Wrestling is a sport in which one contestant grapples with another in an attempt to force the shoulders of the opponent against a mat, thus scoring a fall, and winning the match. Two basic styles of amateur wrestling, Greco-Roman and freestyle, are generally employed in the modern version of the sport. Amateur wrestling is highly popular in U.S. colleges, secondary schools, and athletic clubs. In addition to national championship matches, hundreds of regional and local tournaments are held each year. Also popular as a spectator sport in the U.S. today is exhibition or professional wrestling.

For forms of wrestling originally peculiar to the Orient, see JUDO,; MARTIAL ARTS,.

Greco-Roman Wrestling.

The distinctive feature of Greco-Roman wrestling is that contestants must apply all holds above the waist, using only the hands and arms. Tripping, tackling, and the use of the legs to secure a hold are not permitted. Greco-Roman wrestlers come to grips with their opponents in a standing position and attempt to throw them to the ground, or bring them to the mat, so that the shoulders strike the mat simultaneously. If successful, a fall is scored and the match ends. Failing to score a fall in this fashion, the wrestlers may continue the match on the mat. In international and Olympic competition, if the allotted time—two 3-min periods with a 30-sec break between periods (in the event of a tie there is one 3-min overtime round)—expires without a fall being scored, the mat chairman, judge, and referee decide the victor. Greco-Roman wrestlers usually down their opponents with an arm hold such as the flying mare, a maneuver in which an opponent is flung across the aggressor’s shoulder onto the mat.

Greco-Roman wrestling is especially popular in Europe. Championship matches have been held in the U.S. since the early 1950s, but freestyle wrestling is more popular among Americans.

In 1999, international rules, which govern the Olympic Games, called for Greco-Roman and freestyle competitions in weight classes from 54 to 130 kg (119 to 287 lb).

Freestyle Wrestling.

Freestyle wrestling, often called Olympic freestyle and based on an earlier style known as catch-as-catch-can, allows a much greater variety of holds than Greco-Roman. Contestants may apply holds below the waist and may use their legs for all holds. If the shoulders of a contestant are forced to the mat simultaneously, however briefly, a fall is scored and the match ends. If no fall takes place, a winner is chosen on a point basis. Wrestlers may be penalized for passivity in a match. If there is a tie at the end of a match, the wrestler with more technical points will win. Freestyle wrestling has the same time limits as Greco-Roman.

Collegiate Wrestling.

Collegiate wrestling is a form of freestyle wrestling highly popular in the U.S. One distinctive feature is that a fall can be scored by only pressing the shoulders of an opponent to the mat for 1 sec. In addition, collegiate style permits the use of the closed body scissors and adheres to a fairly elaborate point system that gives credit for time advantages, that is, time spent on top of an opponent, in lieu of achieving an actual fall. The point evaluations reflect the skills and techniques of a wrestling performance. Among such skills are the escape (one point), the near fall (two or three points), and the predicament (one point). By contrast, freestyle awards points for only a few maneuvers, for example, takedowns (see below).

The NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (q.v.; NCAA) supervises collegiate wrestling. The NCAA collegiate bout consists of one 2-min period followed by two 3-min periods. A fall scored at any point ends the match. If no fall occurs after 7 min of wrestling, a winner is chosen based on points. If point totals are equal, the match is considered a draw. In tournaments, three 1-min overtime periods determine the winner.

General Wrestling Holds.

Within the limitations noted above, five general types of holds are common to Greco-Roman, freestyle, and collegiate wrestling: (1) Takedowns are holds designed to bring a standing opponent to the mat. Common takedowns include the double leg tackle, fireman’s carry, and the flying mare. (2) Rides, or hold-downs, are designed to upset and take out of position an opponent who is underneath. Typical rides include the tight waist and ankle ride, navy ride, and the cross-body ride. (3) Escapes are methods of breaking free of an opponent’s grip. Such methods include the sit-through, whizzer, and turn-in. (4) Reversals are designed to bring a contestant from an underneath position to a position atop an opponent while both are down on the mat. Popular reversals include the side roll and switch. (5) Pinning combinations are holds that force the shoulders of an opponent to the mat. These include the cradle, three-quarter nelson, and half nelson with crotch hold.

Professional Wrestling.

Legitimate or genuine professional wrestling was vastly popular in the U.S. from 1880 to 1920. Victory went to the wrestler scoring two falls out of three. Bouts were often contested in a mixed style, that is, one fall was wrestled in the catch-as-catch-can style, another in the Greco-Roman. The style used for the third fall, if any, was decided by the toss of a coin. No time limit was imposed on matches.

Today, however, exhibition wrestling is the only form of professional wrestling currently popular in the U.S. Because the chief purpose of such wrestling is entertainment, both the action and the outcome of exhibition matches are carefully rehearsed in advance to be dramatic or humorous. Most states require, therefore, that they be advertised as exhibitions rather than as contests. The action takes place in a roped-off ring about 5.5 m (about 18 ft) square, which is similar to a boxing ring. This type of “professional wrestling” should not be construed as a sport and is in no way related to collegiate, international, or Olympic wrestling.

History.

Wrestling has been popular throughout recorded history. Early Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs depict wrestlers using most of the holds known to the present-day sport. In ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, was the supreme contest of the OLYMPIAN GAMES, (q.v.). The ancient Romans borrowed heavily from Greek wrestling, eliminating much of its brutality but adding little that was new.

During the Middle Ages wrestling remained popular and received the patronage of many royal houses, notably those of France, Japan, and England.

In America, the early colonists found wrestling popular among the Indians. These settlers brought with them from England a variety of wrestling styles, including the Cornish, Westmoreland, and Lancashire catch-as-catch-can. Only the catch-as-catch-can style survives, although it is practiced in modified form. During the 19th century amateur wrestling was a favorite sport in rural districts of the U.S., and it became the featured event at picnics, threshing bees, and special holiday celebrations. Interest in amateur wrestling dwindled in the U.S. during the first few decades of the 20th century but was revived in the 1930s.

The first professional wrestlers were featured in carnivals, where they attracted large crowds by offering cash prizes to any local champion who could throw them. Professional wrestling reached its zenith during the early decades of the 20th century before giving way to exhibition wrestling.

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was the original governing body for wrestling in the U.S. In 1969, however, the United States Wrestling Federation (USWF) challenged the AAU for control of the sport. In 1970, the Federation International de Luttes Associees gave control of wrestling in the U.S. to a joint commission made up of five members each from the USWF and the AAU but then changed its mind and returned full membership to the AAU. In 1978, the American Arbitration Association removed the AAU from the U.S. Olympic Committee and replaced it with the USWF. The USWF became the U.S.A. Wrestling organization in 1983 and is now the national governing body for wrestling in the U.S.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section 775. Athletics, 799. Wrestling.