Freestyle Wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is one of the four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling that take place around the world today. The other three forms include Greco-Roman, Judo and Sambo.

When most people hear the word wrestling, they usually think of the WWE. However, real amateur wrestling is nothing like the WWE where so-called wrestlers hand out punches, kicks and other blows as well as smashing their opponent with chairs, tables and whatever else they can get their hands on around the ring. If you go to an amateur wrestling match expecting to see choke-slams, suplexes and sharp-shooters you’ll be out of luck.

Amateur freestyle wrestling differs from Greco-Roman wrestling in that wrestlers are allowed to attack the entire body. Points are awarded for takedowns and putting your opponent on his back. A freestyle wrestling match is made up of three two-minute periods, with the first wrestler to win two out of three periods declared the winner. Because of this, the wrestler that accumulates the most points can actually lose. This would happen if a wrestler won the first period 6-2, but went on to lose the next two periods by scores of 1-3 and 2-3. The loser scored nine points to his opponent’s eight, but won only one period.

In freestyle wrestling points are awarded for the following:

Takedowns: This involves gaining control of your opponent from a neutral position and can be worth anywhere from one to five points.

Reversals: This involves gaining control over your opponent from a defensive position and is worth one point.

Exposure: A wrestler can earn two points by exposing his opponent’s back to the mat at an angle less than 90 degrees.

Penalty points: A wrestler who takes an injury timeout for anything other than bleeding will award a point to his opponent. A wrestler also earns a point if his opponent steps out of bounds, or commits an infraction such as striking his opponent or using illegal holds.

There is one way that freestyle wrestling has a connection to the WWE. In the WWE a match is won by pinning your opponent for a 1-2-3 count. In freestyle wrestling a match can be won by pinning, which is when a wrestler holds both his opponents’ shoulders on the mat at the same time long enough for the ref to count “21, 22” in French (‘vingt-et-un, vingt-deux’). This is called a win by fall and ends a match at anytime whenever it occurs.