Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion Kids Folkstyle Rules on back arch and throws

At several of the tournaments this year, I have noticed 10-14 year olds doing back arch and throws to a defensive wrestler on a stand up. I remember this as a favorite when I wrestled in high school, but the rule was the offensive wrestler had to hit the mat before or simultaneous to the defensive wrestler. In these matches, several times the defensive wrestler was thrown to the mat hard before the offensive wrestler hit the mat. Have the rules changed or is this a call that is being missed? I haven't had the opportunity to ask our head kids coach, and I work with the 6 and 8 year olds and of course we don't teach this to them. Thanks for the input.

There is no such rule in the rule book, this is a common misconception.

Thanks, Nigel.

I don't have my rule book with me or I'd give an exact quote, but in a nutshell it reads that a wrestler must return the other wrestler to the mat in a controlled fashion. This includes a defensive wrestler as well.

One situation you would see this is if an offesnsive wrestler puts the legs in, then the defensive wrestler stands up real quick and then just falls backward to purposely make the offensive wresltler hit the mat.

During my high school wrestling days, this may have been construed as landing with the wrestler, I remember being called a few times on this when using a deep arch with a hard twist. I suppose control could mean different things to different people. I appreciate the information.