Wrestling 9781422284308, 9781422234686

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INSIDE THE WORLD OF SPORTS AUTO RACING BASEBALL BASKETBALL EXTREME SPORTS FOOTBALL GOLF GYMNASTICS ICE HOCKEY LACROSSE SOCCER TENNIS TRACK & FIELD WRESTLING 2

by Andrew Luke

mason crest

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Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll free)

Copyright © 2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. First printing 987654321 ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-3468-6 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-3455-6 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-8430-8 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress

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CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8

Wrestling’s Greatest Moments ................... 6 The History of Wrestling .......................... 16 The Rules of Wrestling: Greco-Roman ...... 24 The Rules of Wrestling: Freestyle ............. 30 American Wrestling ................................. 36 Modern-Day Stars.................................... 42 Wrestling’s Greatest Athletes................... 52 The Future of Wrestling ........................... 64 Glossary of Wrestling Terms..................... 70

Chronology.............................................. 74 Further Reading, Video Credits, & Internet Resources................................ 76 Index....................................................... 78

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In America, the ancient sport of wrestling evolved from the freestyle version commonly practiced by Native American tribes to the folkstyle version unique to modern American scholastic wrestling. On the international stage, American wrestlers have experienced great success in freestyle, with more limited success in the sport's other main version, Greco-Roman wrestling.

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CHAPTER WRESTLING’S GREATEST MOMENTS Wrestling has been a part of the sports culture in America dating back to Colonial times. Its history in the old world dates back for thousands of years to ancient Greece and beyond. For a sport that has endured so long, the 21st century has been a challenging one, especially in the United States. At the high school level, wrestling is still reasonably popular as a competitive sport. While not at a level with the top sports of football, basketball, or track and field in terms of number of kids who play, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations, wrestling still managed to grow by 5 percent in terms of total number of participants from 2006 to 2013. Football, basketball, and baseball all declined in growth in this period. However modest, growth of any kind is a good sign for the sport. That is why there is concern at the college level. In 1981, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had 146 Division I wrestling programs. By 2014, only 77 remained. Many people blame this on Title IX, which is the original name for a law enacted in 1972 that requires federally funded schools to offer an equal number of sports programs for men and women. The theory is that because schools have to add women’s programs, they can no longer afford to fund men’s programs at the same level. The numbers, however, do not support this theory. In 2011, the NCAA reported adding more than 38,000 male student athletes over the previous 10 years. In that same span, it added just over 32,000 female student athletes. So there are not fewer male athletes, just fewer male sports. A better explanation for the Title IX theory can be found by looking at revenue in comparison to non-revenue sports. The two biggest revenue sports, football and basketball, take up 78 percent of Division I athletic budgets. When non-revenue sports like wrestling get cut, the money is more often funneled into football or basketball than into women’s sports. Colleges are choosing to cut wrestling more often than they are forced to. Outside the United States, however, the sport is celebrated in countries from Russia to Turkey and from Iran to Japan. It is the ultimate one-on-one competition of strength and agility and has produced some truly great moments on the mat. 7

GREATEST MOMENTS Perfection for Gable Iowa’s Dan Gable went into the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich with an impeccable reputation, an undefeated season, and an injured knee. The gold medal hopeful in the men’s lightweight (68 kg [150 lb]) division of the freestyle wrestling competition had torn the cartilage in his left knee earlier in the season, but he refused to have surgery because it would derail his training.

Gable’s decision to forgo the operation turned out to be the right one. Not only did Gable win all six of his matches to win the gold medal, but he also did not concede a single point to any of his six opponents. He beat the world’s best wrestlers on one leg despite the fact that the Soviet Union had vowed they would produce someone who could beat him at the Munich Games. He beat the Soviet Ruslan Ashraliev in the final match. 8

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Blatnick Beats Cancer to Win Gold In 1980, upstate New York native Jeff Blatnick made the U.S. Olympic wrestling team as a Greco-Roman wrestling super heavyweight (more than 100 kg [220 lbs]). The U.S. boycotted the Moscow Games for political reasons, however. Two years later, Blatnick found a bump on his neck, and he was soon diagnosed with cancer, specifically Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Undeterred, Blatnick went through treatment, including surgery to remove his spleen and appendix. After chemo and radiation therapy, the disease went into remission, and he went back to training in time to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team. At the Los Angeles Games, Blatnick beat future world champion Tomas Johansson 3-0 in the final. Before 1984, the United States had never won an Olympic medal of any kind in Greco-Roman wrestling. His victory was so unexpected and triumphant that Blatnick was selected to carry the U.S. flag during the 1984 Olympic closing ceremonies. 9

GREATEST MOMENTS

Promise Realized On the freestyle side of the 1984 Olympic wrestling program, Californian Dave Schultz was favored to win an Olympic gold medal. Unlike in GrecoRoman wrestling, Americans were very good at the freestyle discipline and ultimately won gold in seven of the 10 weight classes. The most triumphant of those wins came in the welterweight (74 kg [163 lb]) weight class, where Schultz fulfilled all the promise he had shown as a prep school wrestling phenom and three-time NCAA All-American. He came into the Los Angeles Games as the reigning world champion. He faced West Germany’s Martin Knosp, the 1982 world champion who had pinned all five of his opponents in the competition. This weight class was considered the toughest of the tournament, and after a tight opening period where he led 1-0, Schultz dominated the final period to win the gold 4-1. 10

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The Bear’s Streak

Four years later at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, another wrestler grabbed the spotlight and held it with an iron grip through three straight Olympic competitions. The super heavyweight Russian Aleksandr Karelin was one of the most dominant Greco-Roman wrestlers the sport has ever known. At the Soviet Championships in 1987, the Russian Bear, as Karelin was known, suffered the first senior-level loss of his career. Following this defeat, the remarkable streak began. Karelin went undefeated going into Seoul and swept through those games, not surrendering a point until his win in the gold medal match. He remained undefeated going into the 1992 Barcelona Games, where he again won gold, giving up just one point in the whole tournament. He won his unprecedented third straight gold medal in 1996 at Atlanta, where this time his opponents did not score a single point. 11

GREATEST MOMENTS

Double Gold Cuba’s Filiberto Azcuy won the Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, a remarkable feat for an athlete coming from a country where Greco-Roman wrestling was only just developing at the time. Azcuy surprised the welterweight (74 kg [163 lb]) class by outscoring opponents 38-10 on his way to claiming the gold. By 2000, Azcuy was a known quantity on the world wrestling stage. Yet at the Olympic Games in Sydney, he was able to win with ease, this time at 69 kg (152 lbs). It was a series of dominating performances by Azcuy, who surrendered just five points to opponents while scoring 40 in the tournament. He capped his remarkable run by having the gold medal match stopped due to a superior technical performance when he built an 11-0 lead in the first period over his outmatched opponent. 12

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Goliath Vanquished Azcuy’s performance in 2000 is not well remembered as it pales in comparison to what most experts feel is the biggest upset in the history of Greco-Roman wrestling—and one of the biggest in all of sports. Russian Aleksandr Karelin had won three straight gold medals from 1988 through 1996 in the super heavyweight (130 kg [287 lb]) class, but that was the tip of the iceberg that was the Russian Bear.

Karelin had dominated the sport, coming into Sydney unbeaten for 13 years and not having conceded a single point in six years. In the final he faced Rulon Gardner, a Wyoming farm boy who wrestled at the University of Nebraska. Karelin had beaten him 5-0 three years earlier in their only previous meeting. This time, Gardner fought off all his attacks and attempts to lift and throw him. His lone second-period point stood for the win and the historic upset. 13

GREATEST MOMENTS Undefeated For four years at Iowa State University (ISU), Salt Lake City’s Cael Sanderson was the 184 lb (84 kg) Karelin, in that he was unbeatable. Sanderson started his career at ISU by winning his first 99 matches to break Dan Gable’s consecutive wins record. That included a 39-0 freshman season, 40-0 sophomore season, and a 20-0 start to his junior year, with two NCAA titles as well. Sanderson did not stop there, rattling off another 20 wins to win a third straight NCAA title. During his senior season of 2001-2002, he garnered national attention as he extended the record with every victory. No one could match him, no matter the weight class, and Sanderson won another 40 matches to cap an unprecedented career with 159 straight wins. He finished his career wrestling at 197 lbs (89 kg) with a 12-4 win at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Albany, New York.

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From Rags to Gold Henry Cejudo grew up under challenging circumstances in New Mexico and Arizona in the 1990s. His father was a convict, and his mother was in the United States illegally, working multiple jobs to support her six children. With this background, things could have gone badly for young Cejudo, but his older brother Angel kept him on the straight and narrow by introducing him to wrestling. A small kid, Cejudo competed in the flyweight division (57 kg [126 lbs]) and dominated as a high schooler in Phoenix, compiling a 120-3 record to win four state championships. Upon graduation, Cejudo set his sights on the 2008 Olympics. He made the freestyle team, and representing the United States at the Beijing Games, he overcame adversity in every round. In the first three rounds he trailed matches 1-0, 3-1, and 7-6 before pulling out wins in the third period. Cejudo never quit fighting and capped his remarkable Olympics with a 5-2 win to capture gold. 15

An Egyptian mural from a tomb of at Beni Hasan dating to around 2000 B.C. show wrestlers in action.

Words to Understand: dominion: the power to rule or control a country, region, and so on prowess: great ability or skill deity: one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful 16

CHAPTER THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING Wrestling is one of the oldest sports there is. It has been depicted on cave drawings thought to be between 15,000 and 20,000 years old, as early men may have tangled with each other over the best food or the best caves.

