I will begin this as i always do, with a caveat. I am no wrestling expert, I'm relatively new to the sport. I never wrestled competitively, and i am for all intents and purposes an armchair quarterback. I write this to Hokie fans who are looking to enjoy the wrestling team more by gaining a basic understanding of NCAA wrestling. The good news is wrestling is in my opinion one of the most exciting spectacles in the world, easily comparable to the Big 4 sports in the US. The bad news is the rules are often a quagmire of variations and make it very hard for new fans. So lets try to fix it:
The Basics
The two types of competitions are called Dual meets and Tournaments.
Tournaments
A tournament is exactly what it sounds like, Wrestlers are placed in a bracket and advance towards a championship. The one nuance is the wrestleback or consolation side of the bracket. After their first loss, tournaments can use a variety of ways to allow a wrestler to compete back to third place. This is due to the fact that their loss may have come to the tournament champion. Scoring for tournaments also varies. Generally, wrestlers score advancement points for their team by winning matches. Matches on the champions side, or winners side of the bracket are worth more than matches on the consolation side. Wrestlers can also earn bonus points by winning their matches in a certain way (more on that below). The tournament team score is a sum of the individual wrestlers scores.
Dual Meets
Dual meets are as they imply a match between 2 schools. Each school sends a lineup out and winners of each weight class score points for their team. In college wrestling there are 10 weight classes using lbs:
- 125
- 133
- 141
- 149
- 157
- 165
- 174
- 184
- 197
- 285
Wrestlers must weigh no more than their weight class limit 1 hr prior to their match.
Scoring for a dual is simple.
- A Decision is a win of less than 8 points. The winner earns 3 points for their team
- A Major Decision is a win of at least 8 points, but less than 15 points. The winner earns 4 points for their team
- A Technical fall is a win of at least 15 points. When the 15 point margin is achieved the match is stopped. The winner earns 5 points for their team.
- A pin or fall stops the match and the winner earns 6 points for their team. Medical injuries or forfeits are also worth 6 points
By summing the contributions from each match, the winner is determined. Tiebreakers called criteria exist to settle ties, but we wont go there just yet.
The Equipment and the Match
The Equipment
The equipment of the sport is relatively straight forward. Wrestlers compete in a singlet and head gear. They will wear either a red or green band on both ankles corresponding to sweat bands on the referees arm. This will be used to indicate scoring. The match is held inside a circle often referred to as a cylinder. As long as a body part of either wrestler remains in the cylinder, the match is live.
The Match
College wrestling matches are broken into 3 periods, though only final score matters. Period 1 is 3 minutes in length and both wrestlers start on their feet in the neutral position. Periods 2 and 3 are alternated between both wrestlers, where each wrestler gets to pick their preferred position according to their strategy. More on that below. Periods 2 and 3 last 2 minutes each. Should their be a tie at the end of period 3, the match goes to Sudden Victory, which is like golden goal in soccer. The first wrestler to score wins. If neither wrestler can score, the match goes to ride outs. That gets a little complicated and is rare so we'll leave it alone for now.
With the essentials covered, we'll use a past match to explain the scoring system. Lets use Joey Dance's match from the NCAAs as an example. In this match joey has Dom Forys from Pitt as his first round opponent.
Takedowns
Joey gets a quick takedown. Look how he gains control of his opponent, forcing his knees and a hand to the mat quickly. He is awarded 2 points.
Joey is now in the position of advantage (called on top for short) and will accumulate ride time while in this position. Should he remain in this position for a cumulative time of 1:00, he will be awarded a point at the ned of the match.
For the Top wrestler (Dance), the goal is to turn his opponents back to the mat, within a 45 degree angle. His opponent will attempt to escape Dance's control, and should he do so he will be awarded a point.
Out Of Bounds
Therefore, the action often leads to the edge of the circle, where Out-Of-Bounds can occur:
Out of bounds is called when all body parts of both wrestlers leave the cylinder (circle on mat), or if one wrestler touches the edge of the mat (like forys does in the gif)
Restarts
After the OOB call, the wrestlers will restart. The bottom wrestler will place his knees square an parallel to the scorers table, and the top wrestler will touch one hand to an elbow and one hand to the bottom wrestlers stomach. The referee waits at least 1 second in the SET position and blows the action live:
Escapes
Eventually the bottom wrestler may escape and the referee will award a single point:
This is the basics of scoring from the neutral position. Eventually the 3 minute first period will end. At that point the referee will toss a 2 colored coin, and the winner will have a choice, similar to a coin toss. The can choose to defer to the third period, choose to start on top, choose to start neutral, or choose to start down. In this case the pitt wrestler wins the toss and chooses the bottom position to try to earn a quick escape point.
Riding Time
In this case this is a poor decision as dance has already been in the top position for a majority of the first period. If dance can ride for 5 seconds, he accrues 1 minute of riding time and earns the bonus riding time point. Watch the lower left corner as RT reaches 1 minute:
Major decision
This is the basics on scoring from the neutral and bottom positions, which is where VT does most of its work. When a wrestler is better than his opponent like Dance, he will often score a TD and allow the opponent to escape for a net +1 point. In wrestling an 8+point victory is called a major decision and it earns extra team points, so the best wrestlers want to win by at least 8. Here we see dance get that 8 point lead if you count the RT point:
At this point Joeys strategy changes as he goes from MD to a technical fall or a pin. In this case Dance baits his opponent to get in poor position and turns the tables (in a somewhat ugly but nonetheless effective manner):
Near Fall
At this point Dance is thinking pin, but it does give us a chance to cover the most effective way to score in wrestling, Near Fall points. Near fall points are awarded when the wrestler in control forces the bottom wrestlers back to a 45 degree angle with the mat. If the top wrestler can do this for 2 seconds he is awarded 2 points and if he can do this for 4 seconds he is awarded 4 points (4 is the maximum). Dance holds Forys in this position to get full NF points before trying to push further for the pin. Notice the referee swiping his arm to indicate 4 seconds of NF:
Pin/Fall
At this point all Dance has to do is force both Forys' shoulders and/or scapulae flat to the mat for one second to earn the fall. He does so:
Game Hokies! If you would like to watch the entire match start to finish:
The only common scoring situations we havent covered are reversals and Stalling points.
Reversals
Reversals occur when the bottom wrestler goes directly from being controlled to a position of control effectively flipping positions and earning 2 points. Here Dance does so in his next match:
Stalling
For stalling points this is about as subjective and frustrating as holding in football or blocking fouls/charges in basketball. Stalling will require its own post, but the signal is a raised fist from the referee. If a wrestler is assessed a Stalling warning twice, his opponent receives a point. In this example, Sal mastriani's opponent runs away out of bounds. A lot is happening in this match, but if you watch the referees arm at the top of the screen, he gives Sal a point:
OK, I'm sure this will be mutli-part, but I'm gonna wrap up lesson 1. I hope this format is somewhat digestable for a new fan. Go Hokies! Please ask all questions and i apologize for spelling/grammar in advance.
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