George Guido: Wrestling rules committee addresses injuries, stalling

By: George Guido
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 | 6:30 PM

In a move to address safety, additional time will be given to evaluate head and neck injuries when an appropriate health-care professional is present at a wrestling match.

That’s the biggest rules change for the high school season.

In addition to 1½ minutes of injury time allotted, an appropriate health-care professional will have up to five minutes to evaluate head and neck injuries involving the cervical column and/or nervous systems. At that point, the wrestler would have to continue or default the match.

The revision is one of 17 rules changes recommended and approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Board of Directors.

A second injury to the head and neck involving cervical column and/or central nervous system in the same match will require the wrestler to default the match. If an appropriate health-care professional is not present, all injuries to the head and neck would be covered by the same timeframe as other injuries. In the case of a wrestler exhibiting signs of a concussion, the individual would be removed from the match and could not return to competition in the absence of an appropriate health-care professional.

Stalling also was addressed by the national rules committee.

To increase the level of offensive wrestling, stalling has been removed from the progressive penalty chart and will be penalized separately.

The first penalty for stalling will be a warning. The opponent will be awarded a match point on the second and third offenses, two match points and choice of position on the next restart for the fourth offense. A fifth offense for stalling will result in disqualification.

“By removing stalling from the progressive penalty sequence, officials will be able to penalize wrestlers more freely without complicating the matter when it is combined with other penalties,” said Elliot Hopkins, director of sports and student services and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee. “Removing the stalling call from the penalty progression will allow officials more freedom to call stalling earlier, more consistently and without hesitation when they feel it is warranted.”

Hopkins formerly was an assistant associate director of the PIAA.

Changes were made to rules dealing with uniform requirements in an effort to ensure male and female wrestlers are properly attired during competition.

All contestants wearing a one-piece singlet shall wear a suitable undergarment that covers the buttocks and groin area. Female wrestlers wearing a one-piece singlet must wear a form-fitted compression undergarment that covers their breasts.

During the 2017-18 school year, there were 16,562 girls nationwide who participated in high school wrestling at 2,351 schools. I would have guessed 16 — not 16,000.

While we’re at it, there were 245,564 boys participating in wrestling at 10,775 high schools during the 2017-18 season.

Something else new is a rule if shoelaces become undone during a match, the penalty is an automatic stalling call.

In another changes, Rule 7-3-1 states “when the referee feels that either wrestler has failed to make every effort to stay inbounds during an imminent scoring situation, the offending wrestler shall be penalized for fleeing the mat.”

Basketball rules changes

There is nothing major in basketball rules changes as the regular season approaches.

Players who wear headbands can wear them up to 3 inches wide, up from 2 inches and conforming to what volleyball players are allowed.

Mouth guards are more clearly defined and, for the first time, state associations will be permitted to require mouth guards.

Also, assistant coaches are allowed to leave the benches to help break up on-court brawls.

Meet the Bucs

Burrell’s boys and girls basketball teams will have a meet-the-player event at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the high school gym beginning

The players will be introduced along with the youth campers who have been learning the game.

There will be a co-ed hot shot and 3-point shooting competition with prizes awarded.

Tags: Burrell