TEST OF STRENGTH

The spoils went to the strong, and wrestling was a natural test of strength. Drawings and carvings of holds and throws have been discovered among the artifacts of almost every ancient society. From carvings on 5,000-year-old stone slabs in Mesopotamia to bronze statues about the same age near present-day Baghdad in Iraq, finding scenes of wrestlers grappling for superiority has been common. Egyptian tomb engravings dating to 2500 B.C. showing men in wrestling holds number in the hundreds. At the Beni Hasan cemetery site, discovered in the late 1900s, the engravings show many of the moves still used in the modern-day version of the sport.

SPORT OF THE GODS

The ancient Greeks believed that their gods used wrestling as a means of conflict resolution. One story tells of Cronus wrestling his son Zeus for possession of the universe, a match won by the son, making Zeus king of Olympia and giving him dominion over all. Another Greek hero, Theseus, is credited with the first rules of the sport. He grappled with and defeated the man with the bull’s head known as a Minotaur. Greek poet Homer wrote the Iliad around 750 BC, a poem that tells the story of the 10-year-long Trojan War. In it, Greek heroes Odysseus and Ajax wrestle to a draw as part of a celebration, with each awarded a prize.

Ancient Greek wrestlers (Pankratiasts)

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King Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

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THE GREEK OLYMPIAD

Wrestling first appeared in the 18th edition of the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC. Wrestlers were permitted to cover their skin with oil and sand to make themselves difficult to hold. There were two versions: upright, where the winner was the first wrestler to score three falls; and ground, where the athletes wrestled until one submitted, and all holds were permitted. The famous Greek philosopher Plato was an Olympic wrestler as a young man. In Greek, Plato means “broad shoulders,” which sounds like a fitting name for a wrestler. In fact, Plato earned the name due to his wrestling prowess. His real name was Aristocles.

ROMAN WRESTLING

Several centuries later, the Roman Empire ruled the civilized world throughout what is now Europe and northern Africa. The Romans adapted wrestling with their own modifications, and their version was far more violent than the one they learned from the Greeks, often ending in the death of one wrestler. With the widespread reach of the empire, the sport spread throughout, gaining popularity in tribes from the Gauls to the Carthaginians.

THE MIDDLE AGES

Jumping forward 1,700 years, knights and kings throughout Europe competed in wrestling matches. One of England’s most famous kings, Henry VIII, was said to be a skilled wrestler, although legend has it that he once lost a match to Francis I of France. This match occurred at a place known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold in northern France. It was during a three-week-long summit in June of 1520 designed to improve French-English relations. Along with archery displays and music, wrestling competitions were among the entertainment. In a surprise move, Henry challenged Francis to the match but regretted it quickly as he lost in short order. The two countries were at war the next year.

GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING

As the centuries passed, the sport became more refined and organized. In 19th-century France, a style developed where tripping and leg holds were not permitted. This style would eventually become what is known as modern-day Greco-Roman wrestling.

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JAPANESE WRESTLING

Outside of Europe, the sport had also evolved from ancient roots but in a different way. The Japanese developed sumo wrestling, where two combatants meet inside a ring nearly 15 feet (4.5 m) in diameter and attempt to push each other out of it or knock the opponent down. Sukune, the patron deity of Japanese wrestlers, won the first known sumo match in 23 B.C. In the ninth century, an audience of thousands gathered to watch the sons of the recently deceased emperor Buntoku wrestle for the throne. In the 12th century, buke-zumo (warrior sumo) developed as part of the training for samurai.

NEW WORLD WRESTLING

In the Americas, the ancient cultures engaged in wrestling Kuniyoshi Utagawa, just like their counterparts in Europe the sumo wrestler and Asia. From the Incas to the Iroquois, evidence of the sport of wrestling has been found among the original inhabitants of both North and South America. Native Americans wrestled in more of a free style, like the Romans. Matches were won by pinning the opponent’s shoulders to the ground. European settlers of the Americas also developed their own styles of wrestling. At Harvard University, wrestling blossomed into one of the most popular sports at the school by 1780. The freshman and sophomore classes wrestled each other in an annual tournament. U.S. presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Taft were all skilled wrestlers as young men.

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COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

In America, it is at the high school and college levels that the sport has thrived. The Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (IWA) was formed in 1903 with four members: Columbia, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale. In 1919, the first high school wrestling tournament took place in Oklahoma. In 1920, the Iowa State High School Association staged the first state championship for high school wrestling.

The college wrestler in light blue is attempting a takedown to the mat but not without a counter by the defensive wrestler in white.

In 1925, the Missouri Valley Conference put on the first college tournament, which the Big Ten emulated the next year. They both followed the standards and guidelines set out by the IWA.

Native American tribes engaged in wrestling as a sport for centuries.

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Text-Dependent Questions: 1. Egyptian tomb engravings dating to 2500 B.C. show men doing what? 2. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods used wrestling as a means of what? 3. At what level has wrestling thrived in America?

Research Project: Create a collage or scrapbook using photos of some of the oldest drawings, stone carvings, and artifacts representing the earliest signs of wrestling around the world.

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The semifinal match at the 1912 Summer Olympics between Martin Klein of Russia and Alfred Asikainen of Finland lasted 11 hours and 40 minutes, although they took breaks for refreshments every half hour. Klein was awarded the silver medal and Asikainen the bronze.

Words to Understand: repechage: a trial heat in which first-round losers are given another chance to qualify for the semifinals singlet: a one-piece, tight-fitting outfit made of a stretchable material

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CHAPTER THE RULES OF WRESTLING: GRECO-ROMAN In most other sports, such as football, baseball, tennis, or soccer, all athletes compete against each other regardless of their size or strength. In wrestling, however, much like the sport of boxing, athletes only compete against opponents who are very close to the same weight. The reason is obvious as it would likely not be a very competitive match were a man weighing 265 lbs (120 kg) to wrestle an opponent weighing just 140 lbs (64 kg). The size and strength of the bigger man would negate the technique and skills of the smaller man, giving an unfair advantage.

WEIGHT CLASSES

Wrestling competitions are therefore divided into weight classes. Opponents are weighed within a certain period of time prior to a match to verify that they do not exceed the maximum weight allowed to qualify for a given class. Weight classes shift and adjust over time. Data is used to analyze the competitiveness in the sport and make changes to help maintain it. Most wrestling governing bodies try to keep the same percentage of wrestlers in each class and therefore will periodically adjust the maximum weight of classes or sometimes add classes or eliminate classes altogether.

GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING

Greco-Roman wrestling is the name given to the oldest form of organized wrestling. In his book Pioneers of Professional Wrestling: 1860-1899, author Tim Corvin attributes the term to Italian wrestler Basilio Bartoletti, who he says used it to suggest a connection to the ancient origins of the sport.

Wrestling at the 1904 Summer Olympics

The actual style of wrestling was established before the name stuck, however, by Frenchman Jean Exbroyat, who established the 25

rule that holds below the waist were illegal and named the style “flat-hand wrestling.” Exbroyat operated a wrestler’s circus troupe that traveled around Europe, and the style spread. By 1896, it was so popular that it was included in the first modern Olympic Games. In Greco-Roman wrestling, the Olympic weight classes are: 59 kg (130 lbs), 66 kg (146 lbs), 75 kg (165 lbs), 85 kg (187 lbs), 98 kg (216 lbs), and 130 kg (287 lbs). There are also two additional weight classes that are contested in the World Championships, which are 71 kg (157 lbs) and 80 kg (176 lbs). The Greco-Roman style commonly employs the par terre starting position, with the “bottom” wrestler on his hands and knees and the “top” wrestler kneeling behind him.

Four levels of officials monitor matches: the referee, the judge, the mat chairman, and the jury of appeal.

RULES

Greco-Roman wrestling is focused primarily on techniques involving the upper body. The basic rules include the following: • Wrestlers cannot touch the opponent below the waist. • Wrestlers cannot use their legs to trip or execute other moves. • There are two 3-minute periods with a 30-second break in between. • Each period is broken up into 60 seconds for neutral position and two 30-second rounds for ground wrestling. •

Whoever scores the most points in the first 60 seconds is the first to be on top in the par terre position for the first 30-second round. If the wrestler on top fails to score any points within that time period, then the wrestler on bottom is awarded one point. Then the wrestler on the bottom gets to wrestle on top to get the chance to score some points.

• If nobody scores in the first 60 seconds, then a coin is flipped to see who is on top first. • Periods are decided based on who accumulated the most points during both the standing and ground phases. 26

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, MAY 6, 2015: Parade during the opening ceremony of an international freestyle wrestling tournament on Victory Day. The event is dedicated to the victory in WWII.

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SCORING •

Takedowns are worth two to five points: Two points are awarded for takedowns without back exposure from a standing or neutral position; four points are scored for a throw; five points are awarded for a “grand amplitude” throw that brings an opponent’s feet above his head.

• A reversal is one point. • An exposure (turning your opponent’s back to the mat) is two to three points. • A penalty is one to two points. • Pushing or knocking an opponent out of bounds is one point.

TOURNAMENTS

Greco-Roman tournaments, or meets, employ a direct elimination format. Any wrestler that loses a match cannot win the meet but might still be able to claim a medal. The number of entrants is ideally a geometric sequence with a factor of two (4, 8, 16, 32, or 64) for each weight class. Weigh-ins take place the day before the scheduled event. Wrestlers then contest matches in a single elimination format that eventually leaves just two undefeated wrestlers to face each other to determine first and second place. The other wrestlers who lost their matches are relegated to the repechage, where the wrestlers who won the fewest matches meet in a final elimination round, with the opportunity to face the losing wrestlers with the most wins to determine third place and beyond.

WRESTLING AREA

Wrestlers battle in a circle that is 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter. The circle is patterned on a 12 m (39 foot) x 12 m (39 foot) mat made of thick rubber to maximize athlete safety. Around the outer edge of the circle is the red zone. Wrestlers who linger in this area can be charged with being passive, which results in points against them. Wrestlers compete wearing a uniform consisting of a singlet and special rubber-soled shoes.

