 Collegiate wrestling, like freestyle wrestling, had its origins in catch wrestling but became distinctly American by the 20th century. | |
| Also known as | Folkstyle wrestling |
|---|---|
| Focus | Wrestling, Grappling |
| Hardness | Full-contact |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Famous practitioners | Edward C. Gallagher, Danny Hodge, Verne Gagne, Jack Brisco, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Jake Hager, Bruce Baumgartner, Mark Coleman, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Stephen Neal, Dan Henderson, Jon Jones, Katsutoshi Naito, Yojiro Uetake, Greg Jones, Anthony Robles, Dan Severn, Shane Carwin, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Slay, Joe Williams, Dan Gable, Cary Kolat, Cliff Keen, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, Tyron Woodley, John Smith, Pat Smith, Robin Reed, Cael Sanderson, Ben Askren, Johny Hendricks, Kyle Dake, Jordan Burroughs, Colby Covington, Justin Gaethje, Matt Hughes, Chael Sonnen, Aljamain Sterling, Kamaru Usman, David Taylor, Kyle Snyder, Logan Stieber, Yianni Diakomihalis,Spencer Lee |
| Parenthood | Catch wrestling |
Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of wrestling practiced at the post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the high school, middle school, and elementary levels with some modifications. The rules and style of collegiate/folkstyle wrestling differ from the Olympic styles of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. There are collegiate wrestling programs in almost all US states, plus Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.[1]
Women's wrestling at the U.S. college level uses two different rulesets. The National Wrestling Coaches Association, whose women's division is now recognized by the NCAA as part of its Emerging Sports for Women program, uses the freestyle ruleset as defined by the sport's international governing body, United World Wrestling.[2] The National Collegiate Wrestling Association, a separate governing body that conducts competition for colleges and universities parallel to but outside the scope of the NCAA, uses collegiate rules in its women's division.
Collegiate and freestyle wrestling, unlike Greco-Roman, also both allow the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense.
- ^ "NAIA History & Honours - Wrestling". Simon Fraser University Athletics. April 25, 2023.
- ^ "Growing Wrestling: Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association". National Wrestling Coaches Association. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.