If you had your way

[Ragu]

I see three options. One, keep everything the same. Two, switch the dominant wrestling style to be freestyle worldwide and that is what’s taught young. Three, do the same but with folkstyle. Always played with the idea of the US switching to FS but what about the opposite? Would be quite interesting.

[wrestlingshoe]

When I started wrestling kids never wrestled folkstyle until middle school/high school. We started with freestyle. The US was highly competitive internationally through the 80s and 90s. I think starting freestyle young is a big reason why.  We had a big dip in our international success in the early 2000s when the kids who started with folkstyle came of age. It took us 12-15 years to figure out how to adapt once our young wrestlers had Folksyle brain. We are doing well now, but it should be hard to argue against the idea that we wouldn't be more successful if we only wrestled what everyone else wrestled be it free or folk. 

[Mr. PeanutButter]

Freestyle all the way, everywhere. Can you imagine how good the Russians would get at ankle pinching at top? What about the Iranians and their "let a guy up to their feet, take them down and "naturally" end up out of bounds" routine. You could insert any nationality you want for the above scenarios, I was just speaking tongue and cheek, but the point stands, I think adopting folk style worldwide would result in a lot of boring high stakes matches.

[neweruser69]

It'd be really interesting to see what countries invest in having a top game. 

[The Kid]

1 hour ago, neweruser69 said:

It'd be really interesting to see what countries invest in having a top game. 

Probably the ones who focus on it now. Gut wrenches,  leg laces, crotch lifts, etc.

[Mr. PeanutButter]

Just got to thinking. With the way international refs call attention and administer shot clocks, do ya'll think stalling would be called more aggressively? That could potentially tamp down some of the egregious non action we see in par terre

[The Kid]

37 minutes ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Just got to thinking. With the way international refs call attention and administer shot clocks, do ya'll think stalling would be called more aggressively? That could potentially tamp down some of the egregious non action we see in par terre

No.

[Ragu]

The hypothetical world in which folk is the dominant style is so interesting. As mentioned above the top game would definitely have its top players internationally. Since I can make the rules. Let’s use pre Dean Heil nerf rules. Imagine the scrambles! Gosh I miss it sometimes…

[neweruser69]

17 hours ago, Mr. PeanutButter said:

Just got to thinking. With the way international refs call attention and administer shot clocks, do ya'll think stalling would be called more aggressively? That could potentially tamp down some of the egregious non action we see in par terre

I'd imagine you'd see a LOT more shady stall calls at key moments. The international refs have more of a flair for the dramatic after all. 

[Scouts Honor]

if the wrestling Gods at large, screw up college wrestling

 

we won't have much of anything.

 

dont' forget, we just about lost the olympics just 12 years ago

[Ragu]

18 minutes ago, Scouts Honor said:

if the wrestling Gods at large, screw up college wrestling

 

we won't have much of anything.

 

dont' forget, we just about lost the olympics just 12 years ago

I think it's fair to say that wrestling as a whole is in the best place it has been ever, maybe

[BruceyB]

On 6/3/2025 at 8:46 AM, wrestlingshoe said:

When I started wrestling kids never wrestled folkstyle until middle school/high school. We started with freestyle. The US was highly competitive internationally through the 80s and 90s. I think starting freestyle young is a big reason why.  We had a big dip in our international success in the early 2000s when the kids who started with folkstyle came of age. It took us 12-15 years to figure out how to adapt once our young wrestlers had Folksyle brain. We are doing well now, but it should be hard to argue against the idea that we wouldn't be more successful if we only wrestled what everyone else wrestled be it free or folk. 

You believe that because kids started out wrestling freestyle before they were in middle school is why the US was better in the 80s and 90s than the 2000s? One off-season of freestyle in high school will teach you more than you learned from the ages of 5-11 combined.

[Scouts Honor]

i dont get that whole we were better in the 80's and 90's....

we ddin't go in 80

the eastern block wasn't there in 84

88 was decent, 2 golds and 2 bronze...but there were 10 weights

by 92 the USSR was in disarray... and the lack of training showed for them, we got 5 medals 

96 we got 4 medals at HOME

[wrestlingshoe]

16 hours ago, BruceyB said:

You believe that because kids started out wrestling freestyle before they were in middle school is why the US was better in the 80s and 90s than the 2000s? One off-season of freestyle in high school will teach you more than you learned from the ages of 5-11 combined.

I disagree. The feel for freestyle gets better over time. One off-season of freestyle is not the same. 

13 hours ago, Scouts Honor said:

i dont get that whole we were better in the 80's and 90's....

we ddin't go in 80

the eastern block wasn't there in 84

88 was decent, 2 golds and 2 bronze...but there were 10 weights

by 92 the USSR was in disarray... and the lack of training showed for them, we got 5 medals 

96 we got 4 medals at HOME

Look at how we were from 2000-2010. Compare that to the 80s and 90s. And the 80s and 90s were not just Olympics. You can't look at statistics and say we were better from 2000-2010. 

