Proposed College wrestling rule changes

[Doyablameme?]

Near fall point changes, riding time harder to attain … many more. Thoughts ?

[Jon Perkins]

Folkstyle wrestling is about being able to control your opponent and I think some of the proposed rule changes are counter intuitive to that idea. The whole concept of being able to control your opponent means that there is going to be a lot of mat wrestling and at times it is going to get boring when you have two equally matched opponents.

I don't like the idea of making a takedown worth 3-points to offset the point differential because someone can't control his opponent on the mat.

I don't like the idea of getting rid of riding time if you have not earned near-fall points. If someone can control their opponent for a significant amount of time, then they should earn an extra point. I believe this is going to lead to more stalling on the bottom man. If the bottom guy is leading the match there is no incentive to escape.

If they want to incentivize scoring, I believe all they have to do is make two small changes; 1.) Increase the number of stalling calls from the neutral position and from the top position. I couldn't tell you how many times I seen the bottom guy completely smashed in the mat and unable to move with the top guy not even attempting to turn him for a pin, but yet the bottom gets hit for stalling, or the top guy puts a leg in and just hangs on for a two minute ride out without a single attempt to pin his opponent, that is stalling and never gets called. 2.) There is no reason that the same referee who made a bad call should get to review his own bad call. In no way should the referee get to review anything. I watch a lot of wrestling, and in this last year literally seen well over a hundred challenges and you can count on one hand the amount of times that calls were overturned and still have enough fingers left over to signal for a 3-point takedown.

[mscoach57]

I don't always agree with Jon Perkins but I think his analysis is pretty spot on here. The PROPOSED changes made will not make collegiate folkstyle wrestling better. It will likely make it worse to watch. Bottom guys are going to stall with a lead. the 3 point takedown is going to discourage risk taking because it will be difficult to tie up the match with escapes. Either go to freestyle and lets have dual matches finish in 30-45 minutes with cool throws to put on espn or stick with folkstyle and encourage controlling the opponent. I would not be opposed to adding a step out point to college and high school folkstyle, it would discourage playing the edge and would add some excitement to the upperweight matches.

I am surprised that no one is talking about the rule changes which were actually APPROVED by the NCAA in January (going into effect in July).

1. Eliminating the "volunteer" coach designation and allowing teams to hire a 4th coach.
2. Eliminating standardized test scores (SAT AND ACT) from eligibility criteria.

I like #1. WVU has 3 coaches on staff. Flynn competed at 134. Moore competed at 141. Port competed at 141. Who rolls with the upper weights? Muhamed (and formerly Cody). They had the "volunteer" label. "Volunteer" has always been a misleading label as volunteer coaches are not doing it for free, they do get paid. Do they get benefits? Insurance? Retirement? A contract? The security of being there for more than an at will situation? The coaches can buy a house because if the University choose to let them go before the end of the contract then they will still get paid (in most cases), but at some schools a volunteer assistant wasn't safe signing a year lease. Changing this designation will help the sport.

#2 is exactly what we meant when we said we were going to go #2 when we were kids. The new rule is crap. The ACT and SAT are not racist. They are decent at determining college success. Sure there are exceptions to everything. We got extremely woke in America and COVID allowed some of the woke folk an opportunity to implement their plan. This is an example of dumbing down and eliminating any incentive to excel academically. I am not against technical and vocational schools, I think it makes more sense than a liberal arts degree in modern America BUT with the elimination of the SAT and ACT, the high school kid who got a 4.0 in Shop & FFA gets into College ahead of the kid who had a 2.5 with a college prep courseload.

[Jon Perkins]

I don't always agree with Jon Perkins but I think his analysis is pretty spot on here. The PROPOSED changes made will not make collegiate folkstyle wrestling better. It will likely make it worse to watch. Bottom guys are going to stall with a lead. the 3 point takedown is going to discourage risk taking because it will be difficult to tie up the match with escapes. Either go to freestyle and lets have dual matches finish in 30-45 minutes with cool throws to put on espn or stick with folkstyle and encourage controlling the opponent. I would not be opposed to adding a step out point to college and high school folkstyle, it would discourage playing the edge and would add some excitement to the upperweight matches.

I am surprised that no one is talking about the rule changes which were actually APPROVED by the NCAA in January (going into effect in July).

1. Eliminating the "volunteer" coach designation and allowing teams to hire a 4th coach.
2. Eliminating standardized test scores (SAT AND ACT) from eligibility criteria.

I like #1. WVU has 3 coaches on staff. Flynn competed at 134. Moore competed at 141. Port competed at 141. Who rolls with the upper weights? Muhamed (and formerly Cody). They had the "volunteer" label. "Volunteer" has always been a misleading label as volunteer coaches are not doing it for free, they do get paid. Do they get benefits? Insurance? Retirement? A contract? The security of being there for more than an at will situation? The coaches can buy a house because if the University choose to let them go before the end of the contract then they will still get paid (in most cases), but at some schools a volunteer assistant wasn't safe signing a year lease. Changing this designation will help the sport.

#2 is exactly what we meant when we said we were going to go #2 when we were kids. The new rule is crap. The ACT and SAT are not racist. They are decent at determining college success. Sure there are exceptions to everything. We got extremely woke in America and COVID allowed some of the woke folk an opportunity to implement their plan. This is an example of dumbing down and eliminating any incentive to excel academically. I am not against technical and vocational schools, I think it makes more sense than a liberal arts degree in modern America BUT with the elimination of the SAT and ACT, the high school kid who got a 4.0 in Shop & FFA gets into College ahead of the kid who had a 2.5 with a college prep courseload.

Are we becoming best friends? I don't necessarily think that NCAA should go to freestyle; although you are right, it would make it more marketable. However, it would make it much more difficult to find quality coaches, not all coaches know a lot about freestyle wrestling. You can in a round about way add the step out point if they would strengthen up the stalling rule, there is too much going out of bounds with an action call.

I was aware of the elimination of the Volunteer coaches but did not know about the elimination of SAT or ACT scores. My initial thought about getting rid of test scores is; who actually thought this up? Was it the "WOKE" people with dumb kids or was it the NCAA realizing some of the best athletes in the country are dumber than hammers, and if these idiot kids that can't spell ACT don't compete then they can't make any money off of them. These test scores would be very helpful in the recruiting process because it helps show the coach how big of a risk they want to take on a kid that might fail out of college in the first or second semester. Either way it is just another way of dumbing down society so everyone can participate and no one get their feelings hurt.

[Doyablameme?]

I feel certain about this : college wrestling can b tedious even for the most ardent fan ( like myself).. appealing to a less ardent fan might be key

[Jon Perkins]

One of the new rule changes that will have a positive impact is a two-hour weigh-in across the board. The current rule is a two-hour weigh in for tournaments and a one-hour weigh in for dual matches. The new rule will instate a two-hour weigh in for dual meets. This will help those guys who struggle more than others with their weight cut.

[armyscot0873]

I cant believe Bearhugger hasnt commented about his biggest gripe, medical forfeits. The proposed rule change would make medical forfeits count against a wrestler's record. That is huge and I think would mean a lot less tournaments in the early season. If those forfeits count against the record you will see a lot of the top guys not wrestle in tournaments.

[mscoach4]

Do the proposed changes include-no riding time point awarded when a stall warning, or stall points awarded during the minute of accrued time,,, if not they missed an opportunity to right a wrong