Wrestling: The Essentials
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | 2:01 PM ET
By Jesse Campigotto, CBC Sports
Canada's Martine Dugrenier, top, pinned Russia's Julia Bartnovskaia in Moscow to win her third consecutive world title in September. (Claus Fisker/AFP/Getty Images)
An optional sport, wrestling makes its return to the Commonwealth Games after being left off the program in 2006 in Melbourne.
The timing couldn't be better for Canada, which sends a deep team coming off a strong showing at the world championships.
Twenty-one events are on the Delhi slate, with all matches to be held at the 14,000-seat Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
For the men, there's competition in seven weight classes in both the freestyle and Greco Roman categories, with wrestlers ranging from about 110 pounds to a maximum of about 265 pounds. The women compete in seven freestyle divisions, with wrestlers tipping the scales between 97 and 159 pounds.
In Greco Roman wrestling, athletes aren't permitted to go after an opponent's legs (whether to trip or even hold them) or actively use their own legs for anything other than strength and balance. As a result, there's more clinching and a greater emphasis on "throw" moves (like the hip toss) than in freestyle wrestling, where legs are fair game.
Still, the object in both disciplines is the same: get your opponent on his or her back and pin their shoulders to the mat. Sounds easy, eh? The tough part is that good wrestlers are often too strong, quick and smart to let themselves get pinned, so points are awarded for take-downs — the number of points depends on the degree of difficulty of the move.
If no one can execute a pin by the end of a two-minute period, the wrestler with the most points wins the period. A match has three periods.
Who to watch
Carol Huynh (Canada): The reigning Olympic champion in the women's 48-kilogram class, Huynh, 29, leads a strong 17-member Canadian team to Delhi. The Hazelton, B.C., native became one of the darlings of Beijing when she upset three-time world champ Icho Chiharu of Japan in the final, giving Canada its first gold medal of the Games. Coming off a bronze medal at the world championships, this will be Huynh's first Commonwealth Games.
Martine Dugrenier (Canada): The 31-year-old from Laval, Que., won her third straight world championship in early September, rallying from losing the first period to beat Kazakhstan's Elena Shalygina in the 67-kg final in Moscow.
Tonya Verbeek (Canada): The 33-year-old veteran from Beamsville, Ont., owns a pair of Olympic medals: a silver in the 55-kg final in 2004 in Athens, and a bronze in the same division in Beijing. Verbeek will compete in the 59-kg class in Delhi.
When to watch (gold and bronze medal matches)
Day 2 (Oct. 5)
- Men's Greco Roman 60 kg, 74 kg, 96 kg
Day 3 (Oct. 6)
- Men's Greco Roman 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg, 120 kg
Day 4 (Oct. 7)
- Women's freestyle 48 kg, 55 kg, 63 kg, 72 kg
Day 5 (Oct. 8)
- Women's freestyle 51 kg, 59 kg, 67 kg
Day 6 (Oct. 9)
- Men's freestyle 60 kg, 74 kg, 96 kg
Day 7 (Oct. 10)
- Men's freestyle 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg, 120 kg
