Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. The sport can either be genuinely competitive or sportive entertainment. Wrestling comes in different forms such as folkstyle, freestyle, Greco-Roman, catch, submission, judo, sambo and others. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules, with both traditional historic and modern styles. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems. The term wrestling is attested in late Old English, as wræstlunge.
Greco-Roman, Graeco-Roman, classic wrestling or French wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1904. This style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist, which is the main feature that differentiates it from freestyle wrestling. This restriction results in an emphasis on throws, because a wrestler cannot use trips to bring an opponent to the ground or hook/grab the opponent's leg to avoid being thrown.
Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the supervision of the United World Wrestling. A similar style, commonly called collegiate, is practiced in colleges and universities, secondary schools, middle schools, and among younger age groups in the United States. Where the style is not specified, this article refers to the international styles of competition on a mat. In February 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to remove the sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics onward. On 8 September 2013, the IOC announced that wrestling would return to the Summer Olympics in 2020. The rapid rise in the popularity of the combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA) has increased interest in amateur wrestling due to its effectiveness in the sport and it is considered a core discipline.
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling is conducted under different rules and is termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. American collegiate women's wrestling is conducted under freestyle rules.
David Lesley Schultz was an American Olympic and world champion freestyle wrestler, a seven-time World and Olympic Gold medalist. He coached individuals and teams at the college level and also privately.
In amateur wrestling, a technical fall, or technical superiority, is a victory condition satisfied by outscoring one's opponent by a specified number of points. It is wrestling's version of the mercy rule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as both a noun and verb.
United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrestling, including Greco-Roman wrestling, Freestyle wrestling, Grappling, for men and women, as well as others. The flagship event of UWW is the Wrestling World Championships. It was formerly known as the FILA, having assumed its current name in September 2014.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics, 20 wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were 10 weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and 10 classes in freestyle wrestling.
Wrestling competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, were held at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium from 12–21 August 2008. It was split into two disciplines, Freestyle and Greco-Roman which are further divided into different weight categories. Men competed in both disciplines whereas women only took part in the freestyle events with 18 gold medals being awarded. This was the second Olympics with women's wrestling as an event.
A pin, or fall, is a victory condition in various forms of wrestling that is met by holding an opponent's shoulders or scapulae on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time. This article deals with the pin as it is defined in amateur wrestling.
Randall Scott Lewis is an American wrestler and Olympic champion. He competed at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he won the gold medal in freestyle at featherweight. After winning three high school state titles in South Dakota, Lewis won the Junior World Freestyle Championships, pinning Hideaki Tomiyama of Japan enroute to the gold. Tomiyama would go on to win the Men's Senior World Championships the next two years, and eventually Olympic gold in 1984.
Sushil Kumar is a former Indian wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling, and the first since Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav's bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In July 2009, he received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna – India's highest honour for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Kumar handed the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles in the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. Sushil won the gold medal in the 74 kg division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
John Allan Peterson is an American wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling.
Bayaraa Naranbaatar is a male freestyle wrestler from Mongolia.
Muhammed Lawal, also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Major League Wrestling. As a mixed martial artist, he is a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion thus making him a two time world champion. He holds notable victories over Gegard Mousasi, Roger Gracie, Cheick Kongo, Rampage Jackson, Linton Vassell and Jiří Procházka.
Serafim Ivanov Barzakov is a male freestyle wrestler from Bulgaria. He participated in Men's freestyle 66 kg at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Men's freestyle 66 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Men's freestyle 63 kg at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Men's freestyle 57 kg at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Brent Metcalf is an American amateur wrestler who formerly competed in the international circuit for the United States of America.
Wilfried Dietrich was a German heavyweight wrestler. Between 1956 and 1972 he took part in five Olympics and six world championships, often entering both the freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling contests – a feat unmatched by any other wrestler. He won five Olympic and five world championship medals, becoming Olympic (1960), world (1961) and European champion (1967). Between 1955 and 1962 he won all his freestyle bouts.
The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships and is second only to the wrestling events at the Olympics. From its inception in 1898 till 1927 only Greco-Roman wrestling was contested. Since 1929 separate freestyle wrestling events were held as well. Since 1970 the two Olympic wrestling styles were contested together during the same unified events. Since 1973 Sambo wrestling was included into the championships programme along with GR and freestyle wrestling. Since 2014 associated traditional wrestling styles recognized globally by UWW were incorporated into the annual championships schedule.
Bajrang Punia is an Indian freestyle wrestler, who competes in the 65-kg weight category. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Punia won a bronze medal by defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov with a wide 8-0 margin. Punia is the only Indian wrestler to win 3 medals at the World Wrestling Championships.
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