Pony Boy Wrestling

Here are the current Pony Boy, Club/Academy Team rankings for the 2023-2024 season. These rankings only reflect club/academy teams. We define those teams as serving multiple school systems. The majority of kids who attend these clubs/academies will participate for several different high schools around the area. We will post our School Based Club team rankings very soon!

Since we cleared that up, lets move on to the rankings. We looked at 3 key factors to determine these rankings. The ranking factors are listed below. Information was compiled from 2024 Ga Freestyle State and 2024 USA Kids State results. 

1. Number of state champions at qualifying tournaments 
2. Number of state placers at qualifying tournaments 
3. Total number of state champs divided by the total number of kids competing for the club giving you the percentage of state champs in the club. We call this the Gold Medal %

Ranking the club teams in this state was a very difficult task for us. There is no question that the club teams coming in have changed the landscape of wrestling here in Georgia and it is because of these club teams that we were able to witness our first ever Girls and Boys collegiate national champions in Caleb Henson and Amani Jones. We are seeing more competitive, high level wrestling because of these club coaches and their efforts to make our state a top tier wrestling state. But it’s fun to do rankings so let’s get to it. Below is a list of rankings and then  a short recap of why the teams are ranked where they are.

1. Roundtree Wrestling Academy 
2. Level Up Wrestling Center 
3. The Storm Wrestling Center 
4. Morris Fitness Wrestling Club
5. Compound Wrestling 
6. Dendy Trained
7. Teknique Wrestling 
8. Team Alpha Wrestling 
9. Glasgow Wrestling Academy 
10. Grindhouse Wrestling

1. This number one spot was a very difficult one to decide between these top tier programs. Ultimately Roundtree Wrestling Academy just slightly beat out Level Up for the top spot in our club team rankings. From the qualifying tournament Roundtree had 11 top 10 team finishes for qualifying weight classes within the two state tournaments we looked at. A total number of 64 kids competed for this club in both tournaments and they brought home 26 gold medals. Giving this club a 40% state championship percentage (26/64=.40). Meaning that 40% of the kids that are walking through the doors of this Academy are state champions. That’s an extremely impressive winning percentage. What is even more impressive is that within those same tournaments they also brought home another 21 state placers. Meaning that 47 out of 64 wrestlers who compete for Roundtree are state placers. The goal of club wrestling is to get you to the next level in your wrestling game, and I don’t know what they are doing over there in Roundtree WA but whatever it is, it’s working. 

2. Level Up Wrestling Center is right there behind Roundtree in almost every single category. Level Up also placed top 10 in team points in 11 qualifying weight classes for both state tournaments. Level Up actually placed higher in team points in 8 out of those 11 age groups, especially in the freestyle state tournament earlier this month. Level Up had a total number of 84 kids compete in the state tournaments and walked away with 21 state champions. Giving them a gold medal percentage of 25%. Level up was also able to walk away with 34 additional state placers giving them a grand total of 55 total state placers in their program. Level Up has the ability to affect more kids than any other program and has proven they can get kids to not only a state champion level but the national and international level as well. Coach Panone chose a very good name for his club, because Level Up is exactly what they do to your wrestling abilities. 

3. The Storm Wrestling Center, led by Gerald Carr, has been a mainstay of excellence in the wrestling community for decades now. The only club team outside of the Atlanta/ North Georgia area that made it into the top 10 rankings. Storm finished top 10 in 8 out of the 13 age groups for both state tournaments. Finishing both tournaments with 18 state champions and 24 state placers. Giving them a total of 42 state placers. There were 76 total wrestlers who wrestled under the Storm Center name. Giving them a gold medal percentage of 23%. This club has been able to create tremendous success even through some of the disadvantages of living in a less densely populated area. Storm Center kids are successful at every age level of wrestling from elementary school to the collegiate level. 

4. Morris Fitness comes in at the number 4 spot in these rankings for good reason, they are a well coached club that produces results. From the qualifying tournaments, they brought home 7 state placers and 17 total state placers with 49 total kids participating under the Morris Fitness banner giving them a 14% state champ rate. While they may not be on the level or Level Up and Roundtree just yet, they are a team that needs to be respected. 

5. Compound is the original training center in Georgia, they were the first ones to get on the map and started branding themselves to the wrestling community as a whole. They’ve been in the game for a long time because they produce results. For the qualifying tournament they had 12 state placers and 7 state champs out of 23 total kids. Which gives them one of the highest state champ rating in this field at 30%. What makes this even more impressive is that Compound had several age groups and weight classes with no one wrestling in it. 

6. Dendy Trained is a quality program with solid wrestlers from top to bottom. These kids coming out of this program flat out get after it. They are hard nosed wrestlers looking for upset and trying to make a name for themselves. From these two qualifying tournament Dendy Trained ended up with 4 state champs and 18 state placers from both tournaments combined. Out of 36 kids participating that gives them a state champ percentage of 11%. 

7. Teknique Wrestling, out of Sugar Hill Ga, might have one of the deepest knowledge pools from their coaching staff in the state. This coaching staff is absolutely stacked, with multiple GA state champs and NCAA All-Americans all over the place. When you watch the kids from Teknique wrestle you can see all that knowledge come out. From the 2 tournaments we researched, 18 kids were representing Teknique. They finished up with 5 state champs and 12 state placers giving them a 27% state champ percentage. 

8. Alpha Wrestling Club is relatively new on the scene, but just because they are relatively young doesn’t mean they can’t roll. Alpha is lower on the list simply because of the number of kids they had participating. Alpha had 3 state champs and 10 state placers out of 13 total wrestlers between Freestyle State and USA State giving them a 23% state champ percentage. If they can grow the program and get more kids involved they can make a serious push to climb these rankings. 

9. Glasgow Wrestling Club is another option in and around the Atlanta area. They produce solid kids who are serious threats at all levels. They are hurt by the number of kids involved in their program. Glasgow finished up with 3 state champs and 10 state placers out of 17 kids competing, giving them a 17% state champ percentage. 

10. Grindhouse comes in at our final spot for these rankings. They ended up with 2 state champs and 8 state placers out of 17 total kids competing giving them a state champion percentage of 11%. It is worth noting that Grindhouse barely had any kids participating in the freestyle state tournament, and the vast majority of their state champs and state placers came during USA state.