Pin (amateur wrestling)

A pin, a fall, or a pinfall (the last term most commonly used in professional wrestling) is a victory condition in various forms of wrestling that is met by holding an opponent's shoulders or scapulae (shoulder blades) on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time. This article deals with the pin as it is defined in amateur wrestling.

In amateur wrestling, a pin ends the match regardless of when it occurs. Situations which are almost pins but for whatever reason do not meet the criteria - for example, have only one shoulder down or have the defending wrestler blocked in a neck bridge - are rewarded with near fall points (also known as back points) in order to encourage wrestlers to take risks to try to pin their opponents.

Pinning also refers to the pinning of hands during close hand-to-hand combat of Wing Chun.

In the International Styles

*In freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, a pin must be held long enough for the referee to "observe the total control of the fall" (usually ranging from one half-second to about one or two seconds). Then either the judge or the mat chairman concurs with the referee that a fall is made. (If the referee does not indicate a fall, and the fall is valid, the judge and the mat chairman can concur together and announce the pin.) [ cite web
last = International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = International Wrestling Rules: Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Women's Wrestling
work = p. 41
publisher = FILA
date = 2006-12-01
url = http://www.fila-wrestling.com/images/documents/lutte/wr230107.pdf
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-08-09 ] In the United States, for the Kids freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling division (wrestlers ages 8 to 14) in competitions sponsored by USA Wrestling, it is specified that a pin must be held for two seconds. [ cite web
last = USA Wrestling
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = International Wrestling Rules: Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Women's Wrestling, modified for USA Wrestling
work = pp. 41, 72
publisher = USAW
date = 2008-01-01
url = http://www.themat.com/forms/2008Rulebook.pdf
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-05-10 ]

Under the 2004-2005 changes to the FILA rules, amateur wrestling moved to a round-based system in which each period is conducted as a separate match with a winner declared. The pin is an exception - it ends a match outright, unlike the period-only victories awarded by technical fall or decision on points. In this way, the fall is analogous to a knockout in boxing.

In collegiate wrestling

*In American collegiate (or folkstyle) wrestling, a pin must be held for one second. [ cite web
last = National Collegiate Athletic Association
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = 2008 NCAA Wrestling Rules and Interpretations
work = pp. WR-23-WR-24
publisher = NCAA
date = 2007-08-31
url = http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2008/2008_wrestling_rules.pdf
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-09-06 ]

In scholastic wrestling

*In American scholastic (or folkstyle) wrestling, a pin must be held for two seconds. [cite book
last = National Federation of State High School Associations
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = 2007-08 NFHS Wrestling Rules Book
publisher = NFHS
date = 2007-09-15
location =
pages = p. 22
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

Notes