And for anyone not quite familiar with scoring in wrestling, there are 2 different sets of rules: 1 for dual meets, and one for tournaments.
For dual meets:
- PIN FALL – 6 team points – Awarded to the team whose wrestler holds both of the opponent’s scapulas to the mat for two consecutive seconds.
- TECHNICAL FALL – 5 team points – Awarded to the team whose wrestler has scored 15 match points more than the opponent. The match is stopped as soon as the 15 point margin is achieved, except in a pinning situation where the referee will allow the offensive wrestler to try to score the fall.
- MAJOR DECISION – 4 team points – Awarded to the team whose wrestler wins by a margin of 8-14 match points more than the opponent has scored.
- REGULAR DECISION – 3 team points – Awarded to the team whose wrestler wins by a margin of 1-7 match points more than the opponent has scored.
- DRAW OR TIE – There are no more ties in wrestling as the match will be decided by sudden victory overtime from the feet and/or by tie breakers from referee’s position.
- DISQUALIFICATION – 6 team points – A wrestler wins a match by disqualification when the opponent is disqualified from the match because of too many penalties OR when a wrestler is illegally injured by an opponent’s illegal hold and cannot continue wrestling. If you were injured by an opponent’s illegal hold (not a technical violation like locking hands or grabbing the uniform, unless it was their fourth penalty chart penalty), you will win the match by disqualification. It will not do a wrestler any good to intentionally try to injure an opponent because they will lose.
- INJURY DEFAULT – 6 team points – A wrestler wins a match by injury default when the opponent is injured accidentally during the match and cannot continue wrestling.
- FORFEIT – 6 team points – A wrestler wins a match by forfeit when the other team does not have a wrestler to compete against them.
For tournaments, such as the NCAA Championships:
There are three ways to score team points: Placement points, advancement points, and bonus points.
1. Placement Points
- 1st place: 16 points
- 2nd place: 12 points
- 3rd place: 10 points
- 4th place: 9 points
- 5th place: 7 points
- 6th place: 6 points
- 7th place: 4 points
- 8th place: 3 points
Pretty straightforward. You place first, you get 16 points. You place 9th, you get nothing.
2. Advancement Points
- Each advancement in championship bracket: 1 point
- Each advancement in consolation bracket: 0.5 point
This is also pretty straightforward. A wrestler is awarded one point for each match that he wins in the championship bracket, and half a point for wins in the consolation bracket.
For example, Whosuh Gonnabeatme wins three matches in the championship bracket before losing to Ima Cantbebeat in the quarterfinals. Gonnabeatme is then bumped down to the consolation semi-finals where he wins two matches to capture third place. Gonnabeatme would be awarded 4 advancement points (3+0.5+0.5) and 10 placement points for a total of 14 team points.
3. Bonus Points
- Each fall, forfeit, default, disqualification: 2 points
- Each tech fall (w/ near fall points): 1.5 points
- Each tech fall (w/o near fall points): 1 point
- Each major decision: 1 point
Bonus points are where championships are won. Penn State has won most of their 5 titles in the last 6 years on bonus points. Defeating your opponents handily, especially in the early rounds, is crucial to your team’s success.
To expound on what exactly the different ways to score bonus points are…
Fall: When a wrestler is able to get both of his opponent’s shoulder blades on the mat and hold them there for one second. This immediately ends the match and the winner is declared.
Default/Forfeit/Disqualification: When a match is called for any reason. The opponent is injured and cannot continue, a wrestler missed weigh-in and did not make his weight cut, an illegal or unsportsmanlike penalty is ruled.
Tech Fall: A tech fall occurs when a wrestler defeats his opponent by 15 points or more. Once the 15 point mark is achieved, the match is ended. In tournament scoring, a wrestler receives an additional half point when he is able to secure near fall points on his opponent. Near fall points are when a wrestler is able to get his opponent to his back, but unable to get both shoulder blades to the mat to secure the pin.
Major Decision: Major decisions are when a wrestler defeats his opponent by 8 or more points.
Consolation Brackets
When a wrestler loses in the championship round, they get an opportunity to rally and wrestle for third-seventh place in the consolations.