Rules of Greco-Roman Wrestling: Everything You Need to Know About Classic Wrestling

Greco-Roman or classic wrestling is a European kind of combat sports, in which an athlete should utilize a certain number of technical movements (holds) to unbalance an opponent and to pin him down to the mat. Although Greco-Roman wrestling can seem to be similar to freestyle wrestling, the main difference between the two is that Greco-Roman wrestlers are not allowed to use legs in their holds (grip vines, foot sweeps, and reaps) and grip the opponents’ legs with their own hands.

General Rules

Greco-Roman wrestling is a match between two athletes. There are a few holds that are used for a wrestling act to occur. The most important thing is that these holds can be aimed at the above-waist area. As it has already been mentioned, the main task of the given kind of sport is to pin an opponent to the mat (this scenario is known as the fall). In addition, a wrestler can be awarded a victory if he wins 1 or 2 periods. For this, a wrestler should get an advantage of 8 points over his competitor. If it happens that a match ends in an equal score, the referee announces the extra time for the opponents to determine who is going to be a winner.

A regular Greco-Roman wrestling match consists of two 3-minute periods with a 30-second interval between them. If a wrestler manages to perform a grand-amplitude throw counting for 5 points, he is said to immediately become a winner. Wrestlers also obtain a certain number of points for every throw, hold or cover successfully performed. Some points are also given to a wrestler if his opponent makes a foul such as passivity and escaping from wrestling. Although it is the mat referee who awards points, the chairman official should approve this decision for the points to be given to a certain wrestler.

If it is not possible to determine a winner after a match is over, a coin toss is organized to identify which wrestler is given the right to attack. If this attack manages to be successful, this player will be said to win the match. In the opposite case, the defensive player will become a winner.

It is forbidden to appear at a wrestling event with the body being covered with any material that can make it greasy. In addition, all the nails should be shortly cut, while every wrestler should have a handkerchief. Also, it is prohibited to get into argument with the referees, to talk with an opponent, and leave the mat without the permission.

Ways of Winning a Match

In fact, there are a few ways of who a wrestler can become a winner of a single match. To be more exact, they are as follows:

• win by fall;
• win by injury, default or disqualification of an opponent;
• win by technical superiority;
• win by decision.

In case if both wrestlers have the same number of points, a victory is given to the athlete who:

• has a better quality of actions (more holds with higher points);
• has fewer warnings;
• was the last to earn a point or points.

As for warnings, a wrestler should be disqualified if he gets three of them. In this case, the third warning should be given only if the whole jury of three officials approve it. With this, wrestlers have the right to appeal against any warning according to the official rules.

The Mat

It is quite clear that there should be a specific surface an act of wrestling can take place on. In Greco-Roman wrestling, this surface is represented by a rubber mat of a rounded shape. It should be mentioned at once that organizers should use new mats for such official tournaments as the Olympic Games, World Cups, and all World and European Championships. Every mat consists of separate areas, each of which is of a particular color and size.

To explain, the most important area is represented by a 7-meter circle of a yellow color that is said to be the central wrestling area. This is the place where an act of wrestling should actually take place. This yellow circle is surrounded by a 1-meter-wide red circle, which means this red circle is 9 meters in diameter. This very circle is said to be the passivity zone. In the very middle of the central wrestling area, there is the central circle that is one meter in diameter. The central circle is surrounded by a band 10 centimeters wide and is divided in half by a red line eight centimeters in width. The yellow-red circle is then surrounded by a 1.5-meter border of the same thickness known as the protection area. Wrestlers should begin a match from diagonally opposite ends of the mat. That is why these ends should be correspondingly marked either with the red or blue color.

As for the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the Continental Championships, the mat should be installed on a platform no greater than 1.1 meters in height. If the mat lies on a podium and the protection margin (covering and free space around the mat) does not reach two meters, then the sides of the podium are covered with 45 degrees inclined panels. In all cases, the color of the protection area should be visibly different from the color of the mat.

Equipment

Those who are familiar with equipment for freestyle wrestling will see that there exists an identical set of equipment necessary for Greco-Roman wrestling competitions. To be more exact, wrestlers’ equipment consists of the following elements:

1. A singlet is a one-piece wrestling garment that should meet the official requirements. This piece of equipment can be made from nylon or lycra to result in a higher convenience. Singlets can be either red or blue. The color for a particular wrestler is determined with the help of a coin toss. It is strictly forbidden to combined both red and blue colors for a singlet. Wrestlers are allowed to have one or a few sponsors’ names on the singlets if it is not the Olympic games.
2. A special pair of shoes is necessary to result in an additional support for the ankle. It is prohibited to use high-heel shoes or shoes with any metal elements. In addition, wrestling shoes should be without open laces; they should be covered under tapes. The shoes should be carefully checked by an official before a wrestler appears on the mat.
3. Some wrestlers can wear headgear that is used to protect their ears. This piece of equipment should be free from any metal and any other hard elements.
4. The already mentioned handkerchief is necessary to stop bleeding if it occurs.