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Text-Dependent Questions: 1. Most wrestling governing bodies try to keep the same percentage of wrestlers in each class. How do they accomplish this? 2. What is the name of the starting position for which the “bottom” wrestler is on his hands and knees and the “top” wrestler is kneeling behind him? 3. What is the size of the circle that sits on the wrestling mat, in which athletes battle?

Research Project: Watch some videos online of Greco-Roman wrestling. Take note of the scoring process and rules that you learned about in this chapter. Do you enjoy watching this type of wrestling? Why or why not?

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Words to Understand: amplitude: a measurement that indicates the movement or vibration of something (such as a sound wave or a radio wave) technical point: points awarded to a wrestler for certain holds and moves; penalty points can also count as technical points 30

CHAPTER THE RULES OF WRESTLING: FREESTYLE The style of wrestling that most directly evolved from the Roman adaptation of the sport is called freestyle wrestling today. The modern version of the sport was developed in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. This variant, which was not nearly as popular in mainland Europe, spread to America with a massive wave of Irish immigration in the mid1800s.

GAINING A FOOTHOLD

Although freestyle wrestling thrived in America, attracting hundreds of competitors per tournament, it struggled to catch on in most of the wrestling world. While Greco-Roman wrestling was an Olympic sport from the first modern games in 1896, freestyle wrestling was not included until 1904, a concession made because that year’s games were held in St. Louis. Every one of the entrants in the freestyle competition was American. Freestyle had put itself on the map at the Olympics, however, and has been contested at every games since 1924. In 1912, the Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) was formed in Belgium as the sport’s governing body. FILA (which changed its name to United World Wrestling in 2014) adopted a set of rules and scoring procedures in 1921 that has served to govern tournaments across the world.

Freestyle wrestling has been contested at every Summer Olympics since 1924.

In freestyle wrestling, the Olympic weight classes for men are 57 kg (126 lbs), 65 kg (143 lbs), 74 kg (163 lbs),

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86 kg (190 lbs), 97 kg (214 lbs), and 125 kg (276 lbs). There are also two additional weight classes that are contested in the World Championships, which are 61 kg (134 lbs) and 70 kg (154 lbs). For women, the Olympic classes are: 48 kg (106 lbs), 53 kg (117 lbs), 58 kg (128 lbs), 63 kg (139 lbs), 69 kg (152 lbs), and 75 kg (165 lbs). There are also two additional weight classes that are contested in the World Championships, which are 55 kg (121 lbs) and 60 kg (132 lbs).

RULES

Freestyle wrestling differs from Greco-Roman most significantly in that it allows for holds below the waist. The object is the same in both styles: to achieve a fall, also known as a pin, where the opponent’s shoulders are forced against the mat for at least three seconds. The rules for freestyle are the same as for Greco-Roman wrestling, with these exceptions:

TECHNICAL SUPERIORITY Freestyle Wrestling: 10 points Greco-Roman Wrestling: 8 points Technical superiority ends a match and is attained when one wrestler gains a points lead over the opponent of a predetermined amount.

THROWS Freestyle Wrestling: 4 points for all throws Greco-Roman Wrestling: - 4 points for throws (must be followed and controlled) - 5 points for grand amplitude throws (must be followed and controlled) The grand amplitude throw is only scored in Greco-Roman wrestling and is included to encourage throws that can be spectacular in that format.

ORDERED HOLD

In freestyle wrestling, if a period ends without either athlete scoring a point, the referee will initiate an ordered hold. One wrestler is given an advantage based on a random draw. The loser of the draw must put one leg in the middle of the center circle and the other leg outside of the circle. The opponent is then permitted to put a hold

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on the forward leg, giving a clear chance for a takedown, which would score the round in his favor. If after 30 seconds the disadvantaged wrestler has not given up a point, he wins the round by earning a point.

THE OFFICIALS

In both styles, four levels of officials monitor matches: the referee, the judge, the mat chairman, and the jury of appeal. The referee is the official who scores the match, controls its action, and is actually on the mat with the wrestlers. The referee determines when and how many points have been scored, when a hold is legal or illegal, and whether a pin or fall has occurred. The referee is assisted by the judge, who records the point totals as indicated by the referee. The judge is also permitted to stop the match if he feels the referee has missed a scoring opportunity. Decisions of the judge and referee are valid and enforceable if in agreement, with the exception of a technical superiority, which requires the agreement of the mat chairman.

The referee is the official on the mat with the athletes, scoring the match and controlling the action.

The mat chairman serves primarily to resolve any disagreements between the referee and the judge. He is also permitted to stop the match if he sees a scoring opportunity that was missed by both the referee and judge. The mat chairman also sanctions all falls and technical superiorities and is the official of whom challenges are requested.

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Coaches may challenge decisions made by referees or judges by requesting a video review of disputed calls.

COACH’S CHALLENGE

On behalf of his wrestler, a coach may initiate a challenge requiring video review of a disputed action. The challenge is initiated by throwing a towel onto the mat immediately after the disputed decision is made. After stopping the match, the mat chairman asks the two-person jury of appeal to review the action in question. After video review, the jury of appeal renders its decision, which must be unanimous. The unanimous decision is final and cannot be challenged. If they uphold the referee’s decision, the opponent of the challenging coach receives a technical point, and the challenging coach loses the option to challenge any future actions in that match. If the referee’s decision is overturned, the scoring is modified accordingly, and the coach winning the challenge maintains the opportunity to challenge future actions. 34

Text-Dependent Questions: 1. The rules for freestyle are the same as for Greco-Roman wrestling with what two exceptions? 2. How many levels of officials monitor matches? 3. On behalf of his wrestler, a coach may initiate a challenge. What does this require?

Research Project: Now that you have learned about both Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, make a chart or graph showing the different rules, scoring, tournaments, and equipment used in both styles. Compare and contrast the two, and share your thoughts on their similarities and differences.

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The Board of Supervisors in Fairfax, Virginia, recognized the Robinson Secondary School Varsity Wrestling Team for winning the 2013 AAA state title.

Words to Understand: prone: lying with the front of your body facing downward flourished: to be very successful, to do very well

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CHAPTER AMERICAN WRESTLING

In America, freestyle wrestling has been the base of the sport since the mid-19th century. Over the decades, however, it has evolved from its international counterpart to take on some distinctly American characteristics.

SCHOLASTIC WRESTLING

Scholastic wrestling is the variation of freestyle wrestling practiced at the middle and high school levels in the United States. The National Federation of State High Schools Associations (NFHS) sanctions the sport in all states except Mississippi. The federation set 14 weight classes: 99 lbs (45 kg), 106 lbs (48 kg), 113 lbs (51 kg), 120 lbs (54 kg), 126 lbs (57 kg), 132 lbs (60 kg), 145 lbs (66 kg), 152 lbs (69 kg), 160 lbs (73 kg), 170 lbs (77 kg), 182 lbs (83 kg), 195 lbs (88 kg), 220 lbs (100 kg), and 285 lbs (129 kg). There are significant rule differences between scholastic and freestyle wrestling. Scholastic wrestling matches have three periods rather than two, with no breaks between periods. The first period begins in the neutral position. The wrestlers then take turns choosing the starting position for the second and third periods (assuming a fall does not end the match first). A technical superiority can also end the match if one wrestler accumulates a lead of 15 points or more. In scholastic wrestling, wrestlers may only clasp and lock their hands when attempting a takedown or pin. Unlike in freestyle, the move is considered illegal at any other time. Points can be awarded for: exposing the opponent’s back to the mat; holding the back to the mat but not long enough to score a pin (called a near fall and worth 2 or 3 points); escapes; reversals (worth 2 points rather than 1 in freestyle); and takedowns (worth 2 points whether by leg attack or by throw). Matches that are tied after three periods are settled by a succession of overtime periods, starting with one minute of sudden death, then two 30-second periods, and then if still necessary, a final 30-second tiebreaker period. In scholastic wrestling, athletes are required to wear headgear to protect their ears.

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COLLEGIATE WRESTLING

Collegiate wrestling is the style of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. The style, along with that of scholastic wrestling, is often collectively referred to as folkstyle wrestling, but there are differences between the scholastic and collegiate styles. The sport is sanctioned primarily by the NCAA but also by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA). There are 10 weight classes for men: 125 lbs (57 kg), 133 lbs (60 kg), 141 lbs (64 kg), 149 lbs (68 kg), 157 lbs (71 kg), 165 lbs (75 kg), 174 lbs (79 kg), 184 lbs (83 kg), 197 lbs (89 kg), and 285 lbs (129 kg). The NCWA also sanctions a 235 lb class for its events.

University of Pittsburgh Wrestling Team, 2013 Eastern Wrestling League Conference Champions

For women there are eight weight classes: 105 lbs (48 kg), 112 lbs (51 kg), 121 lbs (55 kg), 130 lbs (59 kg), 139 lbs (63 kg), 148 lbs (67 kg), 159 lbs (72kg), and 200 lbs (91 kg). The first intercollegiate wrestling meet pitted Yale University against Columbia in 1903. In 1927, an official set of rules was established for collegiate wrestling, and in 1928, the first NCAA Wrestling Championship was held at Iowa State. With its own set of rules firmly entrenched, this distinctly American brand of wrestling grew in popularity across the country. The primary difference between collegiate and freestyle wrestling is in the focus of each style. In freestyle, elements of risk and explosiveness are highlighted over elements of control, which are more central to collegiate wrestling. Exercising control over the other wrestler and his movements is key to all styles of wrestling, but compared across styles on levels of high risk to high control, there is less control in the freestyle discipline. This is demonstrated by the relative lack of emphasis on throws in collegiate wrestling. They are employed but are worth the same amount of points as any other takedown, unlike in freestyle, where throws are worth more. In collegiate wrestling, rather than picking opponents up, wrestlers try to break opponents down, getting them prone on the mat, where pinning techniques can be combined to achieve a fall. 38

THE MAT

The folkstyle mat differs from the one used in international competitions. International mats are 12 meters (39 feet) square with 1-, 7-, and 9-meter (3-, 23-, and 30-foot) circles. Folkstyle mats are anywhere from 33 feet (10 meters) square in high school up to 47 feet (14 meters) square in college and have only a single circle that defines the wrestling area.

