Reference
Wrestling
weight classes
Every set, at every level, on one page. High school, college and international, for girls and women first and for boys and men too, because the question is usually asked once and answered badly. Each table below names the body that publishes it.
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
Start here: which table is yours
There is no single list of wrestling weight classes, and that is the part every other page gets wrong. Four different bodies write four different sets, and in high school your own state association picks which one you wrestle.
| If you wrestle | Your classes come from | Count |
|---|---|---|
| High school, United States | NFHS, but your state picks one of three sets | 12, 13 or 14 |
| College women, NCAA or NAIA | NCAA and NAIA, and they match | 10 |
| Freestyle, club or international | United World Wrestling, by age group | 10 |
| The Olympics | United World Wrestling, six of the senior ten | 6 |
Two things that are not on this page, because they are separate questions with separate answers: the lowest weight you are allowed to certify at, which is a body composition test, not a class table, and how much you may lose per week to get there.
High school wrestling weight classes (NFHS)
The National Federation of State High School Associations publishes three sets for girls and three sets for boys. Each state association adopts one set per division. In the NFHS's own words, states "cannot adopt all three sets and cannot switch back and forth during the season." The framework has been in effect since July 1, 2023.
So the honest answer to "how many weight classes are there in high school wrestling" is: ask your state. A page that gives you one list has picked a state for you.
Girls' high school weight classes
| Set | Classes (lb) |
|---|---|
| 14 classes | 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 155, 170, 190, 235 |
| 13 classes | 100, 106, 112, 118, 124, 130, 136, 142, 148, 155, 170, 190, 235 |
| 12 classes | 100, 107, 114, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, 185, 235 |
Those three rows are rendered straight out of the same certification engine that powers the making weight math and the app, so a number cannot be right in one place and wrong in another.
Which states use which girls' set
We publish only what we read in a state's own document. On the 14 class set, confirmed from association publications: Pennsylvania (PIAA), Ohio (OHSAA), Illinois (IHSA), Texas (UIL), and California, that last one via a CIF section page rather than the state federation, so treat it as good rather than ideal.
Nine more states could not be checked because their sites blocked automated access: Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Oklahoma. Read that as unchecked, not as evidence of a smaller set. If your state is not named above, its wrestling handbook or weight management page carries the answer, and it is the only answer that counts for you.
Boys' high school weight classes
Same three-way choice, different numbers. From the same NFHS release:
| Set | Classes (lb) |
|---|---|
| 14 classes | 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215, 285 |
| 13 classes | 107, 114, 121, 127, 133, 139, 145, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215, 285 |
| 12 classes | 108, 116, 124, 131, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 190, 215, 285 |
Source for both tables: NFHS, separate weight classes for girls.
The 2026-27 change that is not a class change
For 2026-27 the NFHS raised the minimum body fat percentage for girls from 12 percent to 19 percent, rules 1-5-1 and 1-5-2. That does not move a single number in the tables above. It moves the lowest class you are eligible to certify into, which for most girls is one class higher than the old rule allowed, and it is the reason every weight app built on the boys' 7 percent floor gives a girl an illegal target. The arithmetic is on the making weight page.
College wrestling weight classes
NCAA women's wrestling runs ten weight classes, and the NAIA runs the same ten. This is the set to plan a college career around:
| Level | Classes (lb) |
|---|---|
| NCAA women | 103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207 |
| NAIA women | 103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207 |
The NCAA crowned its first women's champions in March 2026 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, with 180 qualifiers across those ten weights, and it is one National Collegiate championship in which Divisions I, II and III compete together rather than three separate tournaments. The NAIA determines its ten individual titles and a team title over two days under the USA Wrestling rulebook.
Look at the top of that list next to the girls' high school set: 160, 180 and 207 against 155, 170 and 190. The college classes are spaced wider, which usually makes the freshman year a matter of growing into a class rather than cutting to one. More on the programs themselves, division by division, on the colleges page, which carries the same table alongside the coach directory.
Sources: NCAA and the 2026 NAIA championship packet, with the full NAIA ten confirmed in USA Wrestling's championship report.
Olympic and international weight classes
United World Wrestling governs freestyle and Greco-Roman worldwide, and its categories are in kilograms. One correction to something repeated everywhere: Seniors, U23 and U20 share a single set of ten. Only U17 and U15 have their own.
