Update: Wrestling Rule Changes
Update May 16, 2011: Click Here to see the new rules as approved by the Playing Rules Panel. This is how the rules will be written into the rule book for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 seasons.
The NCAA Playing Rules Panel has approved rule changes for NCAA Wrestling for 2011-2012 and beyond. The link to the article is below, but the highlights are as follows:
1. Wrestlers will now be able to grant an escape on a restart by notifying the official. This is a rule that has been in place in high school for a number of years.
2. Stalling has been updated and clarified. The most important quote: “A participant will be called for stalling if he kicks out from a lower leg hold and as a result of this action the defending wrestler goes out of the wrestling area.” This happens a lot and should now begin to be penalized. Also, a wrestler cannot be disqualified for stalling but will instead continue to give up points. A proposal called for third and subsequent stalling penalties to include choice of position for the opponent, but the article makes no mention of this. We will have to wait for the actual rule as written to find out if this stayed in.
3. Injury timeouts have been altered so that choice of position is awarded to the opponent after the first injury timeout. A second injury timeout will include loss of one point, and a third timeout will still result in match termination. The goal is to stop wrestlers from faking injuries by increasing the cost of taking a timeout.
There were other proposed changes that were not addressed in the article, but they still may go into effect next season. d3wrestle.com will update as soon as the actual rule wording is released.