Proposed changes to NCAA wrestling rules

Tom McAndrew

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Oct 27, 2021
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for the 2023-24 season are below. They include:

- a 3-pt TD
- elimination of hand touch to mat by a defensive wrestler to be a TD
- changing NF from 2 & 4 to 3 & 4
- tweaking riding time to only award 1 point if the person that has accumulated 1 min of riding time also gets a NF against their opponent
- tweaking the video review process
- a MF in a tournament would count as a loss
- etc. (read the article)

 
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cb1994

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Wow these are a HUGE shift and I think a pretty positive one? Surprising for the NCAA

I specifically like the “requirement” to work for a turn / pin when on top. I think that will do more than anything if guys are getting stall calls quickly on top.

Interesting wording on the 5 second count for any ankle grasping. I would hope they modify that to exclude any bow and arrow maneuvers for the sake of future would be inflictors of pain in our lineup.

overall some great thoughts here!
 
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GregPickel

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Heck of a quote from the North Carolina coach and rules committee member Coleman Scott in the Flo article linked below:

“Top wrestling has become more riding than turning in general, and I think that’s really hurting our sport in the sense of viewership and watching,” he said. “We needed to figure something out with how to create more points, more action and guys to be excited to go score more points.

“We’re tired of watching boring wrestling for six minutes and me just laying on top of you to win 2-1. That’s not possible now. And we’re going to take that away. That was sort of the mindset. That stall ride, the hustle ride, I’m going to figure out how to hold on to get my minute and win 2-1, we want to eliminate that.”

 
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Gronky

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Being forced to shoot, turn guys & actually score continously points vs clinging to a narrow lead will be wonderful to see. Reward agression & penalize pacificity. Pretty simple concept.
 

El_Jefe

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Oct 11, 2021
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Heck of a quote from the North Carolina coach and rules committee member Coleman Scott in the Flo article linked below:

“Top wrestling has become more riding than turning in general, and I think that’s really hurting our sport in the sense of viewership and watching,” he said. “We needed to figure something out with how to create more points, more action and guys to be excited to go score more points.

“We’re tired of watching boring wrestling for six minutes and me just laying on top of you to win 2-1. That’s not possible now. And we’re going to take that away. That was sort of the mindset. That stall ride, the hustle ride, I’m going to figure out how to hold on to get my minute and win 2-1, we want to eliminate that.”

He's not wrong.

Just wish they had gone one step further, and either ditched the 30-sec stall-out periods or extended them to 1 min each to prevent the blatant OT top stalling.
 

GregPickel

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He's not wrong.

Just wish they had gone one step further, and either ditched the 30-sec stall-out periods or extended them to 1 min each to prevent the blatant OT top stalling.
Agree with that. Actually both points. Long overdue in my opinion to force the action since what they’ve done to force it hasn’t had the result many desire.

I also know many hate change. But I like this.
 
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Gronky

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Too many scoreless 1st periods as well. Not sure what could be done about the "feeling each other out" phase which sometimes seems to last 4-5 minutes of the match?!? Not sure how to incentivize shooting with higher frequency, or in some cases, at all? I guess more neutral stalling calls for those blocking & not shooting?
 

cb1994

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Another note with 3 pt TDs, that makes 7 straight TDs a TF vs 14 currently. Overall average match length for PSU is about to plummet. A guy like RBY would never wrestle past 3 minutes.
 
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GregPickel

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Another note with 3 pt TDs, that makes 7 straight TDs a TF vs 14 currently. Overall average match length for PSU is about to plummet. A guy like RBY would never wrestle past 3 minutes.
Ha, I didn't think about that, but it's a very good point. And, most of them were already fast to begin with!
 
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WV lion

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To be fair, there were several guys on the team that would lace the leg and make no real attempt to turn the guy. That being said, in most of those matches, our guy got the initial TD and probably should have let them up and went for more.
 
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Say hello to the 4 TD Major, and a LOT of catch and release.

I don't like it, but if anything it favors PSU the most. What's our TD vs Opponent ratio over the past decade?

No more 9 takedown 2 NF 9 free release 20-9 major decisions which is a good thing, but on balance I believe there will be unintended consequences, the most prominent if which, is the incremental evolutionary crawl towards freestyle. Mat wrestling on top and bottom is the backbone of folkstyle. Be careful what you wish for.
 

Gronky

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I'm not sure about some of the rule proposals, but I do like the riding time point linked to having turned your opponent. My understanding, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that expectation (rule) on top, is that you must seek to to control your opponent & continue to attempt to turn/seek out back points. While most wrestlers these days seek to stay on top, I see very few who are actively trying to turn their opponents & score-for the entirety of their ride. Securing the riding point has become a strategic ploy to lessen the need to be aggressive. Hold on for a minute & get rewarded. Would more aggressive/frequent stalling calls (of both top & bottom wrestlers) have a similar effect?
 

manatree

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Oct 6, 2021
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Securing the riding point has become a strategic ploy to lessen the need to be aggressive. Hold on for a minute & get rewarded. Would more aggressive/frequent stalling calls (of both top & bottom wrestlers) have a similar effect?
It’s always been that way. I’ve never liked riding time and in my opinion, the only way to improve it is to get rid of it.
 
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