Collegiate wrestling
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Collegiate wrestling (sometimes known as folkstyle wrestling) is the commonly used name of wrestling practiced at the university level in the United States. A very similar style is practiced at the high school and middle school levels, and also for younger participants. The term is used to distinguish the styles of wrestling used other parts of the world, and for those of the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling, and Freestyle wrestling.
Styles
Collegiate style wrestling differs in a number of ways from Freestyle and Greco-Roman:
- Scoring differences - for example, in collegiate style, points are not given for forcing the opponent's shoulders to quickly rotate through facing the mat. Instead, one of the opponent's shoulders must be forced to within a 45 degree angle of the mat for 2-5 seconds to score. The points generated in this situation are called "near-fall points." This shows a difference in focus: while the international styles encourage explosive action, collegiate wrestling encourages control over the opponent. A wrestler can win the match by pinning both of his opponent's shoulders to the mat for 2 seconds.
- An additional position for periods after the first period, and various other situations. All three styles begin a match with both wrestlers facing each other on their feet with the idea being to score a takedown (force the opponent into an inferior position). In collegiate style, once a takedown is scored, the wrestler in the inferior (bottom) position, remains there until he escapes, the period ends, or various penalty situations occur. The inferior position is a choice of starting position for the second and third periods. It offers the advantage of greater scoring possibility when chosen at the beginning of a period, as escaping is easier than scoring a takedown from the neutral position or scoring near-fall points from the superior position.
- De-emphasis on "throws", or maneuvers where the other wrestler is taken off his feet, through the air to land on his back or shoulders. The idea is to reduce the risk of injury that throws create. However, many collegiate wrestlers still incorporate some throws into their repertoire of moves because a thrown opponent often lands in a position more conducive to producing a pin.
Match Format
A bout between two wrestlers is called a match. It consists of three periods, with an overtime period if necessary. Each period lasts from 1 to 3 minutes depending on the age group of the competitors. Period length varies for age groups below high school, which are different from state to state. In high school, all three periods last for 2 minutes, with varying overtime rules (New Jersey has adopted the college overtime ruling). In college, a 3 minute first period is followed by a pair of 2 minute periods with a potential quintuple overtime.Layout
The match takes place on a thick rubber mat. A large circle that designates the wrestling area is marked on the mat. For high school athletes and older, the wrestling area is 32 feet in diameter. For younger age groups, one mat may be divided into halves or quarters so that multiple matches may be staged on a single mat. A rectangle in the middle of the wresling area designates the starting positions for the 3 periods.Match Progression
- Pre-match
- Period 1
- Period 2
- Period 3
- 1st Overtime
- 2nd Overtime
Scoring
Points are awarded when a certain level of control is gained over your opponent. In general, you have to be controlling your opponents hips in order for the referee to determine that you have gained control of your opponent. Scoring can be accomplished in the following ways:
- Take down (2 points) - From the neutral position, one wrestler brings the other down onto the mat and establishes control over him. This is most often accomplished by attacking the legs of the opponent, although various throws can also be used to bring a wrestler down.
- Reverse (2 points) - A wrestler who is being controlled takes control from his opponent.
- Near-fall (2 point version) - A wrestler exposes his opponent's back to the mat for 2 to 4 seconds. The referee counts the seconds off.
- Near fall (3 point version) - A wrestler exposes his opponent's back to the mat for 5 seconds or more. After 5 seconds, the referee awards 3 points and stops counting.
- Escape (1 point) - A wrestler who is being controlled manages to escape from his opponent into the neutral position.
- Penalty (1 point) - A point can be awarded by the referee for various penalty situations, such as illegal holds or stalling.
- Riding time (1 point) - A point awarded to the wrestler with the most riding time, time spent in the top position preventing an escape or reversal, given that the difference between the two wrestlers is more than a minute (only used in college competition).
Pinning
Contrary to the image perpetuated by professional wrestlers, one does not have to hold his opponent's back to the mat for three seconds in order to pin. If both shoulders are authoritatively held to the mat, the referee will slap the mat indicating a pin and the end of the match. The referee will typically use his hands to determine the amount of space between the mat and the shoulders of the wrestler being pinned. A pin in folkstyle results from one wrestler's holding his opponent's shoulders to the mat for 2 seconds, while in freestyle a pin is scored by the opposing wrestler's back touching the mat.High School Level
Also known as Scholastic wrestling, when practiced at the high school and junior high level, a few differences are seen from when practiced at the college and university level. One is the length of time of high school matches - normally, three two minute periods. In college wrestling, the first period is three minutes with the second and third being two minutes. Additionally, college wrestling carries the concept of "riding time" - if one wrestler can maintain the top position for more than one minute greater than his opponent's total in the match, he is awarded an additional point at the end of the match. High school wrestling does not tally riding time.Every high school is expected to practice wrestling at two levels: varsity and junior varsity. Varsity matches consist of three two minute periods, while junior varisty matches can sometimes consist of three one minute and 30 second periods. This difference is explained by the fact that junior varisty wrestlers are presumed to be less skilled and possibly in poorer shape than varisty wrestlers.