AMERICAN STARS

Just as folkstyle wrestling is distinctly American, so are the stars who have flourished in the format and gone on to success on the international stage as well. John Smith, Dan Gable, Cael Sanderson, and Bruce Baumgartner are the legends of American wrestling. On the national stage, none had the success of Gable and Sanderson. Gable came to prominence wrestling for his home state Iowa State University in the late 1960s. NCAA A match during the International FS and FW wrestling regulations prohibited freshmen tournament in Kiev, Ukraine, on February 16, 2013. from wrestling varsity, so he had to wait until his sophomore year in 1968 to win his first undefeated National Championship at 130 lbs (59 kg), going 37-0. He went 30-0 the following year, including a stretch where he pinned a record 25 straight opponents at 137 lbs (62 kg). In his senior year, he lost only the very last match of the season to finish as runner-up at 142 lbs (64 kg). Utah-born Cael Sanderson came to Iowa State 30 years after Gable starred there and continued the Cyclone tradition of wrestling excellence. He went unbeaten in his college career at 159-0, winning four straight NCAA titles and three Hodge trophies as most outstanding college wrestler. 39

Both Gable and Sanderson each went on to win a single Olympic gold medal in freestyle, but on the international stage, Bruce Baumgartner was far more accomplished. Baumgartner, who grew up in New Jersey, had a good college career at Indiana State University, where he won a National Championship, going 44-0 his senior year in 1982. Baumgartner went on to a stellar international career in the super heavyweight freestyle division, winning four Olympic medals, including two gold, and nine World Championship medals, including three gold. John Smith is the greatest wrestler in American history and one of the greatest of all time from any country. He won back-to-back Olympic gold medals at 62 kg (137 lbs) and four World Championship gold medals, including three in a row. Smith had the kind of career that inspires the stars of today from America and across the world.

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Text-Dependent Questions: 1. What is the name of the organization that sanctions high school wrestling in all states except Mississippi? 2. The first intercollegiate wrestling meet pitted Yale University against Columbia in what year? 3. How does the folkstyle mat differ from the one used in international competitions?

Research Project: Attend several high school wrestling matches, and take note of the best athletes. What makes them stand out? Post their scores on a chart, and predict who will take their wrestling careers beyond high school and compete in college.

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Jordan Burroughs

Words to Understand: passivity: a penalty for wrestlers who linger in the red zone, the area around the outer edge of the circle welterweight: a wrestler in a similar weight category, usually 154 to 172 pounds (70 to 78 kg) inaugural: happening as the first one in a series of similar events 42

CHAPTER MODERN-DAY STARS

From precision and technique to power and agility, the sport of wrestling has a variety of interesting elements to offer its fans. The athletes who best combine these elements, however, are the ones fans get used to seeing at the top of medal podiums.

FREESTYLE

Jordan Burroughs was a small kid growing up near Camden, New Jersey, in the 1990s. He started wrestling at age five, and by the time Burroughs reached high school, he was good enough to be a national champion in his senior year. He was a two-time undefeated national champion in college. In 2011 Burroughs won his first of three World Championship titles at 74 kg (162 lbs)— he won in 2013 and 2015 as well. He followed that up by winning the Olympic gold medal in London in 2012. The only man to beat Burroughs at the World Championships is Russia’s Denis Tsargush. Before Burroughs burst on the world scene in 2011, Tsargush had been the back-to-back defending gold medalist at 74 kg (162 lbs) from 2009 and 2010. After losing to Burroughs in 2011 and at the Olympics in 2012, Tsargush redeemed himself by beating Burroughs at the World Championships in 2014. Burroughs had injured his knee in a previous match and was limited in the semis against Tsargush. While Burroughs and Tsargush have been the dominant freestyle wrestlers in their weight class in the 2010s, they have nothing on Japan’s dynamic female duo of Icho and Yoshida. These two female dynamos have been nearly unbeatable in their careers.

Denis Tsargush

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Saori Yoshida

Kaori Icho

At 53 to 55 kg (117 to 121 lbs), Saori Yoshida is the smaller of the women but has racked up a big number of medals. She won 13 straight World Championship gold medals from 2002 to 2015. In the middle of that run, she won three straight Olympic gold medals from 2004 to 2012. Yoshida has lost just two matches in her senior career. .

Kaori Icho has been just as successful at 58 to 63 kg (128 to 139 lbs), winning 10 of 13 World Championship gold medals between 2002 and 2015. She also matched Yoshida’s three straight Olympic gold medals from 2004 to 2012. Beginning in 2003 and stretching through 2015, Icho did not lose a single match on the mat, winning 189 in a row (she sat out the 2008, 2009, and 2012 World Championships). She was finally upset in a match in Russia in January 2016. Where the 55 kg (121 lb) weight class is interesting on the women’s side due to Yoshida’s dominance, on the men’s side, it is the competitiveness of the class that makes it compelling. The list begins with two-time world champion Viktor Lebedev of Russia. Lebedev won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 after previously winning a World Championship bronze medal in 2009. In 2015, Lebedev again placed third at the World 44

Abdulrashid Sadulaev

Championships, earning his fourth career world medal and his second bronze. Lebedev was ranked second in the weight class in 2015 by UWW behind another two-time world champion, Yang Kyong-Il of North Korea. Yang won his first title in Denmark in 2009. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Yang overcame a loss in the quarterfinals to earn a bronze medal. In 2014, Yang made another run at the World Championship gold, where he bested a stellar field, including future world champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili in the final. Moving up a weight class to 61 kg (134 lbs), two-time world champion Haji Aliyev is the man to beat. Born in Azerbaijan in 1991, Aliyev came to prominence in the sport at the 2012 Wrestling World Cup, hosted that year in his home country. Aliyev finished second there and followed up with a third-place finish at the World University Games in 2013. In 2014, Aliyev won the gold at the World Championships in Uzbekistan. He repeated his triumph the following year in Las Vegas. The 2015 Las Vegas meet also saw Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev crowned world champion for the second time. Like Aliyev, Sadulaev won his first world title the previous year in Uzbekistan. 45

Following a third-place finish in his senior debut in November of 2013, Sadulaev did not lose an international event in 2014 or 2015, winning eight consecutive tournaments, including the two World Championships. Sadulaev was the top-ranked wrestler at 86 kg (190 lbs) in the UWW rankings for 2015. Also ranked number one in his weight class entering 2016 was Turkey’s Taha Akgül. At 120 to 125 kg (265 to 276 lbs), Akgül has dominated since 2012, with the only blemish coming at the 2013 World Championships in Hungary, where he won bronze. Having won three European Championships and a World University Games gold medal from 2012 to 2014, Akgül won back-to-back World Championships at 125 kg (276 lbs) in 2014 and 2015. His 2015 win was particularly dominant, with a 10-0 victory in the gold medal match. Akgül also won his semifinal match 10-0 that year, beating Russia’s Bilyal Makhov. Makhov, however, was at a disadvantage, having spent 2014 and 2015 wrestling in the Greco-Roman division. Makhov is a three-time world champion (2007, 2009, and 2010) in freestyle at 120 kg (265 lbs). He actually wrestled both disciplines at the 2015 World Championships, winning two bronze medals. Back to focusing on freestyle, Makhov should prove to be a major challenger to Akgül for the 2016 Olympic Games. Makhov won bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London.

GRECO-ROMAN

In Greco-Roman wrestling, Cuba’s Mijaín López is the most dominant wrestler in the world. At 120 to 130 kg (265 to 287 lbs), he has rarely lost since 2005, when he won the first of his five World Championships.

Bilyal Makhov

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López is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He was the flag bearer for his country at both the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 London Games, where he dominated both tournaments. In the 2012 semifinals, López beat Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp 3-0 on his way to winning the gold.

Kayaalp is López’s main competition. In 2011, he beat López at the World Championships to snap López’s streak at three championships in a row. López was again the defending champion when he and Kayaalp met in the 2015 final in Las Vegas. Kayaalp prevailed 1-0 after López was assessed a penalty point for passivity. Kayaalp will likely continue to play spoiler until López decides to retire but is the clear heir apparent to the Cuban giant. At 96 kg (212 lbs), Heiki Nabi of Estonia won the World Championship in 2006. For the 2012 Olympics in London, he moved up to the super heavyweight division and competed with Kayaalp and López at 120 kg (265 lbs). He had a successful meet, losing to López 3-0 in the final to win silver. Nabi has continued to wrestle as a super heavyweight, with some good success. At the 2013 World Championships, a meet where López did not compete, he managed to win the gold medal. In 2014, he lost to Kalyaap and settled for bronze. In Nabi’s former weight class, 96 to 98 kg (212 to 216 lbs), Armenia’s Artur Aleksanyan was the top-ranked wrestler going into 2016. At the 2012 London Olympics, he earned a bronze

Heiki Nabi

Mijaín López

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medal, which he improved to a silver at the 2013 World Championships in Hungary. In 2014, Aleksanyan won the first of backto-back World Championship gold medals by outscoring opponents 24-2. In 2015, he was even more dominant at the tournament in Las Vegas, racking up 34 points while surrendering just 1 to win gold again. At 80 kg (176 lbs), Turkey’s Selçuk Çebi also won a World Championship in 2015. The 80 kg light middleweight class was newly introduced in 2014, and Çebi stepped up in weight to compete there, winning the bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships. Çebi has previously competed at 74 kg (163 lbs) in the welterweight division; here he was back-to-back world champion in 2009 and 2010. He earned a silver medal at the World Championships in 2011. Artur Aleksanyan

