USA Wrestling Olympic Trials Preview

The Penn State Wrestling team is simply too good to contain in just the NCAA season. As Nittany Lion fans, we have the unique privilege of rooting for our favorite past and current college wrestlers at the highest levels on earth. Just think if there was an NFL team that played at Beaver Stadium. That’s what the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club brings to Penn State Wrestling Fans, and this weekend brings us the ultimate showcase: The nation’s very best Freestyle (men & women) and Greco Roman wrestlers will compete in the Bryce Jordan Center to appoint a champion to rep Team USA in the Paris Olympic Games this summer. And quite a few lions will see significant action.

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USA Wrestling

Brackets and Mat assignments can be found on Trackwrestling.com

What’s the deal with Olympic Styles?

The uniquely American style of wrestling you see when Cael’s guys put on the blue & white singlets is known as Folkstyle wrestling. Folkstyle is known for its emphasis on control–if you get taken down, you have to figure out how to escape or reverse. To score back points, you have to put your opponent on his back and hold him there.

When you go up to the world stage, there are two styles that dominate: Freestyle, and Greco Roman. I’m not going into detail on Greco Roman, but it is very popular in many countries. The big difference in Greco is that there are by definition no attacks below the body–everything is set up with upper-body tie-ups and throws. In practice, Greco can seem like a lot of hand-fighting, and maybe a little lack of action–until there is a tremendous amount of action, featuring big throws and the like. I’m always fascinated by Greco, even if I still struggle to understand the nuances.

Quick Note: It pains me to not mention the women Freestylers—some of my favorite wrestlers are among the US women (Sarah Hildebrandt has the best slide-by in the game, Kennedy Blades is an athletic freak, and youngster Amit Elor may very well be the best P4P wrestler walking this planet)—but we have minimal PSU connections to them, so I’ll save my analysis for another time. We do have one woman who trains with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and sits in the semifinals for a US Olympic Slot at 62Kg, Jennifer Page.

Freestyle Rules, for Folkstyle Fans

Freestyle, on the other hand, has a good bit in common with Folkstyle, but there are also significant differences that can drive a Folkstyle fan a bit crazy. Consider this a guide on some of those differences, so you are prepared for what you might see.

Basics

Freestyle is often distinguished from Folkstyle by a common saying that while Folkstyle is about control, Freestyle is about technique. I always found that a bit of a stretch–there is plenty of both in both styles–but it is somewhat illustrative of the motivations behind the rule-making. Freestyle has evolved quite a bit in recent decades, and is right now magnitudes of order better than it was in the 1990s–the rules have evolved to encourage action, and largely that effort has been successful.

Officiating

In Olympic styles, in addition to the familiar ref you see on the mat, there are two more officials (a judge, and a mat chairman) sitting at a table mat-side. If the referee and the judge disagree on a call, the mat chairman gets the final word. A few calls (such as falls) must be confirmed by the mat chairman. In general, this reffing-by-committee can limit bad calls–though in practice it can delay things like falls as well. Just be aware that if you see the referee indicate a score, it may wind up being overruled (by raising white-paddle instead of a color-coded score value) at the table.

Match Structure

Senior-level Freestyle matches have two 3-minute periods with a 30-second break in-between for coaching, breath-taking, and sometimes, exquisite towel-work by coaches to cool/dry off the competitors. There is no overtime (see criteria below). A match is terminated early for a fall (“controlled compression of the shoulder/scapulae simultaneously”), a technical fall (10 point margin), or disqualification (3 cautions for rule-breaking, flagrant misconduct, exhaustion of blood/injury time, etc).

Scoring

Takedowns

Takedowns are very similar to Folkstyle takedowns–certain positions are ruled differently (eg in Freestyle, you can stand with both hands on the mat, and not concede a takedown until a 3rd point of contact touches the mat, such as your knee). Like in Folkstyle until last year, takedowns are 2 points. One big difference is that after securing a takedown, you are afforded a limited amount of time to try and score exposure points from the top position (called par terre)—if you can’t, the whistle blows, and both wrestlers return to their feet. One neat thing in Freestyle is that takedown attempts that started in bounds are allowed to finish completely out of bounds.

Reversals

There are reversals in Freestyle, though with time limited, they are somewhat rare. They are worth 1 point. There are no escapes in Freestyle.

Exposure

In place of Folkstyle’s nearfall, Freestyle fundamentally shifts focus to momentarily making your opponent’s back in “danger” which is just 90 degrees. This is a big difference from Folkstyle, where you have to control your opponent, holding their back past 45 degrees for a period of seconds to score. But in Freestyle, every time you put your opponent in danger, it scores 2 points. You can maintain the same hold and “roll” your opponent repeatedly, and score 2 points each time their back breaks 90 degrees. This–when combined with a 10 point tech fall– can end matches quickly. It also perhaps best illustrates that saying that “Freestyle is about technique instead of control.” For a Folkstyle fan, it can be hard to understand–to me, you gotta realize that these athletes train like crazy to both create and avoid these situations. If it happens, it’s because an athlete is performing a hard thing against the wishes of another. This dynamic also dramatically changes bottom-position strategy. Wrestlers are allowed to and do lie flat, with their arms and legs in a star-shape, to limit the leverage needed to score exposure.

There are 2 other scores related to exposure, taking a wrestler from their feet directly to danger results in 4 points, and doing so with “grand amplitude” (any action or hold by the offensive wrestler from a standing position that causes his or her opponent to lose contact with the mat, makes him or her describe a broadly sweeping curve (vertical line) in the air and brings them to the mat.) results in 5 points (and is one of the scintillating sights in wrestling of any style). I wish right now I could show you the amazing footage I took of Kyle Dake (known for his 4 and 5 point moves) explaining these to you–but alas, the technical difficulty gods got one on me.

