First time watching Olympic wrestling? It’s different. Here’s a guide to explain it

Avid fans understand wrestling in the Olympics is different from the type of wrestling that goes on inside high school and college gyms.

But casual fans might not understand how different.

Although 21 Penn State-affiliated wrestlers will take part in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday and Saturday, their matches won’t look like anything from the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

There are a few reasons for that. First of all, there are three types of wrestling — folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman — and folkstyle is used on the college level. The other two are used on the Olympic level, with most Penn State wrestlers choosing to compete in freestyle.

Weight classes are also going to be different. Weights are in kilograms as opposed to pounds, and there aren’t as many weight classes as NCAA wrestling either. There are just six Olympic weights: 57 KG (125 pounds), 65 KG (143), 74 KG (163), 86 KG (189), 97 KG (213) and 125 KG (275).

Here’s a comparison of the three wrestling styles:

Folkstyle

Overview: There aren’t as many scoring opportunities, which makes it simple to follow if someone is new to the sport. It’s easier to be aggressive when it comes to scoring points, and this is the style most familiar to fans since it’s used on the high school and college levels.

Match length: Consists of three periods. For high school, six minutes; two minutes per period. For college, seven minutes; three minutes in first period and two minutes for the final two periods.

Scoring: Takedowns — taking wrestler down to the mat while in control (2 points in high school, 3 points in college); Nearfall points — holding an opponent on their back with their shoulders at a 45-degree angle for a 2-, 3-, or 5-second count (2 points in high school/college, 3 points in high school/college, 4 points in college); Reversal — going from the bottom to the top position while maintaining control (2 points); Escape — getting out of control from wrestler who recorded a takedown (1 point); Riding time (college only) — one wrestler accumulates more than 1 minute of control time on another opponent (1 point added at end of the match if not completed by pin or technical fall).

Match completion: Decision — winning by 7 points or fewer for the entire match; Major Decision — winning by 8 points or more for the entire match; Pin/Fall — one wrestler puts both shoulders of the other flat on the mat, ending the match at that point; Technical fall — winning by 15 points or more, ending the match as soon as that is achieved (could occur right at the end of the match)

Freestyle

Overview: This is widely considered to be the most “fun” of the three styles due to the throws involved. However, wrestlers have to be technical because one wrong move could have them giving up points as opposed to scoring points.

Match length: Consists of two periods with a 30-second break between them. Six minutes in length with each period being three minutes apiece.

Scoring: Par Terre Throw — Par Terre is a position where one wrestler is flat on their belly on the mat with all arms and legs outstretched. If the top wrestler is able to lift that wrestler off the ground and throws them to their back, it’s a scoring move (5 points); Throws — it’s exactly as it sounds; one wrestler while maintaining control lifts the opposing wrestler off the ground and straight to their back. Commonly referred to as feet-to-back. (4 points). If the throw results in the thrown wrestler landing straight on their shoulders, it’s more points (5 points); Takedowns — taking wrestler down to the mat while in control with three points of contact on the mat. Points of contact consists of two arms/hands and one knee or two knees and one arm/hand, head or elbow (2 points); Exposure points — like nearfall in folkstyle but there does not need to be a count involved. As long as a wrestler’s shoulders are less than 90 degrees, points are scored. These can be scored by either the attacking or defending wrestler (2 points); Reversal — same as folkstyle (1 point); Step out/Push out point — If a wrestler steps out of bounds while in a standing position, a point is scored (1 point); Passivity point — If a wrestler is not considered to be attacking or trying to score points, they are warned first. If nothing after warning, wrestler goes on 30-second shot clock (forced to try and score points). If they don’t score in that 30 seconds, opponent awarded a point (1 point); Failed challenges — wrestlers’ coaches are allowed to challenge calls, but if the challenge fails, the opposing wrestler is awarded a point (1 point).

Match completion: Decision — winning by 9 points or fewer for the entire match. One item to note here is that a score could be tied at the end of the match, so whichever wrestler had the highest scored attempt would be the winner. If each wrestler has the same highest scored attempt, it would be whichever wrestler scored that attempt first as the winner; Pin/Fall — one wrestler puts both shoulders of the other flat on the mat ending the match at that point; Technical superiority — winning by 10 points or more, ending the match as soon as that is achieved (could occur right at the end of the match).

Greco-Roman

Overview: This is the oldest of all the styles of wrestling. To most, this style is the most boring because wrestlers are unable to attack below the waist. A lot of the times, scoring in Greco-Roman is all about having the better positioning and better upper body strength.

Match length: Same as freestyle.

Scoring: Same as freestyle.

Match completion: Same as freestyle. However, to win by technical superiority, a wrestler only has to win by 8 points or more.