In Çebi’s old weight class, the competition is stiff, primarily between Korean Kim Hyeonwoo and Russia’s Roman Vlasov. Kim's breakthrough year came in 2011 at age 22 when he finished third at the World Championships in Istanbul to win a bronze medal as a lightweight at 66 kg (146 lbs). The following year, Kim was the gold medalist in the lightweight class at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In 2013, Kim moved up to welterweight and competed at 74 kg (163 lbs). At the 2013 World Championships, he beat defending champion Vlasov 2-1. Vlasov was not only the defending World Champion in 2013, having won gold in Istanbul in 2011, but also the current Olympic champion at 74 kg (163 lbs). In 2014 the weight class bumped up to 75 kg (165 lbs). Kim did not compete, but Vlasov was upset in the third round of the World Championships. Kim returned for the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, but he too lost in the third round, when a win would have put him in the quarterfinals against Vlasov. With Kim out of the way, Vlasov went on to win the gold without giving up a single point, outscoring opponents 40-0. 48

Kim Hyeon-woo

Rasul Chunayev

The next step down in weight is to the newly created 71 kg (157 lb) light welterweight class, where the top-ranked wrestler going into 2016 was Azerbaijan’s Rasul Chunayev. He had his first success at the 2014 World Championships, the inaugural year for the weight class, claiming a bronze medal. In 2015, Chunayev rose to the top of the UWW rankings, capping his year with a remarkable run through the World Championships in Las Vegas. Chunayev outscored opponents 41-5 to win the gold. His 71 kg (157 lbs) is not a weight class that is recognized by the Olympic Games. As Olympic years approach, many wrestlers move up to welterweight and compete at 75 kg (165 lbs) with Kim and Vlasov, or they move down to face wrestlers like Serbian Davor Štefanek at 66 kg (146 lbs). Štefanek became the top-ranked lightweight in the world in 2014, when he won the World Championship. In 2015, Štefanek was upset in his attempt to defend his title, settling for a bronze medal after losing to Germany’s Frank Stäbler in the semifinals.

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After 10 years at 55 kg (121 lbs), the bantamweight class bumped up to 59 kg (130 lbs) in 2014, and Azerbaijan’s Rovshan Bayramov has won medals at both weights. Bayramov had more success at 55 kg, winning World Championship silver in 2006, bronze in 2009, and gold in 2011. In between, he also won silver medals at both the 2008 and the 2012 Olympic Games. Bayramov lost the 2012 Olympic final to the great Hamid Sourian of Iran. In 2015, he got his revenge on Sourian at the World Championships, defeating the six-time world champion 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Bayramov went on to win the silver medal. Rovshan Bayramov

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Text-Dependent Questions: 1. Who is the only man to beat Jordan Burroughs at the World Championships? 2. In Greco-Roman wrestling, which Cuban athlete is the most dominant wrestler in the world? 3. In 2015, who rose to the top of the UWW rankings, capping his year with a remarkable run through the World Championships in Las Vegas, outscoring opponents 41-5 to win the gold?

Research Project: Choose three modern-day stars, and look up some past media stories written about them; check out their social network sites and Web sites. How do they present themselves in the spotlight? Do they uphold good ethical and sportsmanlike behavior to act as role models for young athletes? Do they support charities and/or youth athletics to give back to society? What is your impression of these athletes off the mat?

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ALEKSANDR KARELIN

ALEKSANDR MEDVED (RIGHT)

SERGEI BELOGLAZOV (RIGHT) ARTUR TAYMAZOV

Wrestling's governing body rebranded itself in 2014, changing from the acronym FILA to United World Wrestling. Scan the code to the left to visit the UWW website and learn more about the world's top ranked wrestlers.

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CHAPTER WRESTLING’S GREATEST ATHLETES Russian champion Aleksandr Karelin is 6'4" (1.9 meters) and wrestled at 285 lbs (129 kg). He was as strong as a bear. He could pick up a 300 lb (136 kg) man lying prone on the mat around the waist, rotate him 90 degrees, and toss him on his head. He dominated GrecoRoman wrestling like no other before or after him. Bulgarian freestyle champion Valentin Yordanov wrestled at 172 lbs (78 kg) less than Karelin. No one would ever suggest that a match between the two would have been competitive, but because Yordanov weighed just 114 lbs (52 kg) did not make him any less skilled or any less a champion. This truth is the essence of wrestling. Unlike football or basketball, where size and brute strength are distinct advantages, wrestling has its athletes pick on someone their own size. Thus, even at 114 lbs (52 kg), Yordanov was an Olympic gold medalist and a dominant wrestler on the world stage, with seven championships. Relative strength is obviously an attribute that would help any wrestler. Wrestling is also very technical, and learning to execute the proper techniques is essential. Being great, however, goes beyond strength and technical skill. Champion wrestlers work relentlessly, even (perhaps especially) in the off-season. They are also mentally tough, never believing a match is out of reach, the score notwithstanding, until the last second ticks off of the clock. Mental toughness is also necessary to maintain the strict training regimen wrestlers must adhere to. Weight class requirements mean a strict diet and exercise plan must be maintained year round for years on end. Unlike other athletes, wrestlers cannot put on five pounds without significant ramifications. The great American wrestler Dan Gable once famously said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” That may be an oversimplification, but it illustrates the point that wrestling is a pursuit that requires strict discipline to achieve greatness. In the modern history of the sport, its greatest champions, big and small, have demonstrated how spectacular the results of this adherence to discipline can be. 53

FREESTYLE

Oklahoma’s John Smith comes from a wrestling family. Both of his brothers, one older and one younger, were NCAA champions. His younger brother Pat was the first fourtime NCAA champion in history. But John Smith took success to the next level. A two-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State himself, Smith won his first 62 kg (137 lb) World Championship while still a junior in college in 1987. He followed up with another NCAA title in 1988, also adding the Olympic gold medal from Seoul as well. Between 1987 and 1992, Smith won both Olympic gold medals and four straight World Championships. He then retired to coach his alma mater, leading the Cowboys to five NCAA team titles. The year Smith was born, 1965, was the only year between 1962 and 1972 that the Ukraine’s Aleksandr Medved did not win either an Olympic or a World Championship gold medal. Wrestling for the Soviet Union in those days, Medved lost the 97 kg (214 lb) final in the 1965 World Championships to Turkey’s Ahmet Ayik. Medved had beaten Ayik for the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Games and avenged his 1965 loss by beating him again in the 1966 World Championship final. In 1967 Medved moved up to dominate the heavyweight class. Medved was one of the first 10 inductees to the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. Only Medved has more Olympic and World Championship gold medals than Buvaisar Saitiev. The Russian dominated the 74 kg (163 lb) weight class from 1995 to 2008. Atlanta was the setting for Satiev’s first two major international triumphs, winning the World Championships there in 1995 and then Olympic gold in 1996. Saitiev suffered just two losses in Olympic or World Championship competition during this time period. The first was a shocking loss in the pool stage at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where he finished ninth. The other was an equally surprising upset loss in the round of 16 at the 2006 World Championships. The International Wrestling Federation named Saitiev the best freestyle wrestler in history in 2007. Saitiev had a long tradition of great Russian wrestlers to emulate when he grew up learning the sport near the southernmost part of Russia, down by the Caspian Sea. One of the great Russian wrestlers Saitiev would have known as a boy in the 1980s was Sergei Beloglazov. Beloglazov was the Olympic gold medalist as a bantamweight (57 kg [126 lbs]) at the homeland Olympic Games of Moscow in 1980.

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Beloglazov then won every major international competition through the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. That encompasses six straight World Championships from 1981 to 1987. Had it not been for the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, he likely would have three straight Olympic gold medals as well. Beloglazov’s teammate on the 1988 Soviet Olympic wrestling team in Seoul was fellow Russian Arsen Fadzaev. Fadzaev also won gold that year, with his victory coming in the lightweight (68 kg [150 lb]) division. He had entered the games having won four straight World Championships. Fadzaev lost the final match at the 1989 World Championships to American Kenny Monday when he tried to move up to 74 kg (163 lbs), but after that defeat, he went on another run, winning the next two World Championships back at 68 kg (150 lbs). He then defended his Olympic title under the Unified Team flag in 1992 with a win in Barcelona. Fadzaev competed in his fourth and final Olympics for the newly independent nation of Uzbekistan in 1996 in Atlanta. Like Fadzaev and Beloglazov, Makharbek Khadartsev was also a member of that powerhouse Soviet Olympic wrestling team in 1988. Khadartsev was the light heavyweight (90 kg [198 lb]) gold medalist that year. The previous two years, he had won back-to-back World Championships.

