Interestingly wrestling is going to a similar type of scoring to promote action by the athletes. It's hard to say if the spirit of the rules will promote more action, but one thing is for certain, in a highly competitive sport like wrestling, someone will always find a way to compete with the rules.
Eliot Kelly
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EDH Wrestling Dojo
El Dorado Hills, CA
Gable: Wrestling is in better place
My first thought was it was a rhetorical question.
But as he began to crouch down in his wrestler's stance, and faint at making a move, I got worried.
Thankfully, Dan Gable was being rhetorical.
At the age of 65, Gable still looks formidable even though I have 21 years on him. And I'm definitely less formidable looking.
So here is the scenario that caused me concern last Friday at the annual Dan Gable Celebrity Golf Tournament at Centennial Oaks Golf Course in Waverly.
We were talking about last month's World Team trials in Madison, Wis. and new scoring procedures when Gable posed this question to me while speaking to a group of people.
"You know a little about wrestling, right," questioned Gable of me.
Before I could answer, Gable continued, "so if you were to attack my leg (sticking out his right leg), and I counter this way and expose your back (without taking me to the ground) that is a point. That is, technically, a 1-point takedown. I don't get it."
What Gable was referring to is a new FILA rules for Freestyle wrestling that rewards one point for near takedowns, and thankfully he was able to illustrate his point without using me as his wrestling dummy.
It's been 16 months since wrestling was removed from the Olympics and another nine since the International Olympic Committee overturned that decision and reinstated it after a drastic overhaul of wrestling leadership and rules.
Part of the overhaul was to make the sport more exciting, fast-paced and higher scoring. Ball draws and leg clinches were eliminated and matches became cumilative over two periods. Takedowns are now worth two points in most cases, except for 11 instances in the FILA rule book that allows wrestlers to score one point.
Nenad Lalovic, who rose to become FILA president during the overhaul said he wanted first-time spectators to know the rules by the end of the day.
The near takedown rules, however, have left some confused. Gable is one of them.
"I like that you have to be aggressive and you get two points for a takedown," Gable said. "I don't like the new rules ... 1-point takedowns, a subjectivity takedown? I haven't figured that one out to be a benefit yet.
"It doesn't go along with the leaders who said they want scoring to be clear cut, entertaining and understanding. That kind of went the other way for me."
While he believes near-takedown rules need to be tweaked, Gable likes most of the new initiatives saying, "I think there is more action. I think our wrestlers are more exciting."
Gable continued on to say wrestling has to build on the momentum it created in the last 16 months from being kicked out of the Olympics, to being reinstated, to making their sport more exciting.
"We have to take advantage of the momentum," he said. "We lost some momentum in our sport for quite a while and a lot of us didn't realize to what effect and then the Olympic thing hit us," Gable said. "All of a sudden we had to step up, the world stepped up for our sport and showed we really do have people that want to support us and that are willing to act together to make us better.
"Now we've built all this momentum and that means we have to stay on top of our game. We have a chance to rally and show what we can do. We responded the first time. We have to keep responding.
"It would be pretty easy to slip back to normal and say everything is great, that would be pretty easy. But we can't think that way. We have to keep moving forward.
"A guy like me, I don't slip back, and, If I have a say in it, wrestling will never slip back again."
Gable believes USA Wrestling, pointing to the World Team Trials in Madison as evidence, is also on an upswing, particuarily in Freestyle.
Young stars such as Olympian champion Jordan Burroughs and emerging stars Dan Taylor, Kyle Dake, Brent Metcalf, Tervel Dlagnev, Jake Varner, Tony Ramos and Ed Ruth have American future Olympic medal hopes high.
Ruth and Ramos, along with Burroughs, Metcalf, Varner and Dlagnev earned World Team spots, Ramos and Ruth doing so just months after completing their college eligibility.
"I like the directions some of our young kids are going in," Gable said. "I saw Ruth in Vegas and then again two months later at the trials," Gable said. "Out in Vegas, he was flopping around wrestling collegiate style, and since, he made some big improvements which really showed in Madison.
"I think we have some years coming up where we are going to have some really good team results with the rest of the world."
Gable says the key is to keep those young athletes together for an extended period of time.
"I think the difference is if you have some kids that are really dominant and then can go to the next level and get medals, get medals on a consistent basis you have something," Gable said. "I think the difference for us is to have some good young kids stay awhile and get consistent performances year-to-year, Olympic-to-Olympic.
"I would say it looks to me like we have some of those years coming up. It is easier said then done, but the potential for it to happen is there."
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