The Mother’s Guide to High School Wrestling

By: Joe Norton

Introduction

The first thing you need to know about this whole thing is that there is a difference between high school and professional wrestling. In the pros, the fat guys who scream and grimace and yell at the referee are the wrestlers; in high school, those are the coaches. The wrestlers are the muscular young men and women wearing the strange underwear and plastic ear muffs.

The purpose of this writing is to introduce high school wrestling to mothers who have no experience with it. We thought about making it for fathers, too, but we realized that no self-respecting American male would admit ignorance of any athletic event. Once you have learned the basics of the sport it will be your responsibility to teach it to your husband without making him aware that you know more than he does. In other words, treat this just like everything else.

To those of you already acquainted with the sport, much of this information will be unnecessary. If that is the case, congratulations on being an old pro; we hope you will help the newcomers by sitting with them at the meets and explaining things to them.

To those of you who don’t know why your kid would want to wrestle, much less why you are letting them; read on. While not exhaustive, the following information should make your initiation into the sport a little easier.

Scoring

The scoring system in high school wrestling was invented by the same people who invented calculus. However, this was one of their earlier attempts at confusing the public, so the concept can eventually be learned.

Actually, it’s not as complicated as it looks. There are three types of scoring. First, each match between individual wrestlers is scored. Next, team scores in duals are computed based upon the results of the individual matches, and then team score for tournaments (resembles a more advanced form of calculus).

An individual match is scored as follows:

Takedown 2

Two second near fall 2

Five second near fall 3 or 4

Reverse 2

Escape 1

Penalty 1 or 2

The referee will indicate to the scorekeeper each time points are awarded, and after a few matches you can usually tell what the points are for. As to the difference in the two types of near fall, penalties and other vagaries, these are some of the mysteries of wrestling, and you can only solve the puzzle by going to matches and asking the old veterans (parents of seniors). You can spot these people by their flat rear ends from sitting on bleachers.

In a dual meet, team scoring is as follows:

Default 6

Pin 6

15 or more point difference 5

8-14 point difference 4

7 or less point difference 3

From this foregoing, you can see why it is often important in a meet that a wrestler continues to try and score, even if they are way behind in the match. Very often a meet will be determined by a margin of one or two points, so narrowing the point differential can sometimes be as important as a win (only a mother would buy this, but it is some comfort if your athlete gets beaten by fewer than eight points).

Injuries

Unlike the professional version, high school wrestling is a very safe sport. Oh sure, mom, that’s your baby with their arm pulled between their legs, then over the shoulder and finally across their throat. But they are about to score a reverse (see section of scoring) and get a near fall (see scoring section again) so don’t be concerned.

Seriously, the more you watch wrestling, the more you will become aware of how few injuries you see. It is a contact sport, but it is not a collision sport and as a result, the hurts really are minor. Equally important, participants are matched by size, so the matches are fair. Finally, the referees control the match closely and will not allow holds or moves which are likely to cause serious injuries.

So when you gladiator comes home with a fat lip, skinned chin and black eye, remember, they’re not really hurt. And also remember, this is as much as they are likely to suffer.

Weight

There is a mistaken belief that all wrestlers starve themselves so that they can qualify for a lower weight class. This is not true—only about half the wrestlers do this. The other half eat like pigs and still can’t gain weight. If you watch the athletes at a meet, you cannot tell which is which, because they all eat like pigs. That is because they weigh-in before the match and can gain all they want thereafter.

The decision as to whether a wrestler is going to lose weight is left up to them and their parents. The coaches do not make athletes lose weight, and if your wrestler says they do, beat them until they admit they are lying because they want to whip up on a smaller kid.

The weight classes for Kansas wrestlers are as follows: 103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, and 275. These weight classes are currently what are being used, and are subject to change from time to time. Also, there is in Kansas a 2 pound weight allowance sometime in January. All wrestlers must certify at a weight class before the 2 pound allowance date; that is unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Support

Wrestling is a good spectator sports and if you give it a try you will come to enjoy the matches. After a few times out you will start to understand what is going on and will get to know all the wrestlers on the team. It is very important for the athletes to feel that their families are behind them, because it gives them strength when their faces are buried in their opponent’s arm pit.

Your enjoyment of the matches will be enhanced if you start to feel that you are a part of the team from the start. With that in mind, we want to encourage you to cheer lustily and we offer several pointers.

At the start of the match, you can only yell general comments, such as “Go get them, honey” or “Don’t get hurt, sweetheart.” But as soon as both wrestlers fall to the mat, you can really get into it. At first, yell “Get your head up” or “Get your head down.” It does not seem to matter much which of these you yell, as the terms seem to be used interchangeably.

If your wrestler gets on top, yell “Drive him/her” or “Squeeze.” If they are on bottom, yell “Bridge” or “Back door.” After a while you will realize that only a few people know the difference in these terms and the wrestlers can’t hear anything anyway. However, it will make you feel good, so let’er rip.

General Tips

· Take something to read

· Take a seat cushion

· Find out immediately where the bathrooms are

· Learn the names of the wrestlers on the team

· Bring a camera (in case your wrestler gets on top)

· Bring dark glasses (in case they don’t)

· Don’t hug your kid until they are done sweating

Conclusion

We hope you will get some useful information from this brochure, and that it will enhance your enjoyment of the wrestling season. We have tried to bring a little humor into our explanation, not because we don’t our kids and their activities seriously, but because we want to emphasize that this is supposed to be fun. If it isn’t fun for you or your wrestler, please talk to the coaches and give them a chance to correct the problem.

We want to leave all of you mothers with a final thought, based upon a complaint we have heard from so many of you over the years. Don’t be alarmed, gyms are supposed to smell that way.

*Joe Norton was a wrestling parent at Olathe North High School