It seems like the NCAA is taking a page out of FILA’s plan to make wrestling more exciting by the looks of their new rule changes. The NCAA has announced four new rule changes going into the 2013-2014 season, with two changes for the neutral position and two changes for the top/bottom.
The first rule change comes in the neutral position, and has been nicknamed on the wrestling forums the J.O. rule. The rule does seem to correct exactly what happened in Jordan Oliver and Logan Steiber’s controversial NCAA final two years ago, where Oliver seemingly had a match winning takedown in the closing seconds, but the referee said because Oliver’s head was buried he did not earn the takedown. The new rules that the NCAA put into place changes the rule so a wrestler’s head may be buried and still earn a takedown.
The second rule from neutral also has to do with changing with way a takedown is earned. Prior to the new changes if a wrestler was in position to have a takedown scored against them they were given an opportunity of a second or so to react before the takedown was awarded. This allowed for wrestlers to initiate scrambles and continue wrestling from the neutral position even if they briefly had three points of contact on the mat. The new changes eliminates the reaction time allowed to defensive wrestlers, and if the offensive wrestler is in control of a take down, and the defensive wrestler has three points of contact on the mat (ex: two feet and a hand) the take down will be awarded.
The third rule, and in my opinion the best change, will change the out of bounds rules in the top/bottom position. Instead of the defensive wrestler having to have his back inside of the circle in order for the offensive wrestler to score back points, the neutral out of bounds rule will be applied to top/bottom as well. Now as long as one of the two wrestlers has a point of contact inside the boundaries back points can be scored and a pin can be called.
Finally, the last rule deals with the neck bow that James Fleming popularized. If the top wrestler grabs the head and armpit, in the same way he would for a merkle, and attempts to somersault over the top wrestling will now be stopped, and the move will be called illegal. Also, if a referee deems a merkle type hold is causing unnecessary pressure to the neck or head the action can be stopped.
Overall, I think the new rules are beneficial to college wrestling. Although I am certainly going to miss some of the exciting scrambles that result out of wrestlers wrestling through the reaction time, I think overall it will improve the sport. Both of the new takedown rules encourage wrestlers to be much more offensive, while at the same time decreasing the ability of defensive wrestlers to be able to create crazy scrambles. Again, although these scrambles are a lot of fun to watch, the encouragement of offense is better for the sport, and may be beneficial to the US international efforts down the road by discouraging scrambling defenses in college. Personally, I love the new back points rule. As a top guy I can not count how many times I would have scored back points had my opponent been a few inches closer to the center of the mat.
Additionally, this eliminates the possibility of the bottom wrestler crawling toward the edge to escape giving up back points or a pin, and therefore encourages more scoring. The only rule I have a real problem with is the NCAA choosing to deem the neck bow as illegal. There have been at the most only a few injuries from the move, and although it is very uncomfortable to the bottom wrestler it is unlikely to actually injure him. The NCAA also put into place a rule last year where the referee could call the move as potentially dangerous if they thought the move was choking or causing excessive pressure on the neck, which in my opinion did plenty to ensure the safety of the bottom wrestler.
Additionally, this eliminates the possibility of the bottom wrestler crawling toward the edge to escape giving up back points or a pin, and therefore encourages more scoring. The only rule I have a real problem with is the NCAA choosing to deem the neck bow as illegal. There have been at the most only a few injuries from the move, and although it is very uncomfortable to the bottom wrestler it is unlikely to actually injure him. The NCAA also put into place a rule last year where the referee could call the move as potentially dangerous if they thought the move was choking or causing excessive pressure on the neck, which in my opinion did plenty to ensure the safety of the bottom wrestler.