Takedown Report

NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee Proposes Massive Changes

The NCAA wrestling rules committee recommended some ground-shaking proposals this week in Indianapolis.

College wrestling is on the verge of monumental change. 

If NCAA rules committee proposals pass, three-point takedowns will be in, three-point near-falls will be back and a riding-time point without a turn will be a thing of the past. 

Those were three of the headline-grabbers from a groundbreaking rules committee meeting this week at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. 

The committee also recommended eliminating the hand-touch takedown, adjusting video review to allow for sequences to be reviewed rather than just singular moves, and counting the first medical forfeit of a tournament as a loss on a wrestler’s record, except in instances where a medical forfeit immediately follows an injury default. 

“We needed to add excitement back to the sport without compromising the integrity of the sport — and I think we did that,” Rider coach and NCAA rules committee chair John Hangey said.

“We’re either going to be loved or hated or remembered as the worst or the best rules committee in history. But we felt we were taking wrestling from where it is to where we want it to be.” 

College coaches will have a two-week period to review the proposals and submit feedback before the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets June 8 to discuss the recommendations. If they pass, next season will usher in a historic period of change for the sport. 

“We felt we needed to make a change right now and felt it was a crucial time,” North Carolina coach and rules committee member Coleman Scott said. “Viewership was down for the NCAA tournament with probably some of the best storylines we’ve ever had all in one year, so we’ve got to be conscious of that to make sure the product we’re putting out is the best to build our sport and our viewership. Some of that can be dictated by the rules.”

The two-point takedown and riding-time points have been woven into college wrestling’s fabric for decades, but one could be on the way out and the threshold for the other could be drastically different next season. In an effort to increase scoring and action, the rules committee voted to increase the value of a takedown to three points and also moved to require wrestlers to score near-fall points in order to secure a point for accruing a minute or more of riding time. 

The three-point takedown had been a discussion piece in recent years but hadn’t generated much traction. But with national tournament match points down 19 percent since 2019 and takedowns down almost 17 percent during the same time frame, the rules committee made a three-pronged move to jumpstart action, risk-taking and scoring. 

“We’ve got to incentivize,” Scott said. “We talked about 50 different scenarios in a match. Three takedowns in a first period, opponent gets three escapes, escapes again in the second period and then takes you down and it’s a 6-6 match and it’s three takedowns to one. Should that be where it’s at? That’s a lot of effort. It’s hard to take down somebody three times — a high-level guy. If we redid it with three-point takedowns, you’re looking at 9-7.

“It puts an emphasis on risk and we need more risk. If you look at the numbers statistically, takedowns have gone down, backpoints have gone down, tech falls have gone down. Everything has decreased in the last 10 years in our numbers, so we’ve got to figure out how to create more action, more points, more opportunities.” 

The most impactful change might be the new riding time caveat. … rest of story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/10889313-ncaa-rules-committee-proposes-massive-changes

April 29, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized