Wrestling singlet

A wrestling singlet (or simply singlet) is a one-piece, tight-fitting, colored uniform, usually made of spandex, lycra, or nylon, used in amateur wrestling. The uniform is tight fitting so as not to get grasped accidentally by one's opponent, and allows the referee to see each wrestler's body clearly when awarding points or a pin. Unlike judo, it is illegal to grasp an opponent's clothing in all styles of amateur wrestling.

Look of a singlet

In most high school and college wrestling matches, the competitors wear singlets in their team colors. To designate a competitor's color for scoring purposes a red or green anklet is also worn.

Outside school competition (e.g., in international wrestling: freestyle and Greco-Roman) wrestlers bring a red and a blue singlet (or reversible singlet) and are told before the match which color to wear.

Singlets are also common among professional wrestlers. Many of these are much more stylized than those worn by amateurs, although the use of singlets in professional wrestling has declined in the last two decades.

Other clothing

A new style of singlet, known as a double, has recently emerged in college wrestling that covers more of the upper body. Made of the same lycra material, this singlet has more of a t-shirt covering than the traditional thin-strap singlet more commonly worn. This type of singlet is usually worn with accompanying tight-fitting shorts. This style of singlet is currently only allowed on the college level, although there is report that some high school wrestlers use this singlet style in practice sessions. [Citation
last = Wilson
first = Eric
author-link = Eric Wilson
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Wrestling With Tradition: Keep Your Shirt On
newspaper = The New York Times
pages =
year = 2005
date = 2005-11-17
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/fashion/thursdaystyles/17wrestle.html]

Only with special permission are wrestlers allowed to wear a t-shirt under their singlet, most commonly for sanitary reasons involving excessive acne on the chest or back.

inglet cuts

There are three different traditional "cuts" to wrestling singlets: the high cut, the fila cut, and the low cut. The high cut covers most of the chest and reaches up to the under-arms on the side. The fila cut is like the high cut but does not rise up as high beneath the arms. The low cut singlet is a revealing singlet, that allows greater range of mobility, keeps its wearer cooler, tends to be more comfortable when not on the mat (wrestlers tend to wear their singlets under their clothes nearly all day in some circumstances). The low cut reaches down to the middle abdomen in the front, reaches down to the hips on the sides, and features a single strap that runs up the back that is very thin.

Wearing

Underneath the singlet, wrestlers traditionally wore a jockstrap (athletic supporter), although wrestling briefs, compression shorts or nothing at all has become more popular in recent years. Some wrestlers wear an athletic supporter with a protective cup, regular briefs, boxers or tights. A protective cup will protect the wrestler from an elbow, knee, jab, etc... to the groin, but isn't considered common. Brad Garrett's character in The Pacifier can be seen wearing a cup for wrestling.

For practice or between matches, sanitary shorts are worn over the singlet. This seems to function mostly as a modesty covering for the wrestler.

Notes

ee also

*Wrestling shoes
*Wrestling headgear
*Amateur wrestling
*Collegiate wrestling
*Freestyle wrestling
*Greco-Roman wrestling