John Smith

Buvaisar Saitiev

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In the years following the Seoul Olympics, Khadartsev won the next three World Championships, giving him five in a row. He capped his remarkable international winning streak by taking the gold at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona as well. He would continue to compete through the 1996 Olympics but never won another major gold medal, finishing second three times to Iran’s Rasoul Khadem. Valentin Yordanov also competed in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, winning 52 kg (115 lb) bronze and gold medals, respectively, for his native Bulgaria. The 1996 gold medal was the cherry on top of a sweet career for Yordanov, who also collected 10 World Championship medals between 1983 and 1995. Yordanov strung together three straight World Championships from 1993 to 1995 to finish a strong career at that event. He won four other World Championship gold medals earlier in his career, from 1983 to 1989. Despite this success, Yordanov decided to move to America to train in 1990. It took three years of adjustment before he started winning again in 1993. Levan Tediashvili won four straight World Championship gold medals for the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Born in what is now the independent Republic of Georgia, he started his career as a middleweight (82 kg [181 lbs]), winning the 1971 World Championship in Bulgaria and the gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics in that weight class. In 1973, Tediashvili moved up to light heavyweight (90 kg [198]) and won his second consecutive World Championship. He then proceeded to defend his world title at 90 kg in both 1974 and 1975. Tediashvili became a two-time Olympic gold medalist with a 90 kg victory at the 1976 Montréal Games. He did not lose a single match between 1971 and 1976. Tediashvili’s teammate on the 1976 Soviet Olympic team, Soslan Andiev, achieved the same level of success at the Montréal Games. Andiev won gold in the super heavyweight division, wrestling at more than 100 kg (220 lbs). He started out as a heavyweight, a class with the weight allowance capped at 100 kg. In that class, he won the first of his four World Championships in 1973. After losing as a heavyweight at the World Championships in 1974, Andiev moved up to super heavyweight and began a run of success that included three straight World Championships and the 1976 Olympic gold medal. He returned to the Olympics in 1980 and defended his title at the Moscow Games. 56

Uzbek super heavyweight (120 kg [265 lb]) Artur Taymazov did not have to look far for his wrestling hero. His older brother Tymur was also a wrestler and won an Olympic gold medal when Artur was just 17. Taymazov was determined to win a gold medal of his own but failed in his first attempt, settling for silver at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Artur Taymazov

Taymazov’s breakthrough came not at the Olympics but rather at the 2003 World Championships in New York, where he won gold. He entered the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as the reigning World Champion and wrestled with confidence to win his first Olympic gold. Taymazov would go on to defend his title in 2008 and 2012, winning three straight Olympic gold medals.

GRECO-ROMAN

In Greco-Roman wrestling, there is one name that stands above them all: Aleksandr Karelin. Known to his competitors as the “Russian Bear,” Karelin was the most dominant wrestler in history. He lost just two matches from 1982 through 2000. Like Taymazov, he won three Olympic gold medals (only five men in history have ever won that many). At one point, he went 13 years in a row without a loss, winning nine straight super heavyweight (over 130 kg [287 lbs]) World Championships. Karelin was known for his unmatched conditioning and superior technique, but mostly, he was just the strongest. His ability to pick up a prone 300 lb (136 kg) man by the waist and throw that opponent backward over his shoulder became known as the Karelin Lift. Another three-time Olympic gold medalist in the Greco-Roman discipline was Sweden’s Carl

Aleksandr Karelin

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Westergren. He wrestled in three different weight classes to win those three medals. The first two were achieved back-to-back in 1920 and 1924, at the games of Antwerp, Belgium, and Paris. At Antwerp, Westergren wrestled as a middleweight (75 kg [165 lbs]), the class in which he also won a World Championship in 1922. By 1924, Westergren had moved up to light heavyweight (82 kg (181 lbs]) and won his second Olympic gold medal in that class. After losing in the first round at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, Westergren again went up in weight class, this time to heavyweight. At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, he won his third gold medal. In the 1970s, Russian Valery Rezantsev was the man few could beat in the light heavyweight division (by this time classified as 90 kg [198 lbs]), especially in major competitions. Between 1970 and 1976, he won seven straight gold medals in either Olympic or World Championship competition. Rezantsev entered the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich as the two-time defending world champion and won the gold. He then defended his world title from 1973 to 1975, entering the Montréal Games as the five-time defending world champion as well as the defending Olympic champion. In Montréal, Rezantsev won the gold in a very close final match with Bulgarian Stoyan Ivanov.

Carl Westergren

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Hamza Yerlikaya

Hamid Sourian

In 1976, another Bulgarian was wrapping up a stellar career on the mat in a different fashion. Petar Kirov was eliminated in the second round at the 1976 Olympic meet, but it was the end of a successful ride. Kirov came into Montréal as the two-time defending gold medalist after wins at Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972. Kirov, a flyweight (52 kg [115 lbs]), also had success at the World Championships. Going into the Munich Olympics, he won back-to-back World Championships in 1970 and 1971. Kirov won a third World Championship in 1974. He was inducted into the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007. Joining Kirov as a gold medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics was Hungarian István Kozma. Kozma wrestled as a heavyweight (97 kg [214 lbs]) and, like Kirov, was a back-toback Olympic gold medalist. Kozma’s first Olympic gold came at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Kozma’s other successes on the world stage came in World Championship competition, especially at Toledo, the small city in northwest Ohio. Toledo hosted both the 1962 and 1966 FILA Wrestling World Championships, and on both occasions, Kozma won the heavyweight gold medal. He also defended his title in 1967 by winning a third World Championship in India. Another back-to-back Olympic champion was one of the best middleweights in GrecoRoman wrestling history. Turk Hamza Yerlikaya had a brilliant 15-year career on the mat that included a dominant eight European, three World and two Olympic Championships. Yerlikaya won his first World Championship in 1993 at 82 kg (181 lbs) and his second in 1995 in the same weight class. In 1996 he won his first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta at 82 kg and won gold again at the 2000 Sydney Games at 85 kg (187 lbs). By the 2005 World Championships, Yerlikaya was wrestling as a heavyweight (96 kg [209 lbs]) and won his third world title. In 2005, Iran’s Hamid Sourian won the first of his six World Championships. He dominated the bantamweight (55 kg [121 lb]) division from 2005 to 2012. This included winning five straight world titles. In the middle of that run came the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where Sourian entered the tournament as the three-time defending world champion. Shockingly, he lost two matches and finished out of the medals.

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Redemption came for Sourian four years later in London, where he won four matches to claim Iran’s first-ever gold medal in the sport. He did not surrender a point in the last three rounds. Like Sourian, the Soviet Union’s Nikolay Balboshin won only a single Olympic gold medal in his career. The manner in which he won it, however, is legend. Balboshin went into the 1976 Olympics in Montréal as a two-time heavyweight (100 kg [220 lb]) world champion and was certainly a favorite to win a medal in Montréal. At the Olympic meet, Balboshin far exceeded expectations, winning in spectacular fashion. He not only won every match, but he did so by pinning every one of his opponents. Balboshin’s five matches combined to last just 16 minutes and 48 seconds. Balboshin’s proceeded to win the next three World Championships. Only a serious shoulder injury at the 1980 Moscow Games prevented a second Olympic gold medal. Another of the Soviet Union’s dominant wrestlers, Roman Rurua, started out wrestling as a featherweight (63 kg [139 lbs]). After a silver-medal performance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Rurua hit his stride in 1966, when he won the first of four straight World Championships. He returned to the Olympics at Mexico City in 1968 as the twotime defending world champion, where he won the gold medal. After Mexico City, Rurua defended his featherweight world title in 1969. He then moved up to the lightweight class (69 kg [152 lbs]) for the 1970 season. At that year’s World Championships, he defeated 1969 lightweight world champion Simion Popescu to claim his fourth consecutive title. Germany’s Maik Bullmann came close to winning four straight World Championships of his own. His first came in 1989, when the light heavyweight (90 kg [198 lbs]) won the gold in Switzerland. It was the beginning of a dominant run for Bullmann, who also won the next two light heavyweight World Championships. Bullmann entered the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona as the three-time defending world champion and a huge favorite to win the gold, which he did. His great run came to an end in the 1993 World Championships, when he lost the final match to eventual fivetime world champion Gogi Koguashvili of Russia.

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American Jake Varner stands atop the medal podium after winning gold in the 96 kg class at the 2012 Summer Olympics freestyle wrestling medal ceremony in London.

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Career Snapshots Freestyle

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ALEKSANDR MEDVED 1961–1972

JOHN SMITH 1986–1992

3 Olympic Gold Medals 7 World Championship Gold Medals 9 total World Championship Medals

2 Olympic Gold Medals 4 World Championship Gold Medals 2 NCAA Championships

LEVAN TEDIASHVILI 1970–1980

VALENTIN YORDANOV 1981–1996

2 Olympic Gold Medals 4 World Championship Gold Medals 5 total World Championship Medals

1 Olympic Gold Medal 7 World Championship Gold Medals 10 total World Championship Medals

SOSLAN ANDIEV 1970–1982

MAKHARBEK KHADARTSEV 1986–1996

2 Olympic Gold Medals 4 World Championship Gold Medals 5 total World Championship Medals

2 Olympic Gold Medals 5 World Championship Gold Medals 8 total World Championship Medals

SERGEI BELOGLAZOV 1977–1988

BUVAISAR SAITIEV 1994–2009

2 Olympic Gold Medals 6 World Championship Gold Medals 7 total World Championship Medals

3 Olympic Gold Medals 6 World Championship Gold Medals 6 European Championship Gold Medals

ARSEN FADZAEV 1983–1992

ARTUR TAYMAZOV 2000–2015

2 Olympic Gold Medals 6 World Championship Gold Medals 7 total World Championship Medals

3 Olympic Gold Medals 2 World Championship Gold Medals 5 total World Championship Medals

Greco-Roman CARL WESTERGREN 1920–1932

NIKOLAY BALBOSHIN 1971–1984

3 Olympic Gold Medals 1 World Championship Gold Medal 3 European World Championship Gold Medals

1 Olympic Gold Medals 5 World Championship Gold Medals 6 European Championship Gold Medals

ISTVÁN KOZMA 1961–1970 2 Olympic Gold Medals 3 World Championship Gold Medals 5 total World Championship Medals ROMAN RURUA 1963–1972 1 Olympic Gold Medals 4 World Championship Gold Medals 1 Olympic Silver Medal PETAR KIROV 1966–1976 2 Olympic Gold Medals 3 World Championship Gold Medals 4 European Championship Gold Medals VALERY REZANTSEV 1970–1976 2 Olympic Gold Medals 5 World Championship Gold Medals 3 European Championship Gold Medals

MAIK BULLMANN 1988–1996 1 Olympic Gold Medals 3 World Championship Gold Medals 5 total World Championship Medals ALEKSANDR KARELIN 1987–2000 3 Olympic Gold Medals 9 World Championship Gold Medals 12 European Championship Gold Medals HAMZA YERLIKAYA 1993–2007 2 Olympic Gold Medals 3 World Championship Gold Medals 8 European Championship Gold Medals HAMID SOURIAN 2005–2016 1 Olympic Gold Medals 6 World Championship Gold Medals 2 Asian Championship Gold Medals

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Wrestling was slated to be dropped from the Olympics following the 2016 Games in Rio, but UWW fought to keep the sport on the Olympic roster at least through 2024.

