Collegiate Wrestling

Collegiate Wrestling

Collegiate wrestling, like freestyle wrestling, had its origins in catch-as-catch-can wrestling but by the 20th century became distinctly American.
Also known as	Scholastic Wrestling; Folkstyle Wrestling
Focus	Grappling
Country of origin	United States
Famous practitioners	Bruce Baumgartner, Kurt Angle, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, Dolph Ziggler, Greg Jones, Anthony Robles, Jack Swagger, Shelton Benjamin, Scott Steiner, Bob Backlund, Dan Severn, Shane Carwin, Vladimir Matyushenko, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Dan Gable, Cary Kolat, Cliff Keen, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, John Smith, Robin Reed, Cael Sanderson, Ben Askren, Tommy Rowlands, Johny Hendricks, Kyle Dake, Jordan Burroughs, David Taylor
Parenthood	Catch wrestling

Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practiced in the early history of the United States. This style, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at the high school and middle school levels, and also among younger participants, where it is known as scholastic wrestling. These names help distinguish collegiate wrestling from other styles of wrestling that are practiced around the world such as those in the Olympic Games: freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Collegiate wrestling, like its international counterpart, freestyle wrestling, has its main origins in catch-as-catch-can wrestling. In both styles, the ultimate goal is to pin the opponent to the mat, which results in an immediate win. Collegiate and freestyle wrestling, unlike Greco-Roman, also both allow the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense. However, collegiate wrestling has had so many influences from the wide variety of folk wrestling styles brought into the country that it has become distinctly American.

Collegiate wrestling differs in a number of ways from freestyle and Greco-Roman. Some of the differences are listed below.

This emphasis on control was present in collegiate wrestling from its earliest days. Since 1915, collegiate wrestling officials have recorded the time that each participant had in controlling his opponent on the mat (known as "time advantage" or "riding time"). Early on, this was the major way to determine the winner in the absence of a fall. Over time, the significance of such timekeeping has declined, and now such "time advantage" only counts for one point in college competition at the most. As in both of the international styles, a wrestler can win the match by pinning both of his opponent's shoulders or both of his opponent's scapulae (shoulder blades) to the mat.