Zoe Aseltine
The Oriole
Quincy HS
1st Place
Division 4, News Writing
Sports Feature Story
Wrestling is a complex sport. The advanced moves making it difficult for the average non-wrestler to understand, but a good grasp of the basics can help any spectator appreciate the sport.
In a wrestling match there are three two-minute periods during which the wrestlers receive points for various moves and take-downs.
The stance
A match begins with both wrestlers on their feet in various stances.
“There are many different stances such as the European stance where your back is arched, the Greco-Roman stance where your back is straight as if you are standing, and a folk style or freestyle stance when you bend your knees and have a straight back,” Ezra Brown `17 said.
Two other basic stances are the squared staggered stance and the staggered stance.
In the squared staggered stance the wrestlers’ feet are parallel with each other and their weight is evenly distributed.
In the staggered stance, one foot is slightly higher than the other and the weight is more on one foot.
Both stances are legal and equally effective leading to penetrating shot.
Moves
The penetrating shot is the initial move to break the opponent’s defense. This is performed by shifting weight on the back foot and then taking a step forward in between the opponent’s legs.
Moves are the manuevers wrestlers use to take down their opponent.
“My favorite move is the double-leg takedown because it works for me and most people don’t use it so it throws them off-guard” Kaleb Miller `17 said.
Points
If a wrestler escapes a takedown he gets one point. For a reversal he gets two points as well. A reversal is when the wrestler gets behind and on top of the opponent gaining back control from the opponent,
Wrestling, like other sports, has fouls. If a wrestler performs an illegal hold, it is one point for the opponent. Unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness that would also be a point for the opponent.
“You want to break the other person’s will to wrestle,” Miller said.
Another foul is stallng, which is when a wrestler will basically do nothing and not try to take down his opponent. “Stalling can be on top, bottom, or neutral,. Neutral is when you re standing,” Brown said.
The win
There are three ways to win a match.
“To win, you can either pin someone…or you tech fall someone by 15 or more points, which is like the mercy rule in other sports. Or you can go all six minutes,” Brown said.
If the match goes for all three periods, the wrestler with the most points wins. A regular decision win is seven or less points while a major decision is eight to fourteen points.
Conditioning
Wrestlers need to be in top shape to perform well.
“We try not to eat a lot, [we] work hard and [do] T-25 [an intense workout program] while wearing sweatshirts to lose water weight,” Miller said.
Weight classes range from the lowest weight class, 103, pounds then advancing up to 285 pounds into heavy-weight wrestler. Most wrestlers they want to be lower weight classes because they would rather wrestle smaller opponents.
“[We] eat healthy things like fruits and granola bars. I typically eat 5-6 small meals a day,” Brown said.
The passion
“[I love] the feeling of winning…when you get your hand raised at a huge tournament and the other guys is walking away with his head down,” Brown said