Psalm 1 guy

Over on Iowa's wrestling board, jrod65 had the following question regarding when Luke Lilledahl was awarded a step out point against SpencerLee in their match at the U.S. Open, making the score 4-1 at the time: "I still have a question on the situation with Lilledahl and Spencer that I'm not quite grasping. I understand that when Lilledahl was on his knees, he's grounded and chest/shoulders would determine oob. But once he comes off his knees, wouldn't he no longer be "grounded" and regular stepout rules apply?" I decided to email Casey Goessl from USA Wrestling, who made the video referenced in this thread and which is attached here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qk1marsuxh2l0ewrfelkl/2026-Rules-Modifications-02-27-2026.mp4?rlkey=1fu9rp6zz8abk1233x0br6slk&e=1&dl=0 Here is his gracious and thorough reply: I highlighted in blue where he addresses the specific question jrod65 had. Sorry about the black backround to my text. Normally there is the option of removing that background when copying text, but for some reason this time that option wasn't available: Hi Gaylon. I'll see if I can help answer these questions. Please understand the evolution of the "grounded out-of-bounds (oob)." In previous years, wrestlers would be under attack from standing and then drop to their knees near the zone to avoid a standing stepout. The onus was on the referees to determine if this was correct defense and no points, or a tactic to avoid going out-of-bounds whereby fleeing the mat would be called. To avoid these types of tactics going forward, the "grounded oob" provision was added to the UWW rules this year. Please understand, fleeing the mat from this position is still an existing application if an athlete intentionally leaves the wrestling area, but hopefully this modification increases action towards the edge and takes some of the referee subjectivity out of the equation. If the athletes are standing and facing one another, then per Olympic style rules, each athlete can score a takedown. If the athletes start in this position, but then transition to a knee/s without one wrestler showing dominance (meaning no score during this transition), and then go oob, a point for grounded stepout shall be awarded assuming that a clearly offensive wrestler does not go oob first (think of a go behind situation). If neither athlete is clearly offensive or if the athletes are just in a scramble for position, a grounded oob should be scored. If the athletes score during the transition (takedown, or turn from par terre), the sequence for grounded oob will not restart again until the athletes come to a standing position, facing one another since each athlete would then be eligible to score a takedown again. The only other exception to going out of bounds in par terre where no point is awarded would be an ordered par terre situation. In this case, it is only fair to allow the bottom athlete an opportunity to defend without fear of penalty by going oob. To clarify the situation at 2:00 in the bout in the Lee v. Lilledahl match, the interpretation of this position comes back to Article 34 in the UWW rules: "any momentary loss of contact of the knees from the mat once the athletes have established parterre position will not be considered a standing action." Lilledahl comes off his knees but Lee maintains his chest on his back, never allowing him to come to a fully standing position. Think of it from these terms: if Lee would do a front headlock on Lilledahl in this position (knees slightly off the mat) , it would only be judged as two points, not four points, meaning Lilledahl is still in parterre, not standing. By the time Lilledahl comes back to what I would consider standing, he is already well in bounds and then gets the stepout on Lee. And please do not be confused; grounded is par terre, only in that grounded implies no wrestler is dominant. I apologize but the pictures you sent in your message aren't coming up for me. The last highlighted point you sent is in regards to "push-outs." I make sure to cover this topic in every rules clinic because the American wrestling audience often mixes "push-outs" with stepouts. Pushing your wrestler out of bounds in all styles is not allowed, even though no real penalty exists. It generally involves a break in contact near the zone and one athlete extending his arms to attempt to get a cheap point, although we don't consider this a wrestling action worthy of a point.

Doing away with the finger grabbing prohibition last year was a big mistake in my book. I really think they need to bring it back in some form. This was what the Rules Committee said as to why they did away with the rule: "l. Interlocking Fingers in Neutral Position (Rule 5.8.1). (1) Recommendation. To eliminate the Interlocking Fingers in Neutral Position infraction. (2) Effective date. Immediately. (3) Rationale. This situation can naturally occur during a wrestling match and the referee is currently tasked with calling a stalemate on the first offense and then penalizing a wrestler for stalling for subsequent violations. It is both challenging and difficult, if not impossible, for the referee to ascertain which wrestler initiated this position and with the current rule, may result in a wrestler being unfairly penalized." Deciding who to penalize under the previous rule doesn't seem that difficult to me. Most of the time the same wrestler grabbing the fingers is also the one blocking off, backing up, dropping to a knee, etc. It is overwhelmingly used by the wrestler who is trying to avoid action, i.e. stalling. There is a reason freestyle doesn't allow it, as it slows down matches and rewards the defensive/stalling wrestler. Here is the UWW rule on it: "Anytime the refereeing body agrees a wrestler is blocking, interlocking fingers, thwarting his opponent and/or generally avoiding wrestling: the referee signals to the wrestler “Caution blue or red”. First offence, the action is stopped briefly to give a verbal warning (V): “Attention”. Second offence: the action is stopped briefly to designate the guilty wrestler and a 30-second mandatory-score period begins." In my opinion, the UWW rightfully includes "interlocking fingers" in the broader category of what folkstyle calls stalling. Bringing back the prohibition should be a priority.

