Blair Academy (N.J.) has won five national titles (2012-2014, 2016-2017), with finishes of second and third in the other two seasons. St. Paris Graham (Ohio) won the national title in 2015, and has five finishes within the top five of the national rankings; the Falcons were eighth in 2012 and sixth in 2014. Clovis (Calif.) has seven top ten finishes as well; the Cougars have finished as high as third (2014) and as low as ninth (2016).
Five other teams have finished within the national rankings each year since the rankings started: 2011 national champion Apple Valley (Minn.), Bethlehem Catholic (Pa.), Montini Catholic (Ill.), St. Edward (Ohio), and Wyoming Seminary (Pa.); the lowest finish for Wyoming Seminary was 11th in 2011, while the highest finish for Montini Catholic was 12th in 2013.
Six teams each have been ranked at the end of six seasons and at the end of five seasons. Oak Park River Forest (Ill.), Poway (Calif.), Southeast Polk (Iowa), and Tuttle (Okla.) have been ranked in six consecutive seasons, while Bergen Catholic (N.J.) has been ranked five consecutive seasons.
Buchanan has finished in the Fab 50 in each of the last four seasons (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The next longest active streak for appearances in the Fab 50 national team rankings is the four-year run that Buchanan (Calif.) is currently on. The Bears have moved up from 39th in 2014 to 12th two years ago, fifth last year, all the way up to their No. 2 ranking at the end of this season. The only additional team on even a three consecutive year streak in the Fab 50 rankings is Elyria (Ohio), which has been ranked 33rd, 20th, and 12th in each of the last three seasons; the Pioneers were also runners-up to St. Edward each year at the individual state tournament.
So that's 15 teams in total that have streaks of three-plus years ending the season inside the Fab 50 national high school team rankings. Twenty additional teams were ranked in each of the last two seasons.
Six additional teams appeared in the rankings at the end of this season after missing out at the end of 2016, but appearing in previous seasons. Broken Arrow (Okla.) and Massillon Perry (Ohio) returned after being in the rankings from 2011-2015, Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) returned after being ranked from 2011-2014, Brecksville (Ohio) returned after being ranked from 2013-2015, Roseburg (Ore.) returned after being ranked in 2011 and 2012, while Wadsworth (Ohio) returned after being ranked in 2011.
Nine teams ended the season in the national high school team rankings for the first time in the 2017 season. Those teams were No. 18 Sand Springs (Okla.), No. 19 Lockport (Ill.), No. 30 Shakopee (Minn.), No. 34 Mason (Ohio), No. 35 Staley (Mo.), No. 44 Northampton (Pa.), No. 47 New Hampton (Iowa), No. 49 Reynolds (Pa.), and No. 50 Cincinnati Elder (Ohio). That is in stark contrast to last year, a year in which 20 teams ended the season in the national high school team rankings for the first time. It was more in line with the 2015 season, one in which 16 teams made debut appearances in the final rankings (the fifth year of the rankings being published).
Only 15 teams that finished 2016 ranked nationally did not finish 2017 in the rankings. That is obviously in extreme contrast to last year, one that saw 26 teams from the 2015 rankings not earn a position in the final rankings of the 2015-16 season. It was much more in line with the final 2015 rankings that saw 18 teams from the final 2013-14 rankings not present (the final rankings for 2012 through 2014 did not include either 18 or 19 teams that were ranked at the end of the previous season).
In seven years of publishing the national team rankings, 142 schools have ended at least one season within the rankings. Those teams came from 27 different states.
Northampton and Reynolds raised the total number of schools from the Keystone State to end a season ranked to 19, while the inclusion of Mason and Cincinnati Elder means that Ohio is up to 13 different schools to end a season in the national team rankings. The presence of Lockport in the rankings makes it ten total schools from the Land of Lincoln to finish a season ranked. The debut for New Hampton, Shakopee, and Sand Springs means that it's now eight schools ranked from Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma at the end of a season. Staley was the sixth school from Missouri to end a season ranked.
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