Freestyle and Greco Roman

[Chi-town Fan]

How much does wrestling these styles help with folkstyle wrestling?

[bigtime]

Any mat time helps. I think it also help creates body awareness and mat strategy.

[CJH Coach]

Freestyle is a sport of balance, position, and appropriately timed aggresion. Greco is all about patience and position. I think when you wrestle either style or specifically both you are improving not only because of mat time but because of the things you have to do to be successful. Continual practice of balance, position, patience and heads up aggresion combined with all the time one can get on the mat can only make a wrestler better in any style of wrestling.

[Jaguar]

If you look at most wrestlers who are successful on a national level and in college, they wrestled freestyke and/or Greco in the off season. There are always exceptions, but the majority have freestyle & greco in their repetoire. That should tell you something. There is much more to say about it, but I don't have time. I am sure others can do the honors.

[wrestlersdad]

The obvious answer is the more mat time the better....but I think the real question is...is wrestling F/G in the off season better than wrestling folkstyle in the off season?...I understand the college recruiting issue....I'm talking about what is better for improving folkstyle wrestling.

I've got nothing against F/G and my son does them in the off season...just asking the question.

[wonderboy47]

I think that overall, the core elements are the same (balance/positioning/etc.). While the actual strategy is style specific, you can benefit the same from working/competing in any of the styles.

As to one of the previous comments referring to greco as that involving patience, I would wholly disagree. I dont know how being patient in a high tempo match is going to help you, or even how you would go about doing so.

[Grappler177]

Being patient can be a benefit in any tempo of a match. It does not mean tenative, rather it means waiting / looking for the opportunity (i.e. not forcing the action or putting yourself in a bad position). That said, once there is an opening, you need to hit it hard and without hesitation.

[lauden swain]

Originally Posted by wonderboy47

I think that overall, the core elements are the same (balance/positioning/etc.). While the actual strategy is style specific, you can benefit the same from working/competing in any of the styles.

wonderboy,
I agree. They might not be identical but the core elements are strikingly similar. All styles help in wrestling development.

As a former college coach, permit me to point out a common misconception. College coaches don't go to Fargo to recruit the best freestylers and greco guys in the country. They go to recruit the best wrestlers. Fargo is just the biggest show in town and attracts the best kids year after year. The bottom line as to why kids wrestle these styles is because they want to wrestle the best kids and almost all of them are wrestling freestyle and greco. The reason that the biggest show has chosen the international styles is because the event is sponsored by USA Wrestling. Our national governing body wants the kids to wrestle the international styles because, obviously, these are the styles competed at the major wrestling events of world competition.
The High School National Tournament held in Pittsburgh (now Virginia Beach) quickly became a mecca for college coaches because of one simple reason. The style wrestled at the High School National Tournament is the same style wrestled in college. As the tournament has gained in prestige over the years, more kids are attending to wrestle the very best folkstylers in the country. Thus even more college coaches are attending. This tournament is gaining in stature every year. If properly administered and promoted, this tournament could be every bit as prestigous as Fargo and much more important for college coaches to attend than Fargo. A barrier is that the time of year is tough for all the really good kids to attend.

If there was a kid that was outstanding in freestyle and average in folkstyle, and there was a kid that was outstanding in folkstyle and average in freestyle, which kid is the college coach more apt to pursue?

My point of this rambling post is that if a kid is preparing for wrestling in high school or college, the most important style to practice is folkstyle. The problem is that most really good kids are wrestling freestyle and greco because the most prestigous tourneys of the summer are these styles. Since the MOST effective way to get better is to wrestle the best kids, most guys need to wrestle the international styles for maximum improvement.

Sorry, I've got to go. My boss is coming!
later,
Lauden

[wonderboy47]

I completely agree with the assertion that College coaches go to Fargo to recruit the best "wrestlers". One of the reasons that the summer season is so important for recruiting is that Fargo is many times a place where a kid can validate his talents. The fact of the matter is, while it is a tremendous accomplishiment, being a state champ is not always a true indicator of a kid's ability. Some states are just plain weak, and some weights in given years are not very tough. Fargo can validate a kid's talent and ability while allowing the coach to see him against the best of the best across the country (rather than just being a state champ within a limited population). That being said, I have to believe that despite the style differences, competing against the top wrestlers in the country at Fargo has to bolster your folkstyle skills alongside your general wrestling psyche.

[robbewc]

Our club wrestles freestyle and greco in the spring season for several reasons. Most importantly, our kids can wrestle the equivalent of two winter seasons in the spring. If you are selective in which tournaments you participate in, you can wrestle tougher kids consistently. Our skills and our mat management improve immensely from spring to winter. For the truly elite kids, Fargo is the goal with the opportunity to get recruited. For the next tier of kids, freestyle and greco helps them beat the kids that beat them the prior season. As a team, at the High School and Middle School levels, it makes you tougher up and down the line up. Bottom line for the kids that enjoy wrestling, elite and average alike, it makes them better wrestlers.