High School Rule Changes

[Sullivan]

Clarity Provided to Out-of-Bounds Calls in High School Wrestling
By NFHS on April 27, 2018 wrestling article

New definitions for inbounds and out of bounds highlight high school wrestling rules changes for the 2018-19 season.

Beginning next year, a wrestler will be inbounds if two supporting points of either wrestler are inside or on the boundary line. This could be two supporting points of one wrestler or one supporting point of each wrestler that is inside or on the boundary line.

Changes related to out-of-bounds and inbounds calls, along with rules dealing with uniforms and sportsmanship, were among the rules revisions recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee at its April 2-4 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

The revised definitions for out of bounds and inbounds eliminate subjectivity with the out-of-bounds call without increasing the out-of-bounds area. The removal of “majority of weight” from the definition will allow officials to focus on inbounds and out of bounds rather than having to make a judgment on where the majority of the wrestler’s weight is being supported.

“The majority of rules changes for the 2018-19 high school wrestling season deal with revised definitions of escape, reversal, out of bounds and takedown,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of sports and student services and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee. “These changes were needed to reinforce our new position with increasing scoring opportunities by addressing the supporting point issue, but not creating additional risk to the sport. We have defined what the usual supporting points are while down on the mat and how near-fall points or a fall shall be earned.”

Several articles in Rule 5 are affected by the elimination of subjectivity in the out-of-bounds call. Rule 5-10 now provides language stipulating that any combination of two supporting points allows an official to make an inbounds call. Similarly, Rules 5-15-1 and 5-15-3 introduce the same clarity while Rule 5-15-2 alters language from “knees” to “knee(s),” making it consistent with Rule 5-15-2a(4) and its use of “hand(s).”

The revision to the definition of an out-of-bounds call is clearly stated in Rule 5-18, which outlines that it occurs when there are no longer two total supporting points inside or on the boundary line (two supporting points of one wrestler or one supporting point of each wrestler). Rules 5-22, 5-25-1 and 5-25-3 will have similar language to establish inbounds and out-of-bounds calls for reversals and takedowns.

Revisions to Rule 5-24-3 will assist officials with making a stalling call. The new criteria establish that stalling in the neutral position also takes place when a wrestler is backing off the mat and out of bounds, as well as when the wrestler is pushing or pulling out of bounds.

In addition to the numerous changes related to inbounds and out-of-bounds calls, Hopkins noted sportsmanship issues, a new illegal hold and uniform promotional references as other rules changes made by the committee. Among those are the following:

• Rule 4-1-2: New language will state that no additional manufacturer’s logo, trademark or promotional references shall be allowed on the wrestling uniforms.
• Rule 7-1-5y (NEW): The Nelson-Cradle is a new illegal hold/maneuver that is a combination made up of a Half-Nelson on one side with a locked cradle from around the neck with the far side knee. The back of the knee acts as the other arm (arm pit) to complete the Full-Nelson pressure on the neck and throat.
• Rule 7-4-2: New language states that repeatedly dropping to one knee, as well as one hand, to break locked hands is considered unsportsmanlike conduct.

Wrestling ranks seventh in popularity among boys at the high school level with 244,804 participants, according to the 2016-17 NFHS Athletics Participation Survey. In addition, 14,587 girls participate in the sport throughout the nation.

“Overall, the sport is stable,” Hopkins said. “We are excited to have the influx of young women wrestlers who want to challenge themselves and represent their local high schools.”

A complete listing of all rules changes is available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page, and select “Wrestling.”

