This season the NCAA has created a few rule changes that will significantly alter wrestling action, scoring, and strategy. A few of the main points from this year’s new rules and interpretations are:
Near Fall
- No more 3 pt. NF will be awarded
- Wrestlers who receive a 2 count will be awarded 2 NF points. Wrestlers who receive a 4 count will be awarded 4 NF points.
- There is no longer a 5 count
Stalling
- Anytime wrestler’s go out of bounds the referee shall make one of the following decisions: 1) call stalling on the wrestler who went out of bounds first, 2) call stalling on the wrestler who pushed his opponent out of bounds without the intention action of scoring, 3) make no stalling call and decide continuous action was the reason for going out of bounds
Interlocking Fingers
- First instance is called and stalemate and both wrestlers are served a warning
- On the next occurrence, the offending wrestler will be called for stalling.
Other rules/interpretations included: questioning the mat official, scoring(breaking) dual meet tie criteria, coaching during injury timeouts, modifying the dropdown stalling rule, and many others. If interested the link below is a detailed video explaining all of this season’s rules and interpretations.
