Why Folkstyle ?

• Joe Daugherty

  I know this has been a question that comes up in many a conversation.
  But why is the USA the only country that wrestles Folkstyle?
  It seems to me that if we want our athletes to be able to compete in the Olympics competitively then we would just wrestle Freestyle and Greco.
  Opinions please.....:huh:
• Bitterrunner-up

  I like Folk much more than Free, but it does seem odd (and counterproductive) that the US is the only country that wrestles that style. There's little doubt that our insistance on wrestling Folkstyle throughout youth, high school and college leads to our athletes have less experience and less success at the International level.
  
  As for why we do it, it's tradition.
• Fab1b

  

  I to agree but I do like folk more than free/greco. But I agree it hurts our wrestlers on the international level.
• litlguysdad

  

  I'd say I'm split on wich I prefer but, will make a guess and say that folk appears to be the safest style, in terms of injury. Is that the right answer? IDK.
• Fab1b

  

  I don't think safety is much of an issue between the styles. Growing up I loved free/greco and preferred to wrestle it over folk. But over the past 15yrs the rules in free/greco have really gotten whack!! Refereeing I can surely tell you I only like to ref folk!
• Joe Daugherty

  I was only able to wrestle Free on a rare occasion in the summers during high school. I like free better than folk. I think because to me it was easy. You do not have to be in control to score. Seemed easy.
  It just seems so counter productive to take a kid and all through his most impressionable years teach folk. Then throw him in Free and Greco. Think about how good JAKE HERBERT would be if all he did was free and greco!
• Little Danny

  

  I am a military brat. I actually wrestled both American Folkstyle and Freestyle in my Senior year of high school when I lived overseas. I once wrote a paper on wrestling when I was in college. If I recall, the American Folkstyle wrestled today began in the early 1920's by the NCAA to distinguish itself from professional (not the stuff on TV) wrestling organizations that existed acros the country. Popularity of the sprot boomed shortly after WW2 and the folk style remained.
  
  I had a lot of success wrestling folk style my Senior year after my year of wrestling freestyle. I was better on my feet, I had much stronger resistance, and I developed a new repertoire of holds and escapes kids that wrestled only folk style were not accustomed to.
• huntergreen

  Does it really hurt us that much or is USA wrestling not what it used to be? Unless I am wrong guys like Jackson, Monday, Schultz, Smith, Bumgartner, Sanderson, etc. all wrestled folkstyle before joining the international scene. I just don't understand our subpar performance in the past few years in the major competitions.
  
  Just a thought.
  
  In addition, I dislike the current freestyle rules. It is very hard to watch with too much down time and referee decisions. It seems absurd that you should score points for pushing a guy out of bounds. I know they try to promote aggression, but this is not wrestling aggression in my book.
• BSFA

  Why not the METRIC system? USA! USA! USA!
• Joe Daugherty

  If you take Jake Herbert and only teach him freestyle his whole life and he wins Worlds. It is that easy!
• hasbeen

  

  BSFA wrote: Why not the METRIC system? USA! USA! USA!

  Terrible comparison.
  
  It would cost millions of dollars to change every sign in the USA to the metric system. It's really not worth it.
  
  I never did much freestyle and no greco. It was all folk for me. Course, I wasn't that good.
• WGBplayer

  pnhasbeen wrote:

  BSFA wrote: Why not the METRIC system? USA! USA! USA!

  Terrible comparison.
  
  It would cost millions of dollars to change every sign in the USA to the metric system. It's really not worth it.
  
  I never did much freestyle and no greco. It was all folk for me. Course, I wasn't that good.

  Going to metric could be what we need though... a new Public Works Administration... now with changing everything over to metric!!! YAY!
• cruiser_96

  

  Right up your alley, pnhasbeen! A socialists agenda...can it GET any better!!!
  
  I think I'd be more into freestyle if they used more common sense. And why all the changes ALL THE TIME!?!?! Take three years off and let me know how many new/changed rules are in place. And the push-out rle!?!?! Come on!!!
  
  The clinch is wat seals it for me. Unreal.
  
  For the "if we did it since birth, we'd dominate" argument... the only thing that gets me is the fact that a) we still win medals at olympics and b) is the reason or are the reasons we are losing these matches based on the different styles? It's not like we are losing freestyle matches because we are hitting Granby rolls or Greco matches because we can't stop hitting the low-single!!! I'm Just sating I'm not sold on the argument.
• hasbeen

  

  cruiser_96 wrote: Right up your alley, pnhasbeen! A socialists agenda...can it GET any better!!!
  

  I'm stepping away from this discussion. Or I'll go on an ugly rant.
• Joe Daugherty

  The reason the rules have changed is so that we DON"T win medals! Remember it is FILA and they really don't like Harry Lester!!! I have to make fun or I will be like Hasbeen and have to walk from the conversation. Being that I started it I don't think that would be fair. Kinda like the kid that instigates a fight then slips out under the pile and goes home.
  Cruiser points out the more outrageous rule changes that really don't make any sense to me either.
• Bitterrunner-up

  Come on, the metric system is clearly the superior system.
• antonysharples

  I have had this conversation with so many people and actually wrote a paper about it. To be honest, there is no single answer.
  
  We wrestle folkstyle because as someone pointed out earlier, the NCAA started this long ago, and we just followed along.
  
  The reason we don't see as many medals is not due to the athletes, but I believe it is a combintation of lack support on a grass roots level and the break up of the Soviet Union. Now you have 10-15 "Russians" wrestling for all the small country's surrounding mother Russia making today's international tourneys incredibly tough.
  
  We need more support from USA Wrestling at the state level and more opportunities for younger wrestlers to learn and compete in freestyle and greco. The rising popularity of Disney Duals is certainly not helping as well.