Collegiate wrestling

Collegiate Wresting is the commonly used name for the style of wrestling practiced at the university level in the United States. A very similar style is practiced at the High School and Middle/Junior High School levels, and also for younger participants. The term is used to distinguish from the styles of wrestling used in most of the rest of the world and for the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling, and Freestyle wrestling.

Related Topics:
Wrestling - Olympic Games - Greco-Roman wrestling - Freestyle wrestling

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For a discussion of wrestling at the college level, see NCAA wrestling.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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, the opponent's shoulders must be forced to within a 45 degree angle of the mat for 3-5 seconds to score. This shows a difference in focus: while the international styles encourage explosive action, collegiate wrestling encourages control over the opponent.
• 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.
 
Collegiate wrestling: High School Level ►