Freestyle Wrestling
An Olympic wrestling style that allows leg holds and tripping. It derives from catch-as-catch-can and has been at the Games since 1904, for women since 2004.
Quick Facts
Character & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Freestyle Wrestling
About Freestyle Wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is, alongside Greco-Roman, the second Olympic wrestling style. It derives from catch-as-catch-can, which was influenced by British forms of wrestling and by Irish collar-and-elbow brought to the USA by immigrants. It has no single founder or date of origin. It was first wrestled at the Olympic Games in 1904 in St. Louis, the international federation was founded in 1921 and is now called United World Wrestling (UWW). Unlike Greco-Roman wrestling, the UWW rules allow grabbing the opponent's legs, tripping and actively using one's own legs. Points are awarded from one for the opponent stepping out of the protection zone or for passivity up to five for a high-amplitude throw. A senior match has two periods of three minutes and ends by a fall onto the shoulder blades, on points or by technical superiority at a lead of ten points. Women's wrestling follows freestyle rules and has been at the Olympic Games since 2004. Men and women each have ten senior weight categories, and at the Games women have six. The attire is the singlet. At five championships from 2016 to 2019, freestyle had 8.5 moderate to critical injuries per 1 000 exposures. It has no grades or belts, and the path leads through age categories from U15.
History
Freestyle wrestling is, alongside Greco-Roman, the second Olympic wrestling style. It derives from catch-as-catch-can, in which a fall meant holding both of the opponent's shoulder blades on the mat and the bout otherwise continued on the ground with almost all holds. The Lancashire and Scottish forms of wrestling influenced it, as did Irish collar-and-elbow, brought to the USA by immigrants. Freestyle has no single founder or date of origin.
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Freestyle was first wrestled at the Olympic Games on 14 and 15 October 1904 in St. Louis, in seven weight classes and for men only. The tournament was also the championship of the US amateur union AAU, and all 42 competitors lived in the United States. The Games have featured both Olympic styles side by side continuously since Antwerp 1920. The international federation was founded in 1921, carried the name FILA from 1994 and has been called United World Wrestling (UWW) since September 2014. Olympics.com dates its separation as early as 1912, Olympedia dates its founding to 1921. The scoring system that replaced decisions by fall or time advantage alone in the United States was devised by coach Art Griffith of Oklahoma State. In the late nineteen-fifties Albert de Ferrari pushed through scoring for takedowns, stopping the clock when a wrestler leaves the mat, and the attacker's control in a fall. Women's freestyle has been part of the Olympic Games since Athens 2004, where 50 wrestlers from 21 countries competed in four categories up to 48, 55, 63 and 72 kg.
How it differs
Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling share the UWW rules and differ in several articles. The introduction to the rules: in Greco-Roman wrestling it is strictly forbidden to grab the opponent below the waist, trip him and actively use the legs, in freestyle and women's wrestling it is allowed. Technical superiority ends a freestyle match at a 10-point difference, a Greco-Roman one already at 8 points (Art. 43). The two styles handle passivity differently (Art. 46): in Greco-Roman the active wrestler receives a point for the opponent's first and second passivity and chooses standing or par terre, in freestyle the first offence is only a verbal warning and at the second the passive wrestler has 30 seconds to score a point. The Olympic weights differ too: freestyle 57, 65, 74, 86, 97 and 125 kg, Greco-Roman 60, 67, 77, 87, 97 and 130 kg. Women's wrestling is the third Olympic discipline and follows freestyle rules with one difference: the double nelson is forbidden. Its Olympic categories are 50, 53, 57, 62, 68 and 76 kg.
Technique
The UWW rules (January 2026) allow in their introduction grabbing the opponent's legs, tripping and actively using the legs in freestyle, which Greco-Roman wrestling forbids. Women's wrestling follows freestyle rules, but forbids the double nelson. Under Art. 44 a wrestler in the bottom position may not defend with both arms closed. Scoring under Art. 38 of the UWW 2026 rules: 1 point for the opponent leaving the protection zone without a hold and for passivity, 2 points for going behind with control or for a throw to a lying position or onto the side, 4 points for a standing hold that dynamically endangers the opponent or for a lift and throw onto the chest, 5 points for a high-amplitude throw that puts the opponent in direct danger. The match ends by a fall onto the shoulder blades or by technical superiority at a 10-point lead. Art. 46 governs passivity. If nobody has scored after two minutes of the first period, the referee must designate the passive wrestler. The first offence brings a verbal warning, the second gives 30 seconds to score, otherwise the opponent gets a point.
Training
Freestyle training has no single international curriculum, UWW leaves methodology to national federations and clubs. It does run coach education itself: the Coach Education Programme has four levels (introduction to coaching and safety, training planning, periodization and coaching philosophy, program and athlete development), and the second covers seven basic wrestling skills and weight management. Since 7 July 2020 the UWW online academy has offered the courses Online Rule Test, Ready to Wrestle Program, Introduction to Coaching, Level 1 Coaches