Rules of Freestyle Wrestling

Free style wrestling is more popular due to the lesser number of restrictions.

As the Indian challenge in Wrestling kicks off today at the London Olympics, we take a look at the rules and competition format of the event in the London Olympics. This a follow-up on freestyle wrestling after the earlier update on Greco-Roman style of wrestling, which can be found here. Geeta Phogat will be participating in the women’s 55 kg freestyle category, while Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Amit Kumar and Narsingh Pancham Yadav will be participating in the men’s freestyle event.

Rules

Wrestlers compete in bouts consisting of three rounds of two minutes each.

Points are given based on the success of various types of holds, locks, etc. Unlike Greco-Roman however, wrestlers are allowed to use their legs or body below the waist in both offense and defense.

A wrestler wins the match when he/she wins two out of the three rounds in the match. However, if the match enters the third and final round, a win is declared only if a fall or disqualification occurs, or by disqualification.

If the score is tied at the end of the three rounds, the match goes into overtime, wherein a clinch occurs for a maximum period of 30 seconds. Here, the referee tosses a two-colored disk and whoever wins the toss gets the advantage in the clinch. The wrestlers then wrestle in the clinch position with the toss winner having a positional advantage to score a fall. The wrestler to score the first point from the position, wins the bout.

Scoring

Points are given depending upon the effectiveness of a move. A wrestler can get 2 to 5 points for a take-down, i.e, bringing his opponent down on the mat from a neutral position.

A wrestler can score 2 points for gaining advantage over his opponent from a defensive position. Similarly, wrestlers get awarded points for pinning their opponents on the mat.

Wrestlers can also lose points for refusing to take ordered holds or using illegal holds or being brutal with the intent to hurt. Points can also be awarded to an opponent if a wrestler takes an injury time-out, unless the wrestler is bleeding.

Competition format

The event is divided into categories based upon the weight of the wrestlers. There are 7 weight categories for men (55 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg, 74 kg, 84 kg, 96 kg and 120 kg) and 4 for women (48 kg, 55 kg, 63 kg and 72 kg).

A direct elimination system decides the two finalists in each category.

As in Greco-Roman, a repechage round for wrestlers who lose to the finalists decides the bronze medalists.