[Scouts Honor]

3 hours ago, wrestlingshoe said:

I disagree. The feel for freestyle gets better over time. One off-season of freestyle is not the same. 

Look at how we were from 2000-2010. Compare that to the 80s and 90s. And the 80s and 90s were not just Olympics. You can't look at statistics and say we were better from 2000-2010. 

i know there is more but the olympics are when the BEST are out

 

[wrestlingshoe]

1 hour ago, Scouts Honor said:

i know there is more but the olympics are when the BEST are out

 

So I guess we can discount any GOAT conversation that includes anything but Olympics. And, just leave a world medal off your resume since it doesn't mean much. 

[Scouts Honor]

didn't say that at all.

if we were great in the 80/90's then we would have been great at olympics...

 

[Ched64]

On 6/3/2025 at 11:46 AM, wrestlingshoe said:

When I started wrestling kids never wrestled folkstyle until middle school/high school. We started with freestyle. The US was highly competitive internationally through the 80s and 90s. I think starting freestyle young is a big reason why.  We had a big dip in our international success in the early 2000s when the kids who started with folkstyle came of age. It took us 12-15 years to figure out how to adapt once our young wrestlers had Folksyle brain. We are doing well now, but it should be hard to argue against the idea that we wouldn't be more successful if we only wrestled what everyone else wrestled be it free or folk. 

When did you start wrestling? I started in 1975 and virtually every peewee tournament we went to was folkstyle. It wasn’t until joe demeo started his three-style club that greco and freestyle appeared on the scene but it was enough of an outlier that I remember it to this day.  His ATWA club became a dominant force not just in US Greco but internationally as well.

[Wrasslin]

Freestyle all day every day. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of $hitty leg passes. Sorry, I'm 4 cocktails in on a Thursday night and posting on a wrestling blog- tells you where my life is at! 

Edited June 6 by Wrasslin
edited because I'm a drunk ass who doesn't know how to spell!

[D3 for LU]

6 hours ago, Wrasslin said:

Freestyle all day every day. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of $hitty leg passes. Sorry, I'm 4 cocktails in on a Thursday night and posting on a wrestling blog- tells you where my life is at! 

D3

[wrestlingshoe]

12 hours ago, Ched64 said:

When did you start wrestling? I started in 1975 and virtually every peewee tournament we went to was folkstyle. It wasn’t until joe demeo started his three-style club that greco and freestyle appeared on the scene but it was enough of an outlier that I remember it to this day.  His ATWA club became a dominant force not just in US Greco but internationally as well.

Washington. Wrestled all over the PNW as a little kid--WA, ID, OR, MT, CA and Western Regionals. When I returned from college there was a growing winter kids folkstyle season.

[Wrasslin]

12 hours ago, Wrasslin said:

Freestyle all day every day. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of $hitty leg passes. Sorry, I'm 4 cocktails in on a Thursday night and posting on a wrestling blog- tells you where my life is at! 

 

6 hours ago, D3 for LU said:

D3

LOL! (although not so funny today, D3)! I just want to sleep it off and instead I'm forced to do like, work or something. I wish I could say I'll be smarter about it next time!  . . . still freestyle, my answer didn't change tho! 

[The Kid]

I grew up in the heart of Pennsylvania on the mid 80's.  No one on our team wrestled freestyle or greco. 

Edited June 7 by The Kid

[D3 for LU]

On 6/6/2025 at 2:58 PM, Wrasslin said:

 

LOL! (although not so funny today, D3)! I just want to sleep it off and instead I'm forced to do like, work or something. I wish I could say I'll be smarter about it next time!  . . . still freestyle, my answer didn't change tho! 

Hmmm, what is the most OFTEN said oaths that one says after surviving a wicked hangover...

"I'M GOING TO STOP DRINKING... " followed by the phrase (for how long?) " ... FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE..."

added by... " SO HELP ME GOD"  finishing with... "AND THIS TIME, I MEAN IT!!!"  

I forget the name of the comedian who said it... but it's so funny & spot on.

Sorry for your pain... but you'll survive. AND file that experience for another day... hoping not to lather-rinse-repeat again.

D3

[GrandOlm]

Both folkstyle and freestyle are decadents of catch can wrestling. Modified to be safer or more viewer friendly. Catch can wrestling was an anglo country activity, but it died out in the 20th century and its descendants today include the aforementioned wrestling styles as well as professional wresting (WWE, some catch can wrestlers emphasized theatrics, entertainment values and that line eventually evolved into full blown acting, theater).