Wrestling Vocabulary Wrestling has its own vocabulary. Breakdown: From the down position, a wrestler who is on top is expected to flatten the bottom wrestler out and turn him for a pin in folkstyle wrestling. This process is known as “breaking him down.” Some common breakdowns are the tight-waist, arm chop, spiral ride, and ankle picks. (In freestyle and Greco-Roman a wrestler on the bottom is expected to stall, keeping his chest to the mat and resisting exposure or turns until the referee returns the wrestlers to their feet.) Chicken wing: A common pinning or riding hold. A wrestler will chop his opponent’s arm and work to overhook the arm. A wrestler who can hold this overhook and get his hand across his opponent’s back has established a chicken wing. Choice: In folkstyle wrestling each wrestler chooses the starting position for one period. Wrestlers start the first period from the neutral position. Prior to the second period, the referee flips a coin to determine who has first choice. The wrestler with the first choice can choose top, bottom, or neutral as the starting position, or he can defer his choice to the third period. As a point of strategy, wrestlers most commonly choose the bottom position because as wrestlers advance in skill, they feel escapes are easy to come by. Cradle: This is another pinning hold that wrestlers learn early in their careers. A wrestler who can lock his hands over his opponent’s head while squeezing the opponent’s leg to the opponent’s head has gained control of a cradle. He would be said to have “locked up a cradle.” Decision: This is a victory determined by points scored for takedowns, escapes, reversals, near falls, and in some instances such as college matches, time advantage. Default: This is the outcome of a match when one wrestler is injured and unable to wrestle or to continue wrestling. Disqualification: This is a match in which a wrestler is declared the loser because he has violated the rules. Down position: In the down position a wrestler will start with his hands in front of the starting line and his knees behind. The top wrestler will assume the control position by grasping the opponent’s elbow with one hand and the naval or midsection with the other hand. In folkstyle wrestling a wrestler can choose to start a period from the down position. If action travels out of bounds, a wrestler who is under the control of his opponent will restart action from the down position. Escape: An escape is getting away from the opponent and gaining a neutral position. Fall: The fall is the ultimate objective and occurs when one wrestler pins his opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a specified time, ending the match. Forfeit: This is the outcome of a match in which one wrestler fails to appear. Front headlock: This move is often used as a counter to an opponent’s shot (or attempt at a takedown). It involves the wrestler sprawling his legs back and trapping an opponent’s head under his chest while locking around the opponent’s arm. Once a front headlock is controlled, a wrestler will try to go behind his opponent for a takedown. Granby: A granby is a complex rolling maneuver often used from the bottom position. The wrestler rolls from the bottom position and catches control of the opponent’s arm and leg to establish control, then takes the opponent directly to his back. From the bottom position, a granby can quickly score a wrestler five points. A skilled wrestler can hit a granby as an opponent goes behind for a takedown or hit it from his feet if an opponent slips behind him. Half-nelson: This is the simplest of pinning combinations. A wrestler will reach under an opponent’s arm from behind and grab the back of the opponent’s head. He then will pry the arm up while driving into the opponent chest to chest to get near-fall points. Illegal hold: Some types of holds or techniques are illegal in wrestling. Wrestlers who use an illegal maneuver are penalized a point. Common illegal holds include a full-nelson, illegal headlocks in which the wrestler doesn’t encircle an arm, or locking hands around an opponent’s waist when the wrestler is on top or in control of his opponent. Here is a description of an illegal hold: “He would have won the match, but he ‘locked his hands’ and gave the opponent a point for the victory.” Intentional release: A wrestler who is very good at takedowns or who needs to catch up with his opponent in points may intentionally release an opponent, giving him an escape point. The wrestler then will try to score a takedown for two points, thus trading the opponent’s one point for the release for a takedown that is (hopefully) worth two points. Coaches often teach this legal tactic, known as “cutting him.” Here’s a description of its use: “My wrestler cut him and took him down for two points to win the match in the last seconds.” Leg-ride: An advanced wrestler in the top position may have learned to use his legs in a leg-ride. This is also called the grapevine position. Wrapping a leg tightly around an opponent’s leg can lead to pinning combinations such as a power half or guillotine. A leg-ride