 

[pawrestlersintn]

Why won't they just move to college OOB rules? Simpler for everybody.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Why won't they just move to college OOB rules? Simpler for everybody.

it may seem simpler, but there is some logic behind the NFHS decisions. When they changed the rules this past season on pinning and NF (it use to be that the top wrestler could not earn a pin or NF if the bottom wrestler's pinning area was outside the circle; that's no longer the case in HS, provided the top wrestler is inbounds -- with some caveats that'll avoid for this discussion on what determined inbounds), they indicated that they had seriously considered going to the college rules. However, they do have to consider safety, and a large number of high schools have mats that are smaller than college mats. As such, had they adopted the college rule of only 1 toe having to be inbounds, there would have been frequent incidents of the offensive wrestler having a toe inbounds, but the defensive wrestler being off part of the mat, which in HS (or middle school) can also mean hitting a wall, the bottom of the stands, or the floor.

 

[PapaBearSLIM]

I'm glad the rule was revised. It was dumb. Drag your toes on the edge with knees up was good for a td. Knees down but toes up would not get the td call on the edge and instead ruled oob. But then they added you can earn nearfall/pin oob if your knees are down in bounds but as soon as you put your toes down and knees up it was immediately whistled oob.

It made zero sense to have the nearfall/pin on the edge rules be the exact opposite of the td on the edge. I saw a lot of frustrated coaches, wrestlers and fans this past season... especially when both the td and nf situations would happen in the same match or dual.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I'm glad the rule was revised. It was dumb. Drag your toes on the edge with knees up was good for a td. Knees down but toes up would not get the td call on the edge and instead ruled oob. But then they added you can earn nearfall/pin oob if your knees are down in bounds but as soon as you put your toes down and knees up it was immediately whistled oob.

just to clarify, on the TD the offensive wrestler could land OOB but get the TD if both toes touched down shortly thereafter. Refs basically have to hesitate in that situation before making the call.

on the NF/pin, the rules were somewhat frustrating. The top wrestler was OK as long as two supporting points were inbounds, or if on the side if the thigh and butt were inbounds. The frustration was that toes/feet were not considered supporting points. So if the offensive wrestler switched from knees to toes to try to get move leverage, or from 2 butt cheeks to 1, or from 2 butt cheeks to 2 feet, the ref was supposed to whistle things dead, as the situation is considered OOB. Fans seemed to have no clue what the rules were, wrestlers and coaches weren't too knowledgable about the rules, and refs had the problem of having to focus on whether a pin was obtained while also being responsible for checking what the top wrestler was doing in terms of where their support was. Supposedly, NFHS had multiple state complaining about the feet/toes not being considered support points in that situation, but NFHS refused to change their guidance on the rules.

When I saw the OP's post, it did strike me that this might be a way of clarifying the NF/pin situation regarding feet/toes.

 

[lookleft goright]

I started officiating again last year and the reason they do not go to the college rules for OOB is safety and lawsuits. Many gyms do not have enough space and the mats are smaller. They do not want to provide an opportunity for kids to keep wrestling when a scorers table is near or the floor is so close to the edge of the mat, so they call out of bounds much more conservatively.

I am glad they are changing it to allow more action on the edge also and also to take some of the pressure off the official. In high school, the OOB calls are tough and really hurt the aggressive wrestler.

It was explained to me in a rules meeting that we lost a law suit where a kid got paralyzed and somehow they tied it to the rules not protecting him. Take that for what it is worth.

 

[jpsolo]

Why can’t they go to college out of bounds rule but you can always stop it if they are getting off of the mat? Then in cases where there is enough room , let them wrestle.

 

[lookleft goright]

Why can’t they go to college out of bounds rule but you can always stop it if they are getting off of the mat? Then in cases where there is enough room , let them wrestle.

That would make sense. Why would they do something that makes sense? Actually, I am guessing that if a guy got hurt out of bounds, they would be able to blame the reef or the rules or something. It is just a part of this law suit happy world we live in.

 

[7brwnpsu]

Tom and Papa, you described last year's rule very clearly. Tom you should be a Rules Interpreter for a District Chapter.

They had to change it to match the NF to the takedown but I'm still not a big fan of any of this on small mats.

Track and Field around 2005 required larger Pole Vault landing pits for safety . I hope wrestling demands larger mats if possible for the space in the gym and allows a phase in time.