This is just my opinion, but takedowns are a very important part of every wrestling match. I know in the ABilene program we stress takedowns probably more than anything else for a few simple reasons. 1. Most good wrestlers aren't going to be able to take each other down at will, therefore it becomes important to become really good on your feet becuase chances are the match is going to come down to a takedown. My personal philosophy when im wrestling is to get as many takedowns as possible. I set a school record my junior year for takedowns, not becuase I wanted to break it but becuase I was getting as many as possible and perfecting my technique. Falls don't mean crap to me becuase if you match up a wrestler who has spent all their time on top pinning people to a wrestler so has many takedowns 90% of the time the takedown man is going to win. In the practices I run 75% of our time is spent on our feet becuase thats what a real match is going to be like between 2 good wrestlers.