Scholastic wrestling

In the mid-20th century, college and high school wrestling programs greatly expanded after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) standardized collegiate wrestling rules, which were all or partly adopted on the high school level by state athletic associations.

As high school wrestling continued to grow in the 1940s and later decades, various collegiate athletic conferences also increased the number and quality of their wrestling programs, with a growing number of high school wrestlers being recruited and entering collegiate-level competition.

Notable early women scholastic wrestlers include Tricia Saunders, the first female National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee.

Since the early 20th century through the present day, state high school associations across the U.S. host annual wrestling championships for individuals and for teams.

Post-season competition usually continues from February to March depending on whether individual wrestlers or teams qualify for regional, sectional, or state championships.

After weigh-ins, the referee coordinates the random draw, which determines the sequence of weight classes for the dual meet.

Often, a tournament host will field a "house team" composed of junior varsity wrestlers from competing schools when there are open slots in the brackets.

In other words, a wrestler cannot place higher than third if he is knocked down to the lower consolation bracket by losing in the championship semifinals.

The second opponent must advance an additional three rounds before our wrestler will be guaranteed another match and opportunity to place in this tournament.

Tournament sponsors, which are usually high schools, colleges, or universities, invite the best varsity wrestlers from their area to compete against each other.

Wrestlers are encouraged to stay within this inner circle or else they risk being penalized for "stalling," which is deliberately attempting to exhaust the match's clock without meaningful wrestling acts or maneuvers.

The main official at the wrestling match is the referee, who is responsible for starting and stopping the match; observing all holds; signaling points; calling penalties such as illegal holds, unnecessary roughness, fleeing the mat, or flagrant misconduct; and finally observing a full view of and determining the fall.

The wrestler could also choose the defensive (bottom) position, where he would have the opportunity to score points for a reversal or an escape and a subsequent takedown, as riding time is not calculated in high school wrestling.

When the referee starts the match by blowing the whistle, the defensive wrestler then has the opportunity to get back to his feet in a neutral position.

[36] After the match is completed, regardless of the victory condition, the wrestlers will return to the center of the mat (on the 10-foot inner circle) while the referee checks with the scorer's table.

[55] A more detailed account of how individual and team points are awarded for tournaments is given on pages 47 to 50 of the 2008-09 NFHS Wrestling Rules Book.

There are also tournaments where wrestlers compete in a style very similar to collegiate or high school (scholastic) wrestling.

The rules governing youth matches largely correspond to those of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), with shorter periods (generally, depending on the age divisions, the periods typically last anywhere from one to one and a half minutes) and other modifications.

[56] There is, however, much less visible organization of wrestling in the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles for young wrestlers, especially at the high school and college age levels.

Many high school and college students do compete in freestyle and Greco-Roman dual meets and tournaments however with great success, some of which are on the regional and national levels.

However, some would argue that the real reason the United States does not typically fare as well in international wrestling competitions is because of the greater focus much of the rest of the world places on the sport.

Dehydration can result when a wrestler severely reduces intake of fluids while maintaining rigorous daily workouts.

Extreme weight cutting can have similar effects to anorexia nervosa and bulimia[58] but results from entirely different psychological mechanisms.

A study including 243 collegiate wrestling programs in Divisions I, II, and III observed that these tendencies are ingrained within them.

Analysis of nutrition practices of high school wrestlers indicates that roughly 4.8-8.0% test subjects displayed forms of disordered eating.

Training habits developed by collegiate wrestlers counteract the stereotypical notion that male athletes are not at risk for eating disorders, since they often use extreme methods of cutting weight, such as diuretics and self-induced vomiting.

Roughly 63 percent of collegiate wrestlers have been found to partake in consistent fasting as a means of losing weight, which can lead to unhealthy nutritional imbalances.

The stress placed on these student athletes to maintain peak physical shape at all costs and the weight and body ideals dictated by society also play a key role in the overall development of a wrestler's unhealthy habits.

Wrestlers face exterior pressures in order to maintain their physique including scholarship opportunities and expectations to succeed.

A 1993 study done on intercollegiate wrestlers found that 1.7 percent of those who utilized extreme measures of rapid weight loss suffered from bulimia nervosa.

A scholastic wrestling match in November 2006
In scholastic wrestling, great emphasis is placed on one wrestler's control of the opponent on the mat, usually by controlling the opponent's legs or torso. When a wrestler maintains restraining power over an opponent, as seen here, he is said to be in a position of advantage.
In this photo from the 2012 U.S. Military Duals tournament in Columbia, South Carolina , featuring wrestlers from Pennsylvania , South Carolina , Tennessee , and Virginia , the top wrestler is attempting to break his opponent down to the mat to both keep the bottom wrestler from scoring and to help in scoring points from the top position.
Securing the fall, or pinning , is the supreme goal in wrestling, since it scores the most team points in competitions; this near fall situation resulted in a fall several seconds later.
At the start of the first period, the two wrestlers are in the neutral or standing position, as shown.
At the start of the second and third periods, both wrestlers start in the referee's position, with one wrestler on the bottom with hands spread out and feet held together, and one wrestler on the top with his hand around the opponent's waist and the other on the opponent's elbow.
Following a wrestling match, the referee declares the winner of the match by raising the hand of the wrestler who won.
Near fall points can be scored when the offensive wrestler holds their opponent with one shoulder on the mat and one shoulder at an angle of 45 degrees or less toward the mat, for two or more seconds, as shown.
A near fall situation can also occur if both shoulders are within four inches of touching the mat, as shown.
A fall, also known as a pin , occurs when any part of both shoulders or both scapulae (shoulder blades) of the defensive wrestler is held in continuous contact with the mat for a specified amount of time; in scholastic wrestling, it requires two seconds of continuous contact.
Falls (or pins) can be attained in many different technique combinations.