I'm thinking Jax's four votes were Taylor's two and one each from Hendrickson and Dieringer, but who knows.

I would like to see it go to ranked choice voting. That makes more sense when you have multiple wrestlers, especially from the same team.

Your point is valid, but Nolf (not including the injury match loss), Retherford, Mesenbrink (one more season) and others, never lost after their freshman season. If you are going to lose, odds are it is your freshman season. Even Cael lost one match his freshman year when he was redshirting. Vega's lack of offense works against him to go undefeated, and Jax's crazy style might make him susceptible to getting put on his back.

For those who subscribed to ESPN+ for the NCAA tournament like me, I am in the process of scrolling through every mat feed for every session. There is just so much you miss during the tournament. Also, don't forget to cancel your subscription if you only purchased it because of the tournament.

For example, the Lost Angeles region normally has very minimal representation at the California state tournament. The smaller populated areas like Clovis and the surrounding area dominate. The exception to that is Poway High, which is down in the San Diego region.

Until Nolf pinned Martinez, there was a lot of talk about him equaling Cael's record.

Considering he rightfully won three I'd agree with you. It's not often a rule is changed because of how unfair its application was.

Carter is a hard one to figure out sometimes. Why voluntarily post something like this that pits two or three of your former teammate Hodge trophy contenders against each other? As a Penn State fan, it also could have the effect of further splitting the vote and allowing someone else to win. At least wait until the Hodge is awarded and then post your opinion. Color me perplexed.

It was a quick stoppage in my mind, but the way the current SV rules are, once the referee believes the TD is completed he is supposed to stop the match. Had this not been in SV, I doubt the referee calls the TD that quickly. The best rule modification remedy I can think of is this: in SV, once the referee believes a TD has been achieved, they should hold up three fingers and hold it (just like they do with NF) until the position plays itself out. Then award the points and let any challenges occur at that point.

On day one of the 2019 NCAA tournament Cassar weighed in at 228.2 pounds.

Really? It looked like she was wiping a tear from her face, which would make sense.

Based on the Finals performances of Barr and MM, I think it easily goes to MM now. To TF a wrestler the caliber of Caliendo, especially on your ninth meeting, is an audacious feat. Here are the relevant stats per Cornell Kevin: Cornell Kevin

Definitely the farm against two of those : )

Thoughts? I also was heading down balding lane at 23.

From the research I did last night, the answer is no, at least in the modern era. And yes, the switch to the three point TD and four point NF has a great effect on Bonus rates.

Nothing like MAGA and religion comments to tank a thread.

Good for him! I love to see unheralded wrestlers have success at the NCAA tournament. Success like his is what makes this tournament so enjoyable.

That's funny : ) http://[url=https://postimg.cc/KKT2CS9t][img]https://i.postimg.cc/KKT2CS9t/Larson.webp[/img][/url]

Under the current review rules, the reviewers are allowed to review an entire sequence, which wasn't the case a few seasons ago. This makes it even more important for referees to be 100% sure of their call before they make it, especially if it is part of a sequence of action. If they make a mistake in not awarding points, it can always be corrected by review. You can't help feel for any wrestler who thinks they have won the match only for the call to be overturned. About the only thing worse than that is when the overturned call occurs at the end of a match and the wrestlers don't get time to settle it on the mat. Going forward, PJ will need to focus on keeping wrestlers from tying up his hands by interlocking his fingers, especially on his left side. Robideau was able to really slow down PJ that way.

And five are in the B1G. The B1G has shown year in and year out that they more than deserving of the large number of NCAA pre-allocation slots they receive each season. This season it was 87. They also had eight at-large selections for 95 total of the 330 slots.

You never can tell. I thought for sure PJ would beat Robideau based on how good he had looked in his prior matches. I am confident that LL gets it done. I was somewhat worried about SVN coming into the tournament, but he has wrestled very well. If he can start the match with a high pace and get to his offense I think he wins. I'm very confident MM wins. At 174, Levi has looked great, but Minto has wrestled him tough twice this season, and he is extremely hard to score on. I am still picking Levi, but I think kit will be a tight match. The Rocco/McEnelly match is a toss-up. At 197, I think Barr wins going away. I don't think Merrill can slow him down for seven minutes. If Josh can win by Bonus he will end up as the only wrestler with a 100% Bonus rate this season. And based on my research, that has never happened in the modern era.

I really like Caliendo as he always brings it, but I was hoping Blaze would win so we wouldn't have to see MM/Caliendo #9. It will be interesting to see the approach Caliendo takes for the match. Caliendo was able to slow the match down in his 8-2 loss to MM in last year's Finals match, but at the expense of him being able to get to his offense. One thing I do like about their matches is they both stay out of interlocking fingers as a way to slow down a match. So many matches anymore are slowed down by this tactic.

Penn State is 17.5 points ahead of where they were after Session four at last season's tournament.