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.
Comments
As someone who knows nothing about wrestling scoring, strategy, etc. aside from "I want the Hokies to win," this post is greatly appreciated.
There will be more, especially a basic strategy. I wanted to do this before the season but time did not allow. This lays the ground work to talk about more advanced strategy. Probably 3-5 part series but it could be more
I look forward to it.
This is probably as good a time as any, since ACCs and nationals are coming up and more people pay attention then. I knew nothing about wrestling until I started working the matches and watching guys like Carter and Pete Yates. Once you get the fundamentals down, you start to see what they are looking for in a match.
You've got the important part down
Thank you for this post (and future ones!). This puts the "Hokies kick UVA in the teeth" into better perspective.
In that regard, if we won all matches just by decision alone, the score would be 30-0. We won 31-7. A beatdown to say the least
TechHokie13's guide to wrestling:
Step 1: Beat UVA.
One thing to note is that, new this year, finger clasping is worthy of a stall warning on the wrestler that initiated it. I have seen it happen where both wrestlers disengage the clasp and no warning is given. I have also seen both wrestlers receive a warning if it is unclear who initiated it.
A lot of new rules to cover, i may go over them in another post. For example 4NF is new this year, last year it was a max of 3 NF from 5 seconds exposure. Just too much info that would overwhelm a new fan.
My Mom watching wrestling: "I just wish they would put more clothes on."
They wear the required uniform!
One point of clarification on riding time: It's not accruing one minute of RT that gets you a point, it's accruing 1 minute more than your opponent. Therefore, if Joey's opponent in your example manages a reversal and gains control, the RT clock will count backwards, erasing some of his RT.
Indeed. Was going to cover that scenario in part 2/3 which will be basic strategy.
I'm looking forward to that. I've managed to learn the basics, but the strategy still eludes me. I'm sure you're going to cover it, but I've often wondered why so many wrestlers choose the down position when given the option at the start of a new round. Is it just for the chance to score quick escape or reversal points?
Yup. Unless you are going against someone who is outstanding on top, you are most likely going to get the escape point. The key is to do it without giving up the minute of riding time.
edit: The part of the strategy that still eludes me is why some wrestlers ride as long as they do. I get it at first going for the flip, but if it doesn't happen in the first 20 seconds of a ride, its highly unlikely you are going to make it happen. It seems to me that your odds are better cutting the guy lose and getting another TD and hopefully catching your opponent in an even worse position.
That second scenario sounds like guys wrestling to not lose. If theyre on top they cant really get score on other than a reversal or escape. Last year that boring strategy really plagued the 149 and 174 lb weight classes.
Riding time is definitely a game changer between high school and collegiate levels, I've noticed there's a lot less need to actually go for the pin or multiple TDs to decide a match. The Penn State dual was a good example, their wrestlers only really needed one take down and one escape to build a comfortable lead, whereas Tech wrestlers had to rapidly accrue multiple TDs to erase early deficits.
Plus, riding on top for that long absolutely burns the bottom guy who has to constantly work or risk getting called for stalling. I don't know how viable it is on a collegiate level where the athleticism and endurance is obviously much higher, but it was a pretty useful tactic in HS to just wear a kid out.
I don't consider myself a wrestling expert, but I wrestled from little league through high school. I was thinking of writing a wrestling introduction, but I'm glad I didn't because this one is much better than the one i was planning on writing. Nice job, jerseyhokie
reading this was a treat, thanks for an excellent write-up!
when i was at VT, both my roommate and i bonded over watching VT wrestling as students because we wrestled for our respective high schools. he even got me to drive over to Christiansburg a couple times to watch the high school matches there, too.
to this day, i still follow VT Wrestling as feverishly as i do football and basketball. thanks for adding to my fix!
Great job! So glad to see Hokie wrestling getting the love. A leeeeeeg for you.
Great write up and a good job of giving the basics to most of the people on the board as that is a good introduction in to what is being observed. I had expected you to be former wrestler yourself given your knowledge of the team and of the sport in general. Looking forward to the next in the series.
I regret not going to more VT wrestling matches while I was at school. I went to 2 or 3 and really enjoyed the sport. And in a weird way miss hearing the guy in the stands yell over and over "PUT THE BABY TO BED!" every time a VT wrestler had any position advantage over the opponent.
I taught Dance in HS. I don't know if a guy so small could kick much more ass.
One thing you didn't touch on that can be a little confusing is a "stalemate". jersyhokie, I'm sure you can explain this mush better than me, but as the term suggests, it's when neither wrestler has an advantage and they stand them back up. This happens most often when both wrestlers are standing and one (the attacker as I'll call him) dives for a leg. The defender avoids being tackled, but falls on the attacker. The attacker is now belly down on the mat with the defender on top of him. My non-eloquent description would be the "ass to mouth" position. They both have a hold of a leg. It might look like the attacker has been taken down, but he has not. They basically get stuck in this position with neither wrestler able to really do anything. So the ref calls a stalemate and stands them back up with no points being awarded.
Huge oversight on My part. Ill work it in more officially into another part because it is super important. See i remembered out of bound but forgot stalemates.
In writing a stalemate is a referees determination call. It occurs when neither wrestler can improve their own position without giving up position to their opponent.
So in the situation you described, the defender has cracked down, resulting in both wrestlers having locks on eachother. If either wrestler breaks their lock, theyre going to give up a TD. Since neither can actively improve, a stalemate is called.
Ill whip up some Gifs after i finish tonites article.
As someone who wrestled all through high school I appreciate this thread as well. It's a drastically underappreciated sport but in my opinion it's possibly the best sport there is. when you wrestle at this level, it is a part of your life 365 days/year.