Today during advisory, with the help of the cheer squad and members of the pep band playing Brentwood’s very own fight song, the high school student body lined the halls of BHS to give the wrestling team a proper send-off to state. In total, BHS had SEVEN wrestlers headed to Columbia, Missouri, for the state wrestling tournament which starts tomorrow, February 22nd.

In order to qualify for state, wrestlers needed to place fourth or higher at the district tournament. On the boys squad, sophomore Jesse Lane placed first in his weight class. To note, Lane also placed first at the district tournament last year as just a freshman! Junior Jason Jones placed 2nd in his weight class, and sophomore Don Tran, junior Phoenix Torno and junior Miller Chantharasy each placed third. At the girls district tournament, senior Annsleigh Alexander placed 2nd and sophomore Kellie McGee placed third.

“It’s a lot more than what people think it is,” sophomore Phoenix Torno said. “There are lots of times where I wanted to quit or just go with the flow for the season but I stayed committed and kept going.”

Even if you know next-to-nothing about wrestling, it can still feel pretty thrilling to watch a match. Yet, with a little more knowledge of the sport, watching it becomes even more exciting.

Curious to learn more about wrestling so you can tune in to watch our wrestlers compete tomorrow and actually understand what is going on? You’re in luck.

State qualifier and staff reporter Miller Chantharasy has prepared this insider’s guide to wrestling so you can understand and appreciate the sport at a deeper level  – no cutting weight or getting thrown on the mats required.

If you’ve been to a wrestling match, you know that people get called up to the mats by a certain weight. And if you’ve watched the whole match, you might have noticed that most of the time whoever the winner is appears to be on top of the wrestler, and the ref hits the mat. Then boom, end of the match and onto the next weight class.

But unless you have wrestled yourself or worked with the team, this is probably where your knowledge ends. So allow me to fill you in.

Before the meet even starts:

As I mentioned, wrestling has weight classes. Weight classes go from 110 all the way up to 210 in high school wrestling. For example, my weight class is 132, so I can’t be anything over 132, even if it’s 132.5. 

But what you might not have known is that before you even step on the mats, you need to check on your weight, nails, and skin. In wrestling, nails can be a brutal weapon – that is if your nails are long and sharp. If your nails are longer than allowed, the ref will make you cut them if you want to wrestle. Skin checks are also a regular part of wrestling. Personally, I never knew what they were checking on, but according to Children’s MD, “This means checking the skin all over for any signs of infection or fungus that could easily be transmitted to other wrestlers and equipment.”

During the match:

It’s go time, your weight class is up, and you hear your name, so you head up to the announcer’s table with your singlet and ear guards strapped. When you reach the table, they will tell you to either put on a red or green strap; the straps are in the middle of the mat. Once you put the strap on, you get on the white line across from the opponent, then wait for the referee to be ready. After he blows the whistle, you go. 

There are multiple ways of winning; the most known method is the pin when you are on top of your opponent, and both their shoulders are on the mat. Another way of winning is by having more points than your opponents. 

Wondering how to earn these points? This part can seem confusing if you’re new to watching wrestling. There are many ways to earn points; I got all the ways to get points in the El Modena High School rule book.

• Takedown: From the neutral position, when one wrestler takes the other wrestler down to the mat and controls them from the top, a takedown is scored. (2 points) 
• Reversal: A reversal is scored when a wrestler is on the bottom in the referee’s position and reverses their opponent to the top in the referee’s position. (2 Points) 
• Escape: An escape is scored when a wrestler is on the bottom of the referee’s position and escapes to the neutral position without reversing the top wrestler. (1 Point) 
• Near Fall: When the bottom wrestler has their back exposed to the mat on an angle of 45 degrees or less for a count of at least two seconds but less than five seconds, a near fall is scored. (2 Points) 
• Near Fall: When the bottom wrestler has their back exposed to the mat on an angle of 45 degrees or less for a count of five seconds or more, a near fall is scored. (3 Points) 
• Penalty Points: These can be awarded to the wrestler’s opponent in violation of specific rules and conduct. The following is a list of commonly awarded penalty points: 
• Stalling: Initially a warning, followed by a penalty of 1 point, with each additional incident incurring penalties of 1 point – 2 points – 2 points – Disqualification. 
• False Start/Illegal Start Position: Two warnings, followed by 1-point penalties for each additional incident. No disqualification. 
• Clasping: Immediate 1-point penalty. Each additional incident is followed by penalties of 1 point – 2 points – 2 points – Disqualification. 
• Illegal Holds: Immediate 1-point penalty. Each additional incident is followed by incurring penalties of 1 point– 2 points – 2 points – Disqualification. 
• Technical Violations: Immediate 1-point penalty. Each additional incident is followed by incurring penalties of 1 point – 2 points – 2 points – Disqualification. 
• Cause for Ejection Penalties: Gross misconduct, slamming, or any illegal wrestling move that injures an opponent. That injury defaults the match.

After the match:

The only difference between losing and winning a match is getting your hand raised or not.

If you have your hand raised then you have won the match, but it’s okay if you didn’t. Trust me. Even if you lost, there probably will be some kind of cool highlight from it whether it be you and your opponent flipping around, or you scoring some points.

Regardless of winning or losing, before you get to go and sit down on the bench, you have to go shake the hand of the other team’s coach; then you can sit down and rest. Don’t get too comfortable though, because you might have another match. so while you chillax on the seats or bench, make sure to have some Gatorade or water to refill your electrolytes even if you don’t have another match; if you don’t, it’ll feel like your muscles or whatever you have are feel like noodles flopping around in the air. Also, make sure to cheer for your teammates.

Bonus Intel:

Now you know some more about understanding a wrestling match, but did you know that wrestling is one of the oldest sports? It’s so old that it was one of the original Olympic sports. Another random but important fact is that our own BHS senior Annsleigh Alexander has recently reached 100+ wins, this is one of the biggest moments for anyone, this one especially because she has the most career wins for our Brentwood girls wrestling team. Woot woot.