Tweaking Folkstyle Rules?

Becoming redundant, I agree with most of what you said and here is an interesting thought in the form of a question I've been trying to figure out for years: Why are we good in some sports that were invented abroad and not good in some others?Examples of sports we appear to dominate that are more international in scope and may have been invented abroad are gymnastics (female), track & field, swimming, ice hockey and a lot of other Olympic sports really.USA tends to lead the medal count in the Olympic Games and is the all time leader of all medals for winter and summer Games which is around 33 different sports most of which were invented abroad.

Becoming redundant, I agree with most of what you said and here is an interesting thought in the form of a question I've been trying to figure out for years:Why are we good in some sports that were invented abroad and not good in some others?Examples of sports we appear to dominate that are more international in scope and may have been invented abroad are gymnastics (female), track & field, swimming, ice hockey and a lot of other Olympic sports really.USA tends to lead the medal count in the Olympic Games and is the all time leader of all medals for winter and summer Games which is around 33 different sports most of which were invented abroad.

Sesker works for USAW while NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and most high school coaches do not. The people who pay Sesker's salary do not pay the salaries of folkstyle coaches. So, if USAW was paying folkstyle coaches, maybe the rules would change.At this point, college and high school coaches goal is not to win Olympic meda;s or win world championships like USAW' mission. If and when that becomes the case, Sesker may have a point.

I think its a great idea... they should tweak some of the folkstyle rules in order to help "mold" our wrestlers at a younger age towards freestyle and greco roman wrestling... we are the only nation that implements folk style wrestling to our youth,when it boils down to it... the pinnacle of our sport is at the Olympic level and we should aim more of our concentration towards the Olympic level... which is freestyle and greco

I agree with you Aaron. why should Folkstyle change its rules to emulate the mess that Freestyle rules have become. Sesker is really down on riding time. He's put this disdain for riding time in other articles he's written. Sesker ignores the fact that riding an opponent for one minute shows dominance over one's opponent that should be worth at least a point. He describes riding as boring but apparently thinks ball grabs are a great way to decide a match. The last thing we need is for those maniacs at USA Wrestling morphing Folkstyle into low scoring capricious Freestyle.

I think Craig Sesker's article on tweaking folkstyle is total crap. Anyone else see it? What do you guys think? *****************************************************This article appears in today's USA Wrestler magazine.Folkstyle rules need tweakingTHE LAST WORD ? by Craig SeskerThe NCAA Wrestling Championships is one of my favorite events.You can?t beat the atmosphere every March, with fans from all over the country gathering to fill a 20,000-seat arena for college wrestling?s showcase event.But there needs to he some changes made in college wrestling, and at the high school level as well.The United States is coming off its worst performance in the history of the World Championships in freestyle, and folkstyle wrestling is partially to blame.Obviously, U.S. athletes need to step up and perform better, but significant rules differences between American folkstyle and the international rules are hurting the US. No other country in the World wrestles folkstyle.I?m not asking for wholesale changes in the folkstyle rules, hut there should be a few tweaks made to the rules at the high school and NCAA levels so American athletes don?t lag behind so much when concentrating solely on freestyle after college.Here are a few of the rules changes I think need to at least he considered:Add the out-of-bounds rule - This seemed like kind of a silly rule when it was added, but after watching the Olympics and Worlds the past few years it is an area of wrestling the U.S. is very weak in right now. The Europeans are very skilled in scoring one-point pushouts, and by adding this in folkstyle, young American wrestlers will become more adept in this area.Get rid of riding time - Riding time may be the worst rule in wrestling. It makes matches boring, and referees simply don?t call stalling much anymore so wrestlers can stay parallel and not be penalized while earning riding time. With college programs still dropping every year, we need a more exciting product for people to watch. Riding does nothing to prepare our wrestlers to win at the Olympic and World level.Reduce time down on the mat - Along the same lines as riding time, when a wrestler scores a takedown he should only have a short amount of time to turn a wrestler. If he is not progressing toward turning his opponent in 10-15 seconds, the wrestlers should he returned to their feet like in a freestyle match.Shorten the match - Another way to create more action may he to shorten the length of a match. Shorten the match from seven to six minutes, with three two-minute periods, and you may see wrestlers get after it a little bit more. They may not be as worried about conserving energy to make it through a seven- minute bout. It also would prepare them for international wrestling, where there are three two-minute periods.Unfortunately for the US, conditioning isn?t as big a factor in international wrestling with the matches much shorter now.I have heard other schools of thought on rules changes where gut wrenches and leg laces should he added as well, but I am not asking for an overhaul of the current rules.Wrestlers can still work for the fall on top, and earn near falls. Takedowns should still be worth two points, because they should be worth more than a pushout anyway.I have talked with a number of veteran coaches about this, including Bobby Douglas and Dan Gable, and they agree changes need to be made in the folkstyle rules to give the U.S. a better chance to win internationally.Again, rules changes aren?t going to automatically mean the US. will go out and start beating the Russians in a few years.Keeping top wrestlers like Henry Cejudo and Ben Askren on the mat will continue to be a huge issue the US. has in being able to consistently win against the best talent on the planet. But a few tweaks in the rules can certainly help Americans close the gap against the top teams in the World.