Words to Understand: purged: to remove people from an area, country, or organization, often in a sudden way provisional: existing or accepted for the present time but likely to be changed allotted: to give someone something to use or have

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CHAPTER THE FUTURE OF WRESTLING In 2013, the future of wrestling looked very bleak. In February of that year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to eliminate the sport from the Summer Olympic roster of core sports, starting in Tokyo 2020. Wrestling, in one form or another, has been in the Olympic Games since the original Olympiads in ancient Greece. The classic history of the sport, however, could not protect it from the modern perception of wrestling as slow, with low Olympic TV ratings and ticket sales and a substandard anti-doping policy.

EVALUATING THE CORE

The IOC periodically reviews what it calls its core sports. In February 2013, the IOC executive board reviewed a report by an IOC program commission analyzing 39 criteria across all sports. One sport needed to be purged to get the number of core sports to the desired 25, and wrestling was the board’s vote. This result meant that wrestling would have to compete for a spot as a provisional sport with seven others.

QUICK CHANGES

FILA reacted quickly to the news of wrestling’s exclusion from the Olympics. Three days after the vote, it ousted FILA president Raphael Martinetti and replaced him with Nenad Lalovic. Lalovic moved quickly to address the issues cited by the IOC as reasons for the result of the vote. Lalovic initiated rule changes to speed up the action on the mat, rewarding aggression and penalizing stalling tactics. FILA added two more weight classes for women and added a woman to its governing body as a vice president. The organization also stiffened its anti-doping policies.

REPRIEVE GRANTED

In September of 2013, the board reconvened in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to decide which sport would be granted provisional status, and wrestling won handily, getting 49 of 95 votes. This demonstrated how impressed the board was with the sweeping changes the sport had enacted so quickly as no one familiar with the process had predicted that a sport that had so recently been excluded would be granted true consideration so soon.

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The future is still cloudy as far as the Olympics go, however. Wrestling has provisional status for 2020 and 2024, but beyond that, it will be put to a vote of the board once again. In future years, UWW will need to demonstrate wrestling’s popularity to the board, along with its adaptability. A willingness to make changes that make the sport more accessible to casual sports fans will be necessary to help the sport regain core status once more.

WOMEN ON TOP

One of the biggest keys to the sport’s future may be the growth of women’s wrestling. Not only did FILA add two weight classes for women’s Olympic wrestling in 2016, but it also reduced the men’s weight classes in both GrecoRoman and freestyle to be the same number as allotted to the women. Gender equality is going to be a part of the future. Women’s wrestling is the fastest-growing segment for UWW, a trend the organization aspires to continue.

Women's wrestling is the fastest-growing segment for United World Wrestling.

In the United States the number of girls participating in high school wrestling is 13 times what it was in the mid-1990s, with more than 11,000 active athletes. On the international level, 177 countries have national wrestling federations, and nearly all of them sponsor a women’s team.

SEEDING

One of the things that fans often clamor for in international wrestling tournaments is a seeded, double elimination format. Currently, the tournament matchups are determined by a random draw among all entrants. With no seeding (the assigning of ranks to distinguish the most accomplished wrestlers), it is possible for the two best wrestlers in a given weight class to meet in an early round. UWW maintains that going to a seeded format would give the powerful wrestling nations an unfair advantage as they would receive all the high seeds and therefore get relatively easy matchups; they would likely dominate into the late rounds. Advocates have proposed 66

separating at least defending world or Olympic medalists in the draw, so the possible best four wrestlers cannot meet each other until the semifinals. Whether there will ever be enough support for the idea of seeding to effect a change remains to be seen.

FUTURE STARS

Maryland native Kyle Snyder enrolled at Ohio State University in 2014 following a standout high school career where he was unbeaten in his first three years. After a successful freshman season, he started the 2015 season with a trip to the World Championships in Las Vegas, his first World Championships as a senior-age wrestler. Snyder won a junior World Championship in 2013 at age 17. In Las Vegas, he won his first senior title at 97 kg (214 lbs). Snyder’s teammate Logan Stieber was a standout wrestler at Ohio State University (OSU) from 2012 to 2015. He is one of four wrestlers in NCAA history ever to win four individual NCAA Championships. Stieber won at 133 lbs (60 kg) in his freshman and sophomore seasons then moved up to dominate at 141 lbs (64 kg) as a junior and senior. Stieber, who grew up in a small town 60 miles (97 km) west of Cleveland, lost only three matches in his career at OSU. He wrestles internationally at 65 kg (143 lbs).

Kyle Snyder

Logan Stieber

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1888: New York City, NY, is host to the first organized national wrestling tournament.

1896: Greco-Roman wrestling is an event at the first modern Olympic Games, hosted at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece.

1904: Saint Louis, MO, is host to the first freestyle wrestling competition of the modern Olympic Games.

1912: The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) is founded in Antwerp, Belgium.

1912: Ames, IA, is host to the first NCAA Wrestling Championships.

1987: Lorenskog, Norway, is host to the first world women’s wrestling championship.

Text-Dependent Questions: 1. FILA president Nenad Lalovic made sweeping changes when faced with the threat that wrestling could be removed from the Olympics. Name three changes he made to save the sport’s spot. 2. Name one of the biggest keys to the sport’s future. 3. Name a future star in the sport of wrestling.

Research Project: As you just learned, wrestling has provisional status for the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, but beyond that, it will be put to a vote of the board once again. What do you think the UWW needs to do to prove the sport is worthy of moving back into one of the 25 core sports in the games? Share your thoughts with the UWW by contacting them via e-mail, writing a letter, or posting to their social media.

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GLOSSARY OF WRESTLING TERMS adaptation: to change something to fit new circumstances or preferences. alma mater: the school or university that someone attended. artifacts: something made by people in the ancient past. compelling: strong and forceful, convincing someone to believe something. concede: to admit defeat, to give up. counterpart: someone who does the same thing as another, for example, plays the same sport. derail: to push something off course. disciplines: a field of study or practice. Division I: schools that are strong in athletics, with large numbers of athletes, large budgets, and exceptional facilities. dominated: to be more powerful or successful than others in something, such as a sport. dynamos: people who have a lot of energy. garner: to get or receive, usually something positive. grappling: fighting hand to hand. immigration: to move to a new country to live. impeccable: of the highest order, beyond reproach, free from error. neutral: when neither side has an advantage or disadvantage.

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outmatched: to be at a different level of performance, in a different class of competition. passive: allowing something to happen; the opposite of attacking. phenom: a person who is very good at something, often a young person who excels at a sport. prep school: a private school that prepares students with the skills they need to attend college. prominence: a state of being important or well-known. ramifications: the result of something that has happened or that was decided. revenue: money made by an organization, for example, by a university through sports events. sanctions: gives official approval. spotlight: to get noticed, to draw attention from a large audience. succession: a series of things that come one after the other. tradition: a way of doing something, or thinking, that has been developed over a long period of time. unanimous: when everyone agrees. unprecedented: something that hasn’t been done before.

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CHRONOLOGY 2600 BC: Images of two men wrestling, featuring many holds and throws used by modernday wrestlers, are carved into the walls of Egyptian tombs. 708 BC: The Greeks add wrestling to the games of the 18th Olympiad. 23 BC: Sukune wins the first recorded wrestling match in Japan. 1520: King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France wrestle each other. 1830s: The forerunner of Greco-Roman wrestling develops in France, where tripping and holds involving the legs are not allowed. 1903: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania form the Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (IWA), which sets standards and guidelines for college wrestling. 1904: U.S. athletes are the only entrants in the new freestyle wrestling events in the Olympic Games in St. Louis. 1912: The Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA), wrestling’s international governing body, is founded in Antwerp, Belgium. 1919: The first U.S. high school wrestling meet takes place in Oklahoma. 1932: Kristjan Palusalu of Estonia wins heavyweight division gold medals in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman events at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. 1972: Dan Gable wins the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich without surrendering a single point. 1987: Women’s freestyle wrestling is added as an event for the FILA World Championships. 1989: Dan Gable coaches the University of Iowa to its ninth straight NCAA team title. 1996: Bruce Baumgartner becomes the first American wrestler to win medals in four Olympic Games.

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2000: Rulon Gardner of Wyoming upsets Russia’s Aleksandr Karelin to win the 130 kg (287 lb) gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. 2002: Cael Sanderson of Iowa State University completes his senior season by winning his fourth national championship to go undefeated in his college career, with a record of 159-0. 2004: Women’s freestyle wrestling is added as an Olympic event for the games in Athens. 2013: Wrestling is dropped as a core sport of the Olympic Games; the sport is reinstated six months later on a provisional basis through 2024. 2014: FILA changes its name to United World Wrestling (UWW). Wrestling today: In January 2016, 31-year-old Japanese superstar Kaori Icho lost her first freestyle match in 13 years. She had won an incredible 189 straight matches, including 10 World Championships and three straight Olympic gold medals. Her loss to 21-year-old Mongolian Orkhon Purevdorj opened up the 63 kg (139 lb) division to a new generation of athletes by introducing the possibility that Icho could be beaten.

