Wrestling Tips for the Fan

Like any sport, wrestling is confusing to watch if you never participated in competitive wrestling yourself. Here are a few things you can do to learn more about the sport.

1. Understand what type of wrestling that you're trying to learn about. Our tips ARE for the following: youth, high school, and college. These levels all follow folk-style (also called "collegiate") wrestling. These tips are NOT for pro-wrestling or international wrestling (Greco-Roman or Freestyle).

2. Read about the sport. Here are a few sites you should visit to learn more about the sport:
SportSpectator Fan's Guide to Folkstyle Wrestling: Our 10-minute guide to the game.
Wikipedia: Good wiki community writeup on the sport.
Technique analysis: Once you understand the basic principles from the articles above, you may wish to visit this page to see specific moves.

3. Watch a match with a player (current or former). At high school matches, there are usually multiple levels (frosh soph, j.v., varsity) that compete on the same day. Come early or stay late and watch the game with someone who can answer your questions. Also, at tournaments, there is plenty of time to watch games with coaches or players. Watch a competitor's game while you have a break.

4. Watch a televised match. Watching a match with the professional commentators will help you pick up the lingo. Here is a great free resource:
CSTV: College sports TV (CSTV) has free online clips of college wrestling. If the page doesn't load, visit CSTV.com and click on the "highlights" or "video" tab and sort by wrestling.

5. Ask questions. If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask. Good resources are coaches or players. Ask someone in person, or contact us and we'll try to help you out. You can also visit Themat.com forums, which has an amazing community of wrestling coaches, referees, and players who will be more than happy to answer any of your questions. On your first visit to the site, you'll need to create a free account by clicking on "Get Passport Account."