BASIC WRESTLING SCORING FOR DUMMIES

The objective of a wrestling match is to defeat your opponent. Once a pin is scored, the match is won. If neither wrestler achieves a pin, the winner is decided by the combined score after three timed periods. Within a match, you earn points for the moves you effectively execute, and your opponent earns points for any violations you commit. Below is a list of ways wrestlers can score points during a match.

Takedown - 2 points - Scored when a wrestler gains control and becomes the offensive wrestler from the neutral stance. Control is defined as getting behind the opponent and taking them to the mat or taking them directly to their back without getting behind them and becoming the offensive wrestler.

Reversal - 2 points - Awarded to a wrestler when they switch from the defensive position to the offensive position and take control away from the opponent. If a wrestler is on the bottom and gets to the top without an escape, they are awarded a reversal.

Escape - 1 point - Scored when a defensive wrestler escapes from the offensive wrestler and becomes neutral. This happens most often when a wrestler chooses to start on the bottom in the 2nd or 3rd period.

Near Fall (3 seconds) - 2 points - When you have your opponent on their back, and their back is at an angle to the mat of 45 degrees or less, the referee will start waving their hand to signify a count. If the angle is sustained for 3 seconds, the offensive wrestler is awarded 2 points.

Near Fall (5 seconds) - 3 points - Same as a 3 second near fall, but the 45-degree angle must be sustained for a 5-second count. After a 3 point near fall is awarded, no more near falls will be awarded until the defensive wrestler gets off their back, and then is moved back into a new near fall.

Penalty - 1 point to the opponent - A referee can award an opponent a penalty point for several reasons. Locking hands or illegal hold is the most common penalty, and you will observe the referee clasp their hands together in the air before they award the penalty. Another penalty is termed, Stalling, when a wrestler is not being active or passive, not trying to get a pin, not trying to gain control. Unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct involves kicking, scratching, biting, hitting, body slamming, or bending any body part beyond its normal range of motion.

HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING SCORING 101

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