Age-group Level
At young ages, independent tournaments are often run in the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles. There are also tournaments where wrestlers compete in a style very similar to collegiate or high school (scholastic) wrestling.To differentiate this style from freestyle and Greco-Roman, the term folkstyle wrestling is a more commonly used phrase than the term collegiate wrestling or scholastic wrestling. In many places in the United States, there are small associations known as wrestling clubs designed to introduce young people to the sport of wrestling, many of whom are even as young as 3 to 5 years old. Often these wrestling clubs are benefitted by the experience of older wrestlers, particularly those who wrestle in middle school and high school. The rules governing youth matches largely correspond to those of the NFHS, with shorter periods (generally, depending on the age divisions, the periods typically last anywhere from one to one and a half minutes) and other modifications.
The injuries sustained while participating in scholastic wrestling are as follows. 68% of injuries are due to lack of training while participating in conditioning (asthma attacks etc..) 21% of injuries are sustained to the ankles of participants. ^8% of those injuries are sustained while in conditioning.Injuries in matches stand at 11%, with 83% of injuries sustained to the ankles dues to weak shoewear, and to the groin.
There is, however, much less visible organization of wrestling in the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles for young wrestlers, especially at the high school and college age levels. Many high school and college students do compete in freestyle and Greco-Roman dual meets and tournaments however with great success, some of which are on the regional and national levels.
Similarly, the differences between collegiate (folkstyle) wrestling and the international styles are enough to create potential disadvantages to the wrestlers not growing up focusing on the international styles. However, some would argue that the real reason the United States does not typically fare as well in international wrestling competitions is because of the greater focus much of the rest of the world places on the sport. USA Wrestling and the Amateur Athletic Union currently sponsors duals, state, regional, and national competitions in folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman for elementary and middle school age students, as well as for all ages.
Read more about this topic: Scholastic Wrestling, Folkstyle
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