Women's freestyle: seniors, U23 and U20
| Category | Pounds (approx.) | At the Olympics |
|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 110.2 lb | Yes |
| 53 kg | 116.8 lb | Yes |
| 55 kg | 121.3 lb | No |
| 57 kg | 125.7 lb | Yes |
| 59 kg | 130.1 lb | No |
| 62 kg | 136.7 lb | Yes |
| 65 kg | 143.3 lb | No |
| 68 kg | 149.9 lb | Yes |
| 72 kg | 158.7 lb | No |
| 76 kg | 167.6 lb | Yes |
The Olympic program takes six of those ten: 50, 53, 57, 62, 68 and 76 kg. The other four are contested at the World Championships and the ranking series, which is why a world champion at 55 or 65 kg has to change weight to chase a Games. Pounds throughout this section are our conversion at 2.20462, not a rule; the kilogram is the rule.
Women's freestyle: U17 and U15
| U17 (kg) | U17 (lb) | U15 (kg) | U15 (lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36-40 | 79.4 to 88.2 | 29-33 | 63.9 to 72.8 |
| 43 | 94.8 | 36 | 79.4 |
| 46 | 101.4 | 39 | 86.0 |
| 49 | 108.0 | 42 | 92.6 |
| 53 | 116.8 | 46 | 101.4 |
| 57 | 125.7 | 50 | 110.2 |
| 61 | 134.5 | 54 | 119.0 |
| 65 | 143.3 | 58 | 127.9 |
| 69 | 152.1 | 62 | 136.7 |
| 73 | 160.9 | 66 | 145.5 |
The lightest category in each age group is a range rather than a limit, 36 to 40 kg at U17 and 29 to 33 kg at U15, so there is a floor as well as a ceiling: a wrestler under the bottom of that range does not make the bracket.
Men's categories, for completeness
| Freestyle (kg) | Greco-Roman (kg) |
|---|---|
| 57 | 55 |
| 61 | 60 |
| 65 | 63 |
| 70 | 67 |
| 74 | 72 |
| 79 | 77 |
| 86 | 82 |
| 92 | 87 |
| 97 | 97 |
| 125 | 130 |
Seniors, U23 and U20 again. The Olympic six are 57, 65, 74, 86, 97 and 125 kg in freestyle, and 60, 67, 77, 87, 97 and 130 kg in Greco-Roman. Every category above is from the current United World Wrestling international rules.
How to read a weight class table
A class limit is a number you weigh in at or under. What surrounds that number changes completely from one level to the next, and the differences are where wrestlers get caught out.
- The weigh-in schedule is not the same sport to sport. United World Wrestling weighs in on the morning of your category, then weighs the finalists and repechage wrestlers again the next morning. High school and college run their own schedules under state and NCAA rules.
- Allowances are event-specific, not universal. UWW allows a 2 kg tolerance at the World Cup, ranking series and international tournaments, and none at all at the second weigh-in. It allows no tolerance for the singlet either. Growth and consecutive-day allowances in American high school wrestling are authorized state by state, so we do not publish a number that would be wrong for most readers.
- The heaviest class has a floor as well as a ceiling. The top UWW women's category is 76 kg, and a wrestler must be over 72 kg to enter it, so the heavyweight bracket is a band rather than an open top.
- A senior or U23 wrestler may move up. UWW lets them enter the next category above their weigh-in weight, and that option stops at the heaviest category. Younger age groups wrestle the category their weight falls in.
- Certification is a different question entirely. The table tells you what classes exist. It does not tell you which ones you are allowed to be in. In American high school wrestling that is set by a hydration test and a body composition assessment, and since 2026-27 by a 19 percent body fat floor for girls. That is the making weight page, and the number your state issues always beats any number a website gives you.
What we could not confirm
- The NJCAA women's set is not on this page. The NJCAA site returned nothing to every read, its handbook is not published free, and the March 2026 junior college event was branded an invitational rather than a national championship. The one results report we could read contradicted itself on whether it ran ten weights or eleven. A missing set beats a wrong one, so there is none here.
- NCAA weight management numbers. The NCAA lists a Women's Wrestling Weight Management Program for 2026-27, but the document itself would not load, so this page carries no college minimum weight, body fat floor or descent rate. Ask the team's athletic trainer, who administers it.
- The full state-by-state map of girls' sets. Five states are confirmed from their own documents and nine were unreachable. The other jurisdictions are simply not checked yet. We would rather name five than guess fifty.
- High school growth and consecutive-day allowances. These are state-authorized rather than national, and the state manuals that publish them do not agree, so no allowance figure appears above.
The newsletter
One email. The rules, the gear, the college path.
For wrestlers, parents, and coaches. Same standard as the site: every number sourced, no filler, unsubscribe any time.