High school wrestlers can compete at 14 different weight classes. To belong to a weight class, a wrestler must weigh less than or equal to the weight value of the class. The weight classes are:
- 103 pounds
- 112 pounds
- 119 pounds
- 125 pounds
- 130 pounds
- 135 pounds
- 140 pounds
- 145 pounds
- 152 pounds
- 160 pounds
- 171 pounds
- 180 pounds (Only in some states such as Texas)
Tournaments are often officially sponsored by a high school and held on either Friday, Saturday, or both. Admission charges are often levied to cover costs and make a small profit for the tournament host. A tournament begins with a perod of time known as "weigh ins", wrestlers are weighed in by school affiliation to be sure that they are not heavier than the weight class that they intend to wrestle in during the tournament. Weighs thus officially determine who will be competing at which weight class for the tournament. Wrestlers often work very hard to keep their weight down or even lose weight before the tournament in order to make their desired weight class. Weigh ins often start at 6 or 7 AM and last until 8 or 9 AM. On occasion, the hosting school will offer breakfast for a small fee to all tournament attendees.
Tournaments often specialize in either junior varsity or varisty competitions. Very few tournaments offer both. However, specialization of competition is usually the norm because of space limitations.
Most high school wrestling tournaments are double elimination format. The last two wrestlers in the upper bracket duel for first and second place. In other words, a wrestler cannot place higher than third if he or she is knocked down the lower bracket. This policy is largely the result of time constraints: one day tournaments often last until 8 or even 9 PM. If the winner of the lower bracket were allowed to challenge the winner of the upper bracket in the championship, the tournament could continue past midnight before finishing.
Each state or geographic area features two or three "elite" tournaments every year. These events are invite only. Tournament sponsors (which are still usually high schools) invite the best varsity wrestlers from their area to compete against each other. Many elite tournaments last two or even three days. Elite tournaments are often scheduled during the school's winter break for this reason.
High schools also compete against each other in a league. Head to head competition (referred to as a "dual match") between high schools often occurs on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday night during the wrestling season. (Practices usually start November 1st, and dual matches usually last from December through January.)
Dual Matches
Dual matches also begin with weigh ins. Enough time is allotted between weigh ins and competition to allow wrestlers who are overweight to run or otherwise attempt to sweat vigorously in order to lose enough weight to qualify for the weight class. Duals often feature one or two pound allowances, but in order to qualify for the league championship, wrestlers are required to weigh in without the benefit of a pound allowance at least several times during the dual match season.During a dual match, both the junior varsity and varsity squads from the two involved schools compete against each other. The format of competition is as follows:
1. The top junior varsity wrestler of each school compete against each other in order of increasing weight class. In other words, the dual match commences with a competition between each school's top 103 pound junior varsity wrestler. After the conclusion of that match, the top 112 pound junior varisty wrestler from each school compete. The process continues through the junior varisty heavyweight division. Oftentimes if more than one junior varsity wreslter is at a certain weight class for each school, the coaches will agree to hold a "exhibition match" which does not count towards the point total but allows the wrestlers to gain more competitive experience.
2. After a break, the varsity matches commence in the same fashion as the junior varsity matches. However, there are no exhibition matches at the varsity level.
Dual Match Scoring: The junior varsity and varisty competitions are scored separately. Each of the 14 matches (one match for every weight class) is scored on the following criteria:
- The winning wrestler's team is allotted 3 points if he wins the match on points, with a margin of victory of 7 points or less.
- The winning wrestler's team is allotted 4 points if he wins the match on points, with a margin of victory of between 8 and 14 points.
- The winning wrestler's team is allotted 5 points, and the match is immediately ended, if said wrestler opens a 15 or more point margin over his opponent. This occurrence is known as a technical pin or a technical fall ("tech" for short: "I teched him") because the winning wreslter is assumed to have won complete domination over his opponent, with the notable absence of a pin.
- The winning wrestler's team is allotted 6 points, and the match is immediately ended, if said wrestler pins his opponent.
- In addition, 6 points are awarded to a team if a wrestler affiliated with that team qualfies for a weight class at which the opposing team qualifies no wrestler. This occasion is known as a "forfeit"; or a bye. The existence of the "forfeit" condition encourages teams to have at least one junior varsity and one varsity competitor at every weight class.
Folkstyle - Age-group Level
At young ages, independent tournaments are run often in Freestyle and Greco-Roman styles. There are also tournaments where wrestlers compete in a style very much like collegiate or high school wrestling. To differentiate this style from Freestyle and Greco-Roman, the term folkstyle wrestling is more commonly used than the term collegiate.There is, however, a much less visible organization of wrestling in the Freestyle and Greco-Roman styles for young wrestlers, especially at the high school and college age levels.
Similar, the differences are enough to create potential disadvantages to the wrestlers not growing up focusing on the international styles. However, some would argue that the real reason the US does not typically fare as well in international wrestling competitions is the greater focus much of the rest of the world places on the sport.
External links
- [National Collegiate Wrestling Association]
- [National Collegiate Athletic Association Wrestling]
- [National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (Stillwater, OK)]
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