LACS | 75 (tied) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
8 | Walnut | SS | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
8 | Corona | SS | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
10 | Arroyo-N | NCS | 132 (tied) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
10 | McClatchy | SJS | 94 (tied) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
12 | Liberty | NCS | 44 (tied) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
12 | Selma | CS | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
12 | Newark Memorial | NCS | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
12 | Silver Creek | CCS | 40 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
16 | Orland (N) | SJS | 143 (tied) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
16 | Cerritos | SS | 97 (tied) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
16 | Mt. Whitney | CS | 88 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
16 | La Costa Canyon | SDS | 132 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
20 | Clovis | CS | 223 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
20 | Westminster | SS | 90 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
20 | Bella Vista | SJS | 24 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
20 | Beaumont | SS | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
24 | Fremont | CCS | 231 (tied) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
24 | Folsom | SJS | 70 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
24 | Yucaipa | SS | 231 (tied) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
24 | Rowland | SS | 78 (tied) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
28 | Del Oro | SJS | 13 (tied) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
28 | Durham | SJS | 252 (tied) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
28 | Ayala | SS | 97 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
28 | Norco | SS | 252 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
28 | Escalon | SJS | 155 (tied) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |