GENTRY — With wrestling season under way and matches scheduled to be held in Gentry this week and in the weeks to come, spectators maywonder how the matches are scored in order to better understand what is happening on the mats and why.

The object, of course, is to pin an opponent by holding both his shoulder blades to the mat for twoseconds; but a match can be won by points as well: takedowns are 2 points; escapes - 1 point; reversals - 2 points; and near falls (holding an opponent’s shoulder blades withinfour inches of the mat or holding one shoulder to the mat and the second shoulder at an angle of 45 degrees or less) - 2 points for two seconds and 3 points for five seconds.

Wrestlers can also be awarded points if an opponent commits a technical violation or infraction of the rules - 1 point for the first and second penalty, 2 points for the third, and a disqualification of his opponent for the fourth.

Pinning an opponent, also called a fall, is scored as 6 points for a team. Teams also receive 6 points when an opposing team forfeits in a certain weight category or an opposing wrestler is disqualified.

Matches won by points are scored as follows: technical falls (when a wrestler ends a match with a 15 point advantage over his opponent) - 5 team points; major decision (when a wrestler ends a match with an 8-14 point advantage over his opponent) - 4 team points; and decision (winning a match by less than 8 points) - 3 team points.

Wrestling tournaments, with multiple school teams participating, pit wrestlers against wrestlers in an

Wrestling has the advantage for athletes of facing other athletes of the same weight and approximate size, giving individuals the opportunity to compete, as well as teams.

According to the Arkansas Wrestling Association, wrestling is a very safe sport in which participants are unlikely to be hurt even when they lose because matches are closely supervised by coaches and officials.

Sports, Pages 10 on 11/28/2012