Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2009, Page 51

Description:	rules of the matBloomington South wrestlers give an inside look into wrestlingproving that its more than just a sport...its a lifestyle.The object was to beat your opponent.It was as simple as that. Either pin himfor an automatic win or outscore him.Yet, despite its simplicity, wresdingwas one of the toughest, most gruelingsports.Wresding was a physically demanding sport with each match consisting ofthree rounds. The first round began inthe same manner each time with theopponents shaking hands and standingin the neutral stance, this meaning eachwresder lined up on either side of thedouble line. After the first period, boththe second and third rounds began inthe ref s stance.In the ref s stance, opponent number one is on all fours on the groundwhile opponent number two kneels onone knee behind him and places onehand around his waist and the other onhis opposite elbow, sophomore Benjamin Farmer explained, a varsitywrestler for Bloomington South whocompeted in the 140-pound weight class.The wresder on bottom for round twowill be on top for round three, and thewresder on top for round two will starton bottom for round three.The beginning of each round is always really intense. There are always alot of emotions, said sophomoreJoseph Todd, a varsity wresder.Along with this, the scoring technique for each wresding meet could berather difficult. My mom always getsconfused, said Todd. But I think itsreally easy. The match was automatically won if the opponent was pinnedon the ground so that both of his shoulder blades were touching the groundfor at least three seconds.A wrestler earned points if he heldhis opponent on his back for five seconds or longer, accumulating up tothree points. Along with this, pointswere earned if a wresder escapes orswitches from the bottom to the top ofhis opponent and will be awarded atmost two points. The wrestier will receive two points if he was successful ina take down or having control of hisopponent. My favorite take down isthe single leg sweep, said Farmer. Iget in my stance, get low and step driveinto the [opponents] leg; tripping themonto their back. From there it shouldbe an easy pin.Not only does the match requireendurance, the training and preparation before each event was equally asdifficult. A lot of people think wres-ders eat all the time to get buff, saidTodd, but we really dont eat muchat all. For wrestiers its not so muchabout how much they eat but ratherwhat they eat. Before each match, oneof the rules states that wrestlers were required to weigh themselves on a scaleto see if they met their weight class. Iftheir weight was a pound over or under a certain weight group, they werenot allowed to compete. Im on a strict1,200 calorie a day diet, said Farmer.—MCKENZIE LUKENFar Left: SophomoreJoseph Todd goeshead to head againsthis opponent fromEdgewood. photo byELIZABETH STEINMETZLeft: Junior JeremiahCarpenter attempts tostand up during hismatch, photo byELIZABETH STEINMETZcradledouble chicken wingpower halfwrestling \| SPORTS \| 51
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/8073
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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