Wrestling

Wrestling

Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA (Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées or International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles): Freestyle and Greco-Roman. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style. A similar style, commonly called Collegiate, Folkstyle, or Scholastic, is practiced in secondary schools, colleges, and younger age groups in the United States. Where the style is not specified, this article refers to the international styles.

Scoring

Freestyle and Greco-Roman differ in what holds are permitted; in Greco-Roman, the wrestlers are permitted to hold and attack only above the waist. In both Greco-Roman and freestyle, points can be scored the following ways:
Takedowns: Gaining control over your opponent from a neutral position.
Reversals: Gaining control over your opponent from a defensive position.
Near-Fall: Exposing your opponent's back to the mat for several seconds, also awarded if one's back is to the mat but the wrestler isn't pinned.
Penalty Points: Various infractions (striking your opponent, acting with brutality or intent to injure, using illegal holds, etc). (Under the 2004-2005 changes to the international styles, a wrestler whose opponent takes an injury time-out receives one point unless the injured wrestler is bleeding.) Any wrestler stepping out of bounds while standing in the neutral position during a match is penalized by giving his/her opponent a point.

Victory Conditions in the International Styles

A match can be won in the following ways:
Win by Fall: A fall, also known as a pin, occurs when one wrestler holds both his opponents' shoulders on the mat simultaneously.
Win by Technical Fall: If one wrestler gains a six-point lead over his opponent at any point, the current period is declared over and he is the winner of that period.
Win by Decision: If neither wrestler achieves either type of fall, the one who has gained more points during the match (or period internationally) is declared the winner. If the wrestlers have gained the same number of points, then it is ruled by the judges through certain criteria in the international styles. In folkstyle and collegiate wrestling, an overtime system will result to decide the winner.
Win by Injury: If one wrestler is injured and unable to continue, the other wrestler is declared the winner. This is also referred to as a medical forfeit or injury default. The term also encompasses situations where wrestlers become injured, take too many injury time-outs or cannot stop bleeding. If a wrestler is injured by his opponent's illegal maneuver and cannot continue, the wrestler at fault is disqualified.

Equipment

While there is not much equipment that a wrestler wears it is highly specialized. A wrestling singlet is a one-piece, tight-fitting, colored, lycra uniform. The uniform is tight-fitting so as not to get grasped accidentally by the opponent and allows the referee to see each wrestler's body clearly when awarding points or a pin. Women wrestlers wear a higher cut singlet with a sports-bra underneath.
Wrestling shoes are light, flexible, thin-soled, ankle-high sneakers that allow maximum speed and traction on the mat without giving up ankle support. The current rules call for laces (if any) to be covered so they do not come untied during competition.
In high school and college wrestling head gear is used to protect the ears from cauliflower ear. Head gear is made from molded plastic polymer or vinyl coated energy absorbing foam over a rigid hard liner and strapped to the head tightly.
It is illegal for wrestlers to wear a cup.
Wrestling is conducted on a padded mat that must have excellent shock absorption, tear resistance, and compression qualities. Most mats are made of PVC rubber nitrile foam. Recent advances in technology have brought about new mats made using closed cell, cross-linked polyethylene foam covered in vinyl backed with non-woven polyester.