Step Out Point

This one is simple. If you step out of bounds, your opponent gets 1 point. Critics say this can lead to “pushing matches,” but the rules do clarify that if you push your opponent out of bounds with straight arms, it shouldn’t be scored. The idea behind the rule is to keep people engaged in the action. Freestyle and Folkstyle both have matches that can get boring for spectators, but this rule creates pressure when action drifts to the edge, which can often lead to action. Because the Freestyle mat is a bit smaller than a college Folkstyle mat, it really focuses the wrestlers–most of the time. One other subtlety: if you are “grounded” (your legs/body are on the mat), a step-out won’t be called.

Passivity

It can be easy to think that Passivity is the same thing as stalling in Folkstyle–but it’s actually different in important ways. First, by rule, if a match is scoreless after about a minute of wrestling, officials will call one of the two wrestlers for passivity, and shortly after, follow that up with a 2nd call, putting them on a 30-second clock to score, or concede 1 point. This pattern can also repeat in the 2nd period if there continues to be no scoring. But what is considered passive by officials is also pretty different than Folkstyle wrestling. Officials look to see which wrestler is holding center, and rewards that. They also see fakes and shots from space (which is generally thought of favorably by Folkstyle refs) as passive wrestling–they prefer to see tie-ups and pressure-forward.

Criteria

Folkstyle has criteria, in a way—with riding time, and moreso to decide tied dual meets. But Freestyle takes things a bit further, in that there is never overtime. Except for early scoreless bouts, one wrestler is always winning the match, even when the score is tied. This wrestler is noted with an underline under his score on the scoreboard. Who has criteria is determined, in order by: highest scoring move, least cautions for rule violations, most recent point(s) scored. Keeping track of this can be tough for Freestyle fan novices—but rest assured that the competitors are typically keenly aware of who is winning/losing at any given time, and in the end, I think it works pretty well.

Weight Classes & Brackets

While the annual Freestyle World Championships boasts 10 weight classes (like Folkstyle), a stipulation of wrestling’s return to the Olympics after a brief removal (that story needs another article) was the reduction of weight classes to just 6. This makes for some very tough brackets in this tournament, and some extremely elite wrestlers (e.g. reigning world champion at 70Kg Zain Retherford) having to compete at a non-optimal weight 65Kg. It stinks, but these are the weight classes, and those with Nittany Lion affiliations who are competing:

57Kg (125.7lbs)*

Nico Megaludis (Penn State Alumn), Luke Lilledahl (Penn State Commit), Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion Wrestling Club–NLWC)

And a bracket based on pre-seeds:

My Pick: As a Lion, I hate to say it, but I think Spencer Lee is the best in this weight class, health permitting, and he squeaks by Thomas Gilman in 3 matches.

65Kg (143.3lbs)*

Beau Bartlett (Penn State, NLWC), Nick Lee (Penn State Alumn, NLWC), Zain Retherford (Penn State Alumn, NLWC – In semifinals by virtue of his 2023 World Gold Medal at 70Kg)

My Pick: One last dance for Zain Retherford before he commits to his new career in finance, beating Freestyle phenom Andrew Alirez in 2 matches.

74Kg (163.1lbs)

Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State, NLWC), Alex Facundo (Penn State, NLWC), Levi Haines (Penn State, NLWC), Jason Nolf (Penn State Alumn, NLWC), Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State Alumn), Kyle Dake (NLWC – In best-of-three finals by virtue of his 2023 World Silver Medal at this weight).
Note that this bracket will be re-drawn as Keegan O-Toole had to withdraw due to injury.

My Pick: Kyle Dake is one of the very best in the world at this weight class, and in spite of very recently losing his father, I think he gets it done against a much improved and hungry Jason Nolf in 3 matches.

86Kg (189.6lbs)

Aaron Brooks (Penn State, NLWC), Carter Starocci (Penn State, NLWC), Max Dean (Penn State Alumn, NLWC), Mark Hall (Penn State Alumn), Connor Mirasola (Penn State Commit), David Taylor (Penn State Alumn, NLWC – In best-of-three finals by virtue of his 2023 World Gold Medal at this weight)

My Pick: How do you pick against the reigning 3-time World and 1-time Olympic champ David Taylor? I’m not sure, but my gut is telling me Aaron Brooks takes it, so that’s my pick in 3 matches over DT. I won’t be sad or surprised if the result is flipped though.

97Kg (213.8lbs)

Kyle Snyder (NLWC – In best-of-three finals by virtue of his 2023 World Bronze Medal at this weight)

My Pick: Kyle Snyder beats J’den Cox in 2 matches.

125Kg (275.6lbs)

Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State, NLWC)

My Pick: Greg Kerkvliet shows how much he’s improved in beating World Bronze Medalist Mason Parris in 3 Matches.

*The winner of Olympic Trials at 57Kg & 65Kg will have to take third place or better at the Last Chance Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey on May 9-10 to punch his ticket to Paris. To limit the size of the brackets, the IOC limits the number of competitors in each weight class, and Team USA has not placed high enough at 2023 Worlds, nor at the Pan American Qualifier to be qualified.

This has hardly been a comprehensive coverage of Freestyle (I recommend USA Wrestling’s publication on the topic for more depth) or a major preview of this tournament–but I think it highlights the most-jarring differences between the two styles, and I hope, puts you in good position to enjoy this weekend’s showcase of one of the very toughest wrestling tournaments in the world. I personally have never been more excited to attend a sporting event!