Stalling penalty increased in high school wrestling

High school wrestlers who are called for a third stalling violation will receive a stiffer penalty beginning with the 2012-13 season. In addition to the two-point penalty assessed for a third stalling violation, the opponent will now have his or her choice of position on the next restart.

The stalling penalty revision was approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee, and were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

"The change to the third stalling penalty resulted from the committee's desire to encourage wrestlers to wrestle aggressively by providing a greater incentive not to stall," said Dale Pleimann, chair of the Wrestling Rules Committee. "No one likes to see a wrestler disqualified for stalling. The hope is that by increasing the third stalling penalty, a wrestler who has been penalized twice will be encouraged to pick up the pace and wrestle more aggressively."

Another new rule, Rule 4-3-5, states that wrestlers "may not wear wristbands, sweatbands or bicep bands during a match." This rule was enacted in an effort to minimize risk of injury from wrestlers getting their fingers caught in an opponent's wristband or sweatband.

In other changes, the committee adjusted the current dual meet weigh-in procedure to align with the random draw.

Bob Colgate, NFHS director of sports and sports medicine and staff liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee, said this change would provide maximum preparation and warm-up time for the first contestants scheduled to compete in a dual meet.