also is an effective way to ride out an opponent: “He put the legs in on him and turned him.” Major decision: This is a decision by a specified margin of points in folkstyle wrestling. Near fall: Wrestlers score near-fall points (also known as back points) by holding their opponent’s shoulders in a danger (exposed) position on the opponent’s back. Once the opponent’s shoulders break a 90-degree angle, the referee will begin to count near fall. If the referee counts to two while the shoulders are exposed, it is worth two points. If the referee counts to five while the shoulders are exposed, it is worth three points. Pin: If a wrestler can pin an opponent’s shoulder/scapula to the mat for a two count, this is a fall and the match is terminated. Pummel: A wrestler who can fight through an opponent’s arms or upper body is said to pummel into position. Pummeling is the process of establishing a tieup, such as an underhook, by digging, squeezing, and fighting for position. Reversal: Exchanging control from the bottom to the top position. Common reversals are: the switch, the granby and the stepover. Ride: A wrestler who is on top is said to be riding his opponent while working for a breakdown and turn to a pin. Late in a match a wrestler might be ahead by a point with 10 seconds left in the match. That wrestler needs to ride out the opponent and prevent him from getting an escape or reversal for one or two points. “Ride him out,” the coach would be urging from the corner. Setup: Strategies used by a wrestler to finesse his opponent out of position so that the wrestler can initiate a score. From the neutral position a wrestler might set up the opponent by popping the opponent’s arms up or dragging them across his body. Shoot or shot: When wrestlers work for a takedown, they work on attacks, also known as shots. A wrestler will shoot on his opponent in a variety of ways with different takedowns such as a sweep single, an inside-step hi-c, a low single, or an outside-step single. Sprawl: When a wrestler is shot on or attacked by his opponent, the reaction of throwing the legs back to counter the shot is a sprawl. From the sprawl wrestlers learn counterattacks such as snapping and spinning behind or locking up a front headlock to a front quarter nelson. Stalling/passivity: In a match one wrestler might consistently be trying to slow the pace of the match. This can happen when a wrestler is tired or is trying to protect a lead. The referee can warn or call a wrestler for stalling. A second stalling call earns his opponent a point. A wrestler who is called for passivity in the international styles of freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling is placed in the down position. Stance: Wrestlers begin the match in a wrestling stance. Basically there are two types of stance: a square stance, in which a wrestler’s feet are wide below the shoulders, and a stagger stance, in which one foot is place in a forward or stride position. Standup: The basic way a wrestler escapes from an opponent is a standup. To successfully escape, a wrestler must clear his arms and step out while pressuring back into the top wrestler. Once the wrestler gets to his feet, he must maintain his balance and peel his opponent’s hands off to break the lock so that he can turn and face his opponent. All of this happens while the top wrestler is aggressively working to return him to the mat. Switch: From the bottom position wrestlers can score by escaping their opponent’s grasp (worth one point) or reversing their opponent’s control (worth two points). Commonly the first reversal technique taught to wrestlers is the switch. A switch involve clearing the arms, sitting to a hip, and reaching back to the opponent’s leg to a go-behind position. Takedown: A maneuver to establish control over an opponent from an open position in which neither wrestler has control of the other. A takedown is worth two points in folkstyle wrestling. In freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, a takedown may be worth one, two, three, or five points, depending on the amplitude of the takedown. Technical fall: This is a match that ends when a certain point spread is reached. Throw: A wrestler who advances in skill can learn ways to take an opponent from his feet quickly to his back. This is known as throwing an opponent. Common throws include headlocks, bodylocks, and arm spins: “He threw him in a bodylock and stuck (pinned) him.” Tieup: From the neutral position, opponents contact each other in basic tieups. Some of the common tieups include underhooks, wrist ties, head ties, and elbow ties. Time advantage: In collegiate wrestling only, a credit for the net time one wrestler spends in control of the other. Also called riding time Whizzer: A whizzer is a counter to a shot. The wrestler wraps his arm over his opponent’s arm while he is being attacked. The wrap of the arm is known as a whizzer and is used to pull an opponent off of his attack. Comments You do not have permission to add comments.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:47:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015