Letting your opponent up when pinning!

At some point in time at every tournament this year that I have been to there have been kids deliberately let kids up from a guaranteed pin. (I'm talking deep half, T'ed out, stuck kind of pin) If I am not mistaken this is unsportsmanlike in the rule book and makes a complete mockery out of kids that aren't as good as the one with the pinning combination. I am the head coach for SES Wrestling Club, and I would not tolerate that type of wrestling from one of my wrestlers. Its sad and doesn't teach a dang thing. Take them down put them on their back and pin them. Shame on the referees for letting this happen multiple times in a match. Taking down letting up is just about as bad!!

The rule states you can't let them up to their feet directly from their back If I am thinking correct it does not say anything about letting them roll through.

I totally understand your point on letting kids up from a guaranteed pin, but would like to hear more about how cutting kids is just about as bad.

I don't think either is unsportsmanlike. I do believe you can do both without being cocky or unsportsmanlike.

There are a few in 10u now that would of benefitted from not pinning every opponent in 30 seconds or less in their younger years. Now it is getting harder and they can't handle it. They don't know how to wrestle a full match.

If my son is wrestling an opponent that he doesn't know or a tough one he pins when he can. If we know he is a level above I make him try more than one new move. It's how he learns.

But 100 percent of the time he does it in a respectful manner.

I don't think I could've put it any better Jerry.

There is no such rule in the NFHS Rule Book, Case Book, Manual, or the USAWKS Kids Modifications.

That is just another myth that is perpetuated every year by various groups of people. It's the same people who think that the offensive wrestlers HAS to take the opponent down in rear standing position, and that they only have 5 seconds to do it. Its the same people who think you can slam your opponent into the mat as hard as you want as long as the person doing the slamming hits the mat first with their leg, etc etc.

Letting someone directly off their back to their feet is no more unsportsmanlike than letting them roll to their stomach and letting them back to their feet. There are some officials who will interpret the unsportsmanlike rule as such and that is their choice, but it is not a rule infraction according to the rule books we follow.

Well I am not Wrestling official,as you must be. I have always understood this as a rule, and so do many officials because I have seen it called on a few different occasions, which means those officials are in that same small group as me. At least I am not alone in my group.

Lance Geyer

I'll stand by what I have always believed, pin them when the chance presents itself. If you are wrestling at a caliber that you have to worry about not getting enough mat time or practice in tournaments, it sounds to me like you are getting ample mat time and practice in practice. This is just my stance and in no way would I accuse a wrestler of being a bad sport because they, their coaches or their parents think that they need to get more mat time or practice in tournament matches. That is their choice and if they do it in a sportsmanlike manner, more power to them.

There is actually a rule against taunting which some refs (including myself) consider the act of cutting your opponenet up to their feet directly from their back a form of taunting. So in all reality it's not a made up rule.

Young Mr. Cokeley is correct. He's too young to remember when the Federation issued a rule interpretation in its Winter Quarterly that addressed this very situation as taunting. That interpretation followed the adoption of the new rule, at that time, against all forms of taunting. The taunting rule is at least 10 years old. The "intentionally letting them off their back" as a taunting call was fairly common following that NFHS interpretative guidance. The call has waned some over the years as older officials have forgotten it and the newer ones don't know it existed. I remember it well because I was taken to the table during the first year that interpretation came out for not calling it correctly....

There is a specific reference in the rule or case book that says releasing your opponent to his FEET to then take him back down is allowed and is not considered taunting. However, that is not meant to cover releasing him from a near fall situation. That was covered in the interpretation as well. You can question whether its really much of a distinction, but it has a basis in, and the support of, the rules and the NFHS interpretations.

Officials can control this type of taunting by simply telling the offensive wrestler that he cannot do that again after he obviously let's the kid off his back. When this happens the offensive wrestler is always a far superior, stronger, wrestler and its obvious he's just playing with his opponent and can pin him at any moment. Telling him to finish it up is just preventative officiating.

R. Ford

If that is how you choose to interpret the taunting rule that is of course your choice. There are just as many officials around the state who don't consider that taunting and don't call it as such. I honestly fail to see how that breaks the barrier of taunting whereas taking an extra second to release the wrestler back to their stomach like a flopping fish and then to their feet is so much less unsportsmanlike. And that is to say nothing of the those that takedown and release 8+ times a match. So again it is not a rule by the letter of the rule book, only an interpretation shared by some.

Point is that when various officials around the state take completely opposite interpretations of rules it creates an inconsistency that coaches, fans, and competitors loathe, much like other issues such as stalling.

Fortunately for us as a community, it is not a situation that we see very often because most wrestlers regardless of age don't see the point in it, and many good coaches around the state don't encourage kids to do things like this. I would be almost 100% positive that when it does happen its a younger kid and he doesn't have any idea that is is frowned upon.

As Mr Ford pointed out a little preventative officiating can quell these types of situations. No need to jump right into penalizing and no reason to just keep silent about it.