Story by I70sports.com’s Jacob Stewart–
The NFHS has approved fundamental changes to the sport of wrestling starting in the 2024-25 high school season. The rule changes will affect how takedowns are scored, how near fall situations are scored, and how out of bounds situations are officiated.
Previously, the out of bounds rule required 2 supporting points (hand, foot, knee, elbow, etc.) from either wrestler to be inside the circle on the edge of the mat. Once the 2 supporting points were gone then action is blown dead and brought back to center. With the new rule change, only 1 supporting point from either wrestler needs to be in bounds to maintain action. This brings it up to par with the out of bounds rules the NCAA use.
Near fall situations will look drastically different as well. Before, there were 2 point values awarded to a near fall situation (holding your opponent’s back to the mat), 2 points for 2 seconds with 3 points being awarded for holding it for 5 seconds. The rule change will get rid of the 5 count and help simplify the situation based on how long the wrestler in control can hold their opponent on their back. The change in rule 5-11-3 is as follows:
Two points will be awarded when near-fall criteria are held for two seconds, three points for three seconds, four points for four seconds and five points if the defensive wrestler is injured, indicates an injury or bleeding occurs after the four-point near-fall has been earned.
Takedowns will also see a change this season. They will now be worth 3 match points, up from 2 points historically. This change was enacted with great success at the NCAA level last season.
Comments