How do Iowa coaches feel about new rules?
Iowa high school wrestling is going to look a bit different next season.
The traditional cheers of “two!” off of a takedown now need to be replaced by shouts of “three!” after the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) added a point to takedowns as well as several other rule changes announced recently.
In addition to the three-point takedown, near-fall points will be earned by each second a wrestler holds their opponent in a near-fall criteria position up to four points. Wrestlers will now also be considered in-bounds should either of the two wrestlers have at least one point of contact in bounds.
These are moves that will mirror much of what we saw at the men’s collegiate level this past season, but what do high school coaches around Iowa think of the changes?
The Des Moines Register surveyed boys and girls high school coaches, with 16 of them responding to the questionnaire. Below, we dive into the impact they think the new rules will make.
More offensive wrestlers set to benefit from wrestling rule changes
In large part, coaches supported the change to the three-point takedown. Among the 16 coaches, 81.25% of them said they either support or strongly support the rule change, with two coaches saying they disliked the move and another saying they were neutral.
The consensus among coaches who supported the three-point takedown was that it would reward the more aggressive wrestler in a match.
“I hope that it encourages more attacks and that would create more action and scoring opportunities,” Valley boys coach Brett Wheelan said. “I like rewarding the wrestler who creates the action, and hopefully those willing to take the attack are the ones being rewarded with more points.”
While women’s college wrestling rules differ from girls high school wrestling, with women competing in freestyle after high school, girls coaches in the state also were supportive. Six of the seven coaches who responded said they support or strongly support the rule change.
“The new rule does strongly align with what the men are doing on the college side, but it should also work really well with setting our girls up for collegiate success,” Pella girls coach Adam Hale said. “Emphasizing takedowns and the ability to turn your opponent translates directly into freestyle, which is what the girls will be wrestling post-high school.”
When it comes to the near-fall scoring change, 12 of the 16 said they strongly supported or supported the change. Two were neutral, while two disliked the change. On the one point of contact rule, 14 of the 16 coaches supported the change, while two were neutral.
The consensus of those who supported both of those changes was that the rules were now simplified for fans, coaches and officials.
“I think this makes it a lot easier for officials,” Lewis Central boys and girls wrestling coach August Manz said. “Before the rule was not very clear and was officiated differently from one state to the next. I felt some of the new officials struggled with the rule because they are used to watching college and were at times officiating the matches like college. This should clear up a lot of disagreements with officials, coaches, wrestlers and fans.”
However, a couple of coaches did express safety concerns related to the one point of contact change. With just a few feet separating the out-of-bounds line and the edge of a mat, high school wrestlers could potentially find themselves rolling off the side onto a gym floor, towards a wall or even into another mat.
As a result, venues may have to trim the number of mats in a gym at one time to have more room for each bout, therefore extending the time needed to complete a tournament.
“At some venues we’ve been to, that would be a reality,” Mason City girls coach Jake Phillips said. “This could impact the number of mats and also the length of tournaments.”
When looking broadly at the responses to the poll, high school coaches seem to be largely in favor of these rule changes. College coaches, fans and athletes alike seemed to approve of the three-point takedown and the new nearfall point scoring system, implemented last year at that level.
Certain teams like Iowa State, who had offensive dynamos like Yonger Bastida, David Carr and MJ Gaitan, seemed to greatly benefit from this change by jumping from an 11th-place finish to a fourthplace finish. Of course, that can be attributed to overall growth in a program, but take this into account.
In the 2022-23 season, before the two-point takedown and near-fall change, 14.8% of Iowa State’s matches ended in major decision or technical fall. In the 2023-24 season with the threepoint takedown and two, three and fourpoint near-fall swipes, 31.95% of matches ended in major decision or technical fall. The Cyclones also had 12 more wins by fall in this past season (75) than the year before (63).
In short, this new change will bring similar results with more technical falls and major decisions across the field, with the more aggressive wrestler seeing an advantage. However, not all coaches see it as more offense. Raccoon River girls wrestling coach James Biscoglia was one of the few to respond that they disliked the change to a three-point takedown, due to it potentially increasing more stalling late in matches.
“To be fair, I really don’t like it in college either,” Biscoglia said. “While intended to reward the wrestler with more takedowns, in college it has ultimately encouraged more stalling in the third period in close matches. I feel that may happen in high school wrestling as well. Additionally, in high school wrestling, I think it will lead to more technical falls and fewer majors and pins. It will shorten duals as matches that were major decisions will now be technical falls. I don’t think this necessarily improves the product.”
No matter what way you lean on the subject, high school wrestling in Iowa will have a bit of a different flavor next year. One that many coaches see as a positive going forward.
“This season is going to be the most competitive and exciting year of Iowa high school wrestling we have ever seen,” Norwalk boys wrestling coach Jacob Brown said. @gannett.com. @EMcKown23.
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