THE LAST WORD
Folkstyle rules need tweaking
T
he NCAA Wrestling Championships is one of my favorite events. You can’t beat the atmosophere every March, with fans from all over the country gathering to fill a 20,000-seat arena for college wrestling’s showcase event.
But there needs to be some changes made in college wrestling, and at the high school level as well. The United States is coming off its worst performance in the
history of the World Championships in freestyle, and folkstyle wrestling is partially to blame. Obviously, U.S. athletes need to step up and perform better,
but significant rules differences between American folkstyle and the international rules are hurting the U.S. No other country in the World wrestles folkstyle. I’m not asking for wholesale changes in the folkstyle rules,
but there should be a few tweaks made to the rules at the high school and NCAA levels so American athletes don’t lag behind so much when concentrating solely on freestyle after college. Here are a few of the rules changes I think need to at least
be considered: Add the out-of-bounds rule - This seemed like kind of a silly
rule when it was added, but after watching the Olympics and Worlds the past few years it is an area of wrestling the U.S. is very weak in right now. The Europeans are very skilled in scor- ing one-point pushouts, and by adding this in folkstyle, young American wrestlers will become more adept in this area. Get rid of riding time - Riding time may be the worst rule in wrestling. It makes matches boring, and referees simply don’t call stalling much anymore so wrestlers can stay parallel and not be penalized while earning riding time. With college pro- grams still dropping every year, we need a more exciting prod- uct for people to watch. Riding does nothing to prepare our wrestlers to win at the Olympic and World level. Reduce time down on the mat - Along the same lines as
riding time, when a wrestler scores a takedown he should only have a short amount of time to turn a wrestler. If he is not pro- gressing toward turning his opponent in 10-15 seconds, the wrestlers should be returned to their feet like in a freestyle match.
Shorten the match - Another way to create more action may
be to shorten the length of a match. Shorten the match from seven to six minutes, with three two-minute periods, and you may see wrestlers get after it a little bit more. They may not be as worried about conserving energy to make it through a seven- minute bout. It also would prepare them for international wrestling, where there are three two-minute periods. Unfortunately for the U.S., conditioning isn’t as big a factor in international wrestling with the matches much shorter now. I have heard other schools of thought on rules changes
42 USA Wrestler
where gut wrenches and leg laces should be added as well, but I am not asking for an over- haul of the current rules. Wrestlers can still work for the fall on top, and earn near falls.
Craig Sesker
Takedowns should still be worth two points, because they should be worth more than a pushout anyway. I have talked with a number of veteran coaches about this, including Bobby Douglas and Dan Gable, and they agree changes need to be made in the folkstyle rules to give the U.S. a better chance to win internationally. Again, rules changes aren’t going to automatically mean the
U.S. will go out and start beating the Russians in a few years. Keeping top wrestlers like Henry Cejudo and Ben Askren on
the mat will continue to be a huge issue the U.S. has in being able to consistently win against the best talent on the planet. But a few tweaks in the rules can certainly help Americans close the gap against the top teams in the World.
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