Wisconsin High School Wrestler of the Year: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Wisconsin High School Wrestler of the Year poll?

The Wisconsin High School Wrestler of the Year is an annual fan-vote recognition run by High School on SI / SBLive, the prep sports editorial platform operating at si.com/high-school/wisconsin under the Sports Illustrated / Arena Group umbrella. Unlike multi-sport or weekly polls, this award is wrestling-specific — four separate divisional and gender-based categories reflect the WIAA's own classification structure, giving every school a competitive pathway regardless of enrollment size.

• Four distinct polls: Boys Division 1, Boys Division 2, Boys Division 3, and a girls statewide poll covering all enrollments.
• The 2025-26 winners: Gavin Wolters (Div 1 boys) and Dealya Collins (girls statewide — 6,730 votes), confirmed by SI/SBLive results.
• Voting is free and open to anyone statewide; no account, registration, or subscription to Sports Illustrated is required.
• Polls close at a published deadline (typically 11:59 p.m. PT) announced with each ballot; no stated per-device hourly cap applies.
• Wisconsin's WIAA runs one of the country's most competitive high school wrestling programmes — the state sends multiple wrestlers to the national stage each year and has produced numerous Division I college and Olympic-level athletes.

Which Wisconsin wrestling programmes appear in this poll?

The ballot draws nominees from WIAA member schools statewide, stratified by the same enrollment-based divisions the WIAA uses at its state tournament. Wisconsin's wrestling landscape is genuinely deep — the state has produced multiple NCAA champions and All-Americans, and several programmes have dominated the WIAA podium for decades. The table below covers the most consistently competitive schools across all three boys divisions and the girls field.

Stoughton has long been regarded as one of Wisconsin's marquee wrestling communities — the Vikings have produced multiple WIAA state champions and nationally ranked wrestlers across weight classes. Kaukauna in the Fox Valley Association is another perennial Div 2 force, while Columbus and Wrightstown represent the tradition-rich small-school circuit in Div 3 where fan-voting networks can be especially tight and highly mobilised.

The girls statewide poll is a single unified ballot across all enrollment sizes, reflecting that girls wrestling in Wisconsin operates under a single WIAA classification. Girls wrestling participation in Wisconsin has grown rapidly since the WIAA formally sanctioned it — Dealya Collins's 6,730-vote total in 2025-26 demonstrates the strong community investment in recognising the sport's growth.

How does the Wisconsin Wrestler of the Year vote work?

The poll lives at si.com/high-school/wisconsin, inside the wrestling content section maintained by the SBLive editorial team. Each poll displays the nominated wrestlers' names, schools, weight classes (where listed), and a live running vote tally. There is no stated per-device hourly cooldown — unlike newspaper Athlete of the Week polls — so the contest rewards broad outreach rather than multi-device hourly cycling.

Vote submission requires no account, no Sports Illustrated subscription, and no personal data entry. Anyone with access to the poll URL can cast a vote immediately. The contest is open to supporters anywhere — family in other states, alumni networks, and extended communities can all participate.

Each of the four polls (Div 1 boys, Div 2 boys, Div 3 boys, girls statewide) is a separate ballot. A supporter of a Div 2 wrestler can vote in that poll without affecting or interacting with the Div 1 or girls polls. The close deadline — typically 11:59 p.m. PT on a specific published date — is shown on the active poll page. For a plain-language explanation of how SBLive / SI fan-vote polls function generally, see our online contest voting guide.

Recent Wisconsin Wrestler of the Year winners and contenders

The 2025-26 results are the most thoroughly documented recent edition. Gavin Wolters took the Div 1 boys title, and Dealya Collins won the girls statewide poll with 6,730 votes — a total that demonstrates the strong fan mobilisation this contest attracts, particularly on the girls side where the sport's growth has energised communities across Wisconsin. Earlier editions of this SI/SBLive format have featured wrestlers from programmes including Stoughton, Kaukauna, Mukwonago, and other perennial WIAA powers. Note: full multi-year winner archives are not publicly consolidated — the table below reflects confirmed 2025-26 data and representative historical context.

WIAA wrestling divisions at a glance

The WIAA classifies boys wrestling into three enrollment-based divisions each season. Exact school placement shifts year to year as enrollment is re-evaluated, so a programme that competes in Div 2 one season may shift to Div 1 or remain in Div 2 the next. The SI/SBLive polls mirror these current-season divisions, meaning the ballot you vote in reflects who is competing at that level in the present WIAA season.

How do you get more votes in the Wisconsin Wrestler of the Year poll?

Because this poll has no per-device hourly cap, building the vote total is entirely a function of outreach width — how many real people see the ballot link and click through to vote. The Wisconsin wrestling community has distinctive mobilisation assets that differ from football or basketball networks: wrestling families tend to be deeply committed year-round participants (club wrestling, WIAA season, NHSCA tournaments) with active group communication across a dedicated subset of the school community.

Two tactics consistently move the needle fastest. First, share the direct poll link — not the homepage, not the athlete's name alone — in every relevant group chat: the wrestling team parent group, the booster club email list, the school's athletic department social accounts, and any club wrestling organisation the athlete is associated with. Second, coordinate with the athlete's weight-class training partners and their families; wrestling is relationship-dense and a single message from the head coach or programme director carries disproportionate authority with the entire parent community.

For a full breakdown of vote-building strategy applicable to annual statewide polls, see our how-to guide. For context on the broader Wisconsin contest and awards landscape, visit the Wisconsin contest hub.

When organic outreach has reached its realistic ceiling — team, boosters, club wrestling network, extended family — some campaigns use a paid promotion service to reach additional real voters before the deadline. For this type of annual poll with no hourly cap, paced delivery matched to a pre-deadline window is the appropriate approach. Our sports fan poll votes service handles this format.

Rules and the buy-votes question for this poll

The SI/SBLive Wrestler of the Year polls are public fan-engagement votes with no cash prize and no formal sweepstakes legal structure. The operative restrictions are the platform's technical terms, which — consistent with standard Gannett / Arena Group practice — prohibit automated tools, bots, and scripts that generate artificial vote inflation. There is no stated hourly cap to circumvent, but the platform monitors for anomalous traffic patterns.

The meaningful distinction in this format is between automated scripts generating fake traffic — which violates the platform's terms and is detectable — and paid outreach to real human voters who cast genuine votes from their own devices. The second category is structurally identical to a booster club email that reaches a larger audience than you could reach organically. Whether that satisfies the spirit of any specific contest terms is a judgement each entrant must make independently.

For a neutral, balanced overview of legality across different types of online polls, see our full guide.

WIAA wrestling season and Wrestler of the Year poll timeline

The Wisconsin Wrestler of the Year poll is anchored to the WIAA winter sports calendar — wrestling runs from late November through February, culminating at the Division State Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison. The SI/SBLive poll is announced and conducted in the post-season window immediately following the state tournament, making it a capstone recognition for the season's top performers.

How athletes get nominated

SI/SBLive compiles nominees based on its editorial coverage of the WIAA season — state tournament results, conference standings, and submissions from coaches, athletic directors, and school contacts. State placers and champions are the most natural nominees given the timing, but wrestlers who dominated their division's dual schedule or set notable individual records can also appear. Coaches should connect with the SBLive Wisconsin editorial staff and submit performance highlights through the platform's contact or submission process during the state tournament window.

For context on how this award fits into Wisconsin's broader prep sports recognition ecosystem, visit the Wisconsin contest hub or explore all US contest guides.