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FURTHER READING:

Gable, Dan and Schulte, Scott. A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2015. Cejudo, Henry. American Victory: Wrestling, Dreams and a Journey Toward Home. New York, NY: Celebra, 2011. Foley, T.R. Full Circle: The 209 Days That United the World and Saved an Olympic Sport. Old Goat Publishing, 2014.

INTERNET RESOURCES:

United World Wrestling: https://unitedworldwrestling.org/ Sports Reference: http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/sports/WRE/ NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/wrestling/d1 Olympics: http://www.olympic.org/wrestling-freestyle http://www.olympic.org/wrestling-greco-roman

VIDEO CREDITS:

Perfection for Gable (pg 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb2Lfqfts6Q Blatnick Beats Cancer to Win Gold (pg 9) https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tFyKv0QBkEI Promise Realized (pg 10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRysH6Md6ig The Bear’s Streak (pg 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPpu3xaas1s Double Gold (pg 12) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxFRW2bNwig Goliath Vanquished (pg 13) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaPx7DbdBUo Undefeated (pg 14) http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7634698 From Rags to Gold (pg 15) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btLW8gQuo6w

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PICTURE CREDITS

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INDEX Akgül, Taha, 46 Aleksanyan, Artur, 47–48, 48 Aliyev, Haji, 45 American wrestling, 37–40. See also collegiate wrestling; scholastic wrestling; specific wrestlers Andiev, Soslan, 56, 62 Armenian wrestling, 47–48, 48 artwork, 16, 16, 17, 17, 18, 20 Ashraliev, Ruslan, 8 Asikainen, Alfred, 24, 24 Ayik, Ahmet, 54 Azcuy, Filiberto, 12, 12 Azerbaijani wrestling, 45, 49, 49, 50, 50 Balboshin, Nikolay, 60, 63 Bartoletti, Basilio, 25 Baumgartner, Bruce, 39–40 Bayramov, Rovshan, 50, 50 Beloglazov, Sergei, 52, 54–55, 62 Beni Hasan cemetery, 16, 17 Blatnick, Jeff, 9, 9 Bulgarian wrestling, 53, 56, 58–59 Bullman, Maik, 60, 63 Buntoku, 20 Burroughs, Jordan, 42, 43 cancer recovery, 9 Çebi, Selçuk, 48 Cejudo, Angel, 15 Cejudo, Henry, 15, 15 challenges, 34 Chunayev, Rasul, 49, 49 coaches, 34, 34, 54 collegiate wrestling: about, 7, 20, 21, 21, 38; famous athletes, 38, 39–40, 54; future stars, 67; greatest moments, 14, 14 Corvin, Tim, 25 Cuban wrestling, 12, 12, 46 Estonian wrestling, 47, 47 Exbroyat, Jean, 25–26 exposures, 28 Fadzaev, Arsen, 55, 62 Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA), 31, 65, 68 female wrestling. See women’s wrestling FILA. See Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) Finnish wrestling, 24, 24 flat-hand wrestling, 26 folkstyle wrestling. See American wrestling Francis I, 19 freestyle wrestling: about, 6; collegiate wrestling, 14, 14, 38; former stars, 53, 54–57, 55, 57; greatest moments, 8, 8, 10, 10, 15, 15; modern-day stars, 43–46, 43, 44, 45, 46; rules, 31–33; scholastic wrestling versus, 37; statistics, 62

Gable, Dan, 8, 8, 39–40, 53 Gardner, Rulon, 13, 13 Georgian wrestling, 45 German wrestling, 49, 60. See also West German wrestling Greco-Roman wrestling: former stars, 11, 11, 13, 13, 52, 53, 57–60, 57, 58; greatest moments, 9, 9, 11, 11, 12–13, 12, 13; modern-day stars, 46–50, 47, 48, 49, 50; rules, 25–26, 28; statistics, 63; style of, 19, 25, 26 Greek wrestling, 17, 19 headgear, 37 Henry VIII, 18, 19 high school wrestling. See scholastic wrestling holds, 32–33 Homer, 17 Hungarian wrestling, 59 Icho, Kaori, 44 injuries, 8, 43, 60 Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (IWA), 21 International Olympic Committee (IOC), 65 International Wrestling Federation, 54 International Wrestling Hall of Fame inductees, 54, 59 IOC. See International Olympic Committee (IOC) Iranian wrestling, 50, 58, 59–60 Ivanov, Stoyan, 58 IWA. See Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (IWA) Japanese wrestling, 20, 20, 43–44, 44 Johansson, Tomas, 9, 9 judges, 33 jury of appeal, 34 Karelin, Aleksandr, 11, 11, 13, 13, 52, 53, 57, 57, 63 Kayaalp, Riza, 46–47 Khadartsev, Makharbek, 55–56, 62 Khinchegashvili, Vladimer, 45 Kim, Hyeon-woo, 48, 49 Kirov, Petar, 59, 63 Klein, Martin, 24, 24 Knosp, Martin, 10, 10 Koguashvili, Gogi, 60 Korean wrestling, 45, 48, 49 Kozma, István, 59, 63 Lalovic, Nenad, 65 Lebedev, Viktor, 44–45 Lincoln, Abraham, 20 López, Mijaín, 46, 47 Makhov, Biylal, 46, 46 Martinetti, Raphael, 65 mat chairmen, 33, 34 matches: about, 29, 30, 40, 51; collegiate or scholastic wrestling, 21, 22, 69, 73; international, 39; Olympics 1912, 24; referees at, 26, 33; women’s wrestling, 71. See also meets

In this index, page numbers in bold italics font indicate photos or videos.

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INDEX mats, 39. See also wrestling circles Medved, Aleksandr, 52, 54, 62 meets, 28, 39. See also matches mental toughness, 53 middle school wrestling. See scholastic wrestling Monday, Kenny, 55 Nabi, Heiki, 47, 47 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), 38 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), 7, 38 National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA), 38 National Federation of State High Schools Associations (NFHS), 37 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), 38 Native American wrestling, 6, 20, 21 NCAA. See National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCWA. See National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) NFHS. See National Federation of State High Schools Associations (NFHS) NJCAA. See National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) officials, 26, 33, 33 Olympics: 1896, 26, 68; 1904, 25, 31, 68; 1912, 24; 1920s, 58; 1960s, 54, 59, 60; 1970s, 8, 8, 56, 58, 59, 60; 1980s, 9–10, 9, 10, 11, 11, 54, 55, 56; 1990s, 11, 12, 54, 55, 56, 59, 60; 2000s, 12, 12, 15, 15, 44, 46, 50, 54, 57, 59; 2012, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 57, 60, 61; 2016, 46; status as core sport in, 64, 65–66; weight classes, 26. See also Greek wrestling ordered holds, 32–33 origin of sport, 6, 17, 18, 19–20, 20 out-of-bounds, 28 penalties, 28 Pioneers of Professional Wrestling: 1860-1899 (Corvin), 25 Plato, 19 Popescu, Simion, 60 referees, 26, 33, 33, 34 repechage, 28 reversals, 28 Rezantsev, Valery, 58, 63 Robinson Secondary School Varsity Wrestling Team, Fairfax, Virginia, 36 Roman wrestling, 19 rules, 25–26, 28, 31–33, 37, 38, 65 Rurua, Roman, 60, 63 Russian wrestling: former stars, 24, 24, 52, 53, 54–55, 57, 57, 58, 60; greatest moments, 11, 11, 13, 13; modern-day stars, 43, 43, 44–45, 46, 48. See also Soviet wrestling Sadulaev, Abdulrashid, 45–46, 45 Saitiev, Buvaisar, 54, 55, 62 Sanderson, Cael, 14, 14, 39–40 scholastic wrestling, 7, 21, 36, 37 Schultz, Dave, 10, 10 scoring, 26, 28

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seeding, 66–67 Serbian wrestling, 49 single elimination formats, 28 singlets, 28 skill repertoire, 53 Smith, John, 39, 40, 54, 55, 62 Smith, Pat, 54 Snyder, Kyle, 67, 67 Sourian, Hamid, 50, 58, 59–60, 63 Soviet wrestling, 8, 52, 54, 55, 56, 60. See also Russian wrestling Stäbler, Frank, 49 Štefanek, Davor, 49 Stieber, Logan, 67 Sukune, 20 sumo wrestling, 20, 20 Swedish wrestling, 57–58, 58 Taft, William Howard, 20 takedowns, 21, 28 Taymazov, Artur, 52, 57, 57, 62 Taymazov, Tymur, 57 technical superiority, 32, 37 Tediashvili, Levan, 56, 62 throws, 32, 38 Title IX, 7 tournaments, 27, 28, 68. See also matches; meets; seeding Tsargush, Denis, 43, 43 Turkish wrestling, 46, 48, 54, 58, 59 Ukrainian wrestling, 52, 54 uniforms, 28 United World Wrestling (UWW), 31, 52, 64, 66 University of Pittsburgh Wrestling Team, 38 Utagawa, Kuniyoshi, 20 UWW. See United World Wrestling (UWW) Uzbekistani wrestling, 55, 57, 57 Varner, Jake, 61 video reviews, 34 Vlasov, Roman, 48 Washington, George, 20 weigh-ins, 25, 28 weight classes, 25, 26, 31–32, 37, 38, 49, 53, 66 Westergren, Carl, 57–58, 58, 63 West German wrestling, 10, 10 women’s wrestling, 32, 38, 43–44, 44, 66, 66, 68, 71 wrestling circles, 28, 35. See also mats Yang, Kyong-Il, 45 Yerlikaya, Hamza, 58, 59, 63 Yordanov, Valentin, 53, 56, 62 Yoshida, Saori, 44