Collegiate Wrestling - Victory Conditions

Victory Conditions

A match can be won in the following ways:

• Win by fall: The object of the entire wrestling match is to attain victory by what is known as the fall. A fall, also known as a pin, occurs when one wrestler holds any part of both of his opponent's shoulders or both of his opponent's scapulae (shoulder blades) in continuous contact with the mat for one second at the college level. The fall ends the match immediately, and the offensive wrestler who secured the fall is declared the winner. Falls (or pins) can be attained in many different ways. The most common way of securing the fall is through the various nelson holds, in particular, the half nelson. Other techniques used to secure falls are cradles, the headlock (head and arm), single or double armbars (bar arms), the "back bow" and the leg Turk, the reverse body lock, the guillotine, the leg split (also known as the banana split or spread eagle), the spladle, the figure-4 to the head, the straight body scissors, and the double grapevine (also called the Saturday night ride).

• Win by technical fall: If a fall is not secured to end the match, a wrestler can win a match simply by points. If a wrestler can secure an advantage of 15 points over an opponent, then the wrestler can win the match by technical fall. A technical fall is very likely when one wrestler has great control over the other wrestler and is able to score near fall points repeatedly. If the 15-point advantage is gained while the offensive wrestler has his opponent in a pinning situation, the match would continue to allow the offensive wrestler to secure the fall. If the offensive wrestler is unable to secure a fall, the match ends once a near fall situation is no longer seen by the referee or when the wrestlers return to the neutral position.

• Win by major decision: If no fall or technical fall occurs, a wrestler can also win simply by points. If the match concludes, and a wrestler has a margin of victory of eight or more points over an opponent, but under the 15 points needed for a technical fall, the win is known as a major decision.

• Win by decision: If the match concludes, and a wrestler has a margin of victory of less than eight points over an opponent, or wins the first point in a sudden victory period in overtime without gaining a fall, default, or a win by an opponent's disqualification, the wrestler then wins by decision.

• Win by default: If for any reason, a wrestler is unable to continue competing during the match (e.g. because of injury, illness, etc.), his opponent is awarded victory by default. A wrestler can concede a win by default to his opponent by informing the referee himself of his inability to continue wrestling. The decision to concede the win by default can also be made by the wrestler's coach.

• Win by disqualification: If a wrestler is banned from participating further in a match by virtue of acquiring penalties or for flagrant misconduct, his opponent wins by disqualification.

• Win by forfeit: A wrestler also may gain a victory by forfeit when the other wrestler for some reason fails to appear for the match. In a tournament, the wrestler could also win by a medical forfeit if for some reason his opponent becomes ill or injured during the course of the tournament and decides not to continue wrestling. For a wrestler to win by forfeit or medical forfeit however, he must appear on the mat in a wrestling uniform. The existence of the forfeit condition encourages teams to have at least one varsity (and one junior varsity) competitor at every weight class. The wrestler who declared the medical forfeit is excused from further weigh-ins but is eliminated from further competition.