Way of Wrestling

In Greco-Roman wrestling, athletes can take a high, medium, and low standing position; when it comes to position in respect of an opponent, the standing position can be right-handed, left-handed, and front. As a rule, a wrestler moves forward his stronger foot. High and medium standing positions are suitable for an attack and higher flexibility; it is better to take defensive actions from a low standing position.

Although it is not allowed to use legs, their strength and speed are of vital importance. Among others, it is the strength of wrestlers’ legs that are responsible for performing speedy holds and throws. If wrestlers want these movements to be successful, it is necessary to apply as many skills and powers to them as possible.

As it has already been stated, there are a few differences between freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. These peculiarities are not limited to the role of legs. To explain, Greco-Roman athletes are not also allowed to make any actions with opponents’ joints, perform submission holds, and grip the opponents’ head for more than 5 seconds. The wrestlers may deal with the opponents’ upper bodies only to perform throws and lift them. In this case, an advantage is earned by a wrestler who can impress with greater physical strength.

In this kind of sport, wrestlers can use standing and grounding positions. With this, the main task while in a standing position is to imbalance an opponent to bring a match into grounding wrestling. Unlike in judo and sambo, hacks are aimed at bodies, which requires from the wrestlers to have greater physical power. In other words, it is prohibited to grip the opponents’ singlet to perform a throw. In addition, it is strictly prohibited to grip opponent’s nose, ears, fingers, and generative organs. With this, such parts as wrists, forearms, shoulders, neck, and body as suitable for gripping.

Elasticity and power are the most important phenomena necessary for achieving successful results in Greco-Roman wrestling competitions. That is why wrestlers should have special training programs.

Bridging is the most important element of each of them. For this element, a wrestler should curve his back to touch the mat with his feet and head (either the chin or the back of the head) only. Apart from bridging, a set of important exercises consists of somersault, cartwheel, roundoff, handstand, and others. In other words, it would be quite difficult for a wrestler to obtain successful results in the given kind of sport if he fails to have strong and elastic joints as well as blood vessels. That is why it is necessary to train the technique of falling and self-safety.

The respiratory system and overall stamina can be improved through running and active games, with rugby being extremely popular for the given purpose. Firstly, holds are practiced on a mannequin followed by sparring-match with other wrestlers. These matches are extremely important for developing specific skills and abilities.

Officials

Every official fight between two individual wrestlers is served by a jury (or team) of three officials. Each of these officials has his own responsibilities, and they are as follows:

1. The referee controls the action in the center, blowing the whistle to start and stop the action, and supervises the scoring of holds and infractions.
2. The judge sits at the side of the mat, keeps score, and occasionally gives his approval when needed by the referee for various decisions.
3. The mat chairman sits at the scoring table, keeps time, is responsible for declaring technical superiority, and supervises the work of the referee and judge. To call a fall, two of the three officials must agree (usually, the referee and either the judge or the mat chairman meaning the referee has a bit more weight in this system).

General Fouls

It is no surprise that some wrestlers either intentionally or not can repeatedly utilize prohibited holds to get an advantage over an opponent. For this, here is the list of all the fouls that can be performed by a single wrestler and that must be followed by corresponding punitive measures:

• pulling the opponent’s hair, ears, and genitalia;
• munching, biting, twisting the fingers, and performing everything in order to inflict pain and make an opponent surrender;
• kicking an opponent with feet and the head, throttling, and pushing him i.e. exercising holds that can result in serious danger for an opponent’s health and life;
• using the knee or elbow to put pressure on the opponent’s stomach;
• making a snatch at the mat or opponent’s singlet;
• speaking during a fight;
• organizing a fixed fight;

History

Numerous archeological findings prove that wrestling was extremely popular in Ancient Greece. The importance of the sport can be supported by the fact that it was introduced in the Olympic Games in 704 BC. Children, teenagers, and adults were obliged to deal with wrestling to develop their physical abilities. The most interesting fact was that numerous personalities of Ancient Greece were wrestlers (Pythagoras, Plato, and others).

In a while, the Romans noticed the Greek hobby and started practicing it, too. Apart from the Greeks, the Romans combined wrestling with fist-fighting competitions. Its winners became real people’s heroes.

In the late 18th-early 19th centuries, there were created modern rules of Greco-Roman wrestling:

• it was allowed to use only hands for holds;
• a victory is given to an athlete who manages to pin his opponent to the mat or when a wrestler gets an advantage of 10 points.

As soon as it happened in France, the sport was called French wrestling. This name was in use until 1948. At present, Greco-Roman wrestling is the official name of the given kind of sport but it can be sometimes called classic wrestling. This sport had been extremely popular among usual people; moreover, it gained an international acknowledgment in a while. The first European Greco-Roman Championships took place in 1898 in Vienna (Austria). It was participated by 11 wrestlers from 3 states (Austria, Germany, and Russia).

The United World Wrestling (UWW) is an organization that deals with developing Greco-Roman wrestling all over the globe. As a result, there are the following popular tournaments for the given kind of sport:

1. The Olympic Games – the most prestigious Greco-Roman competitions.
2. The World Championships – international competitions among amateur wrestlers held under the auspices of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).
3. The European Championships – international competitions of European amateur wrestlers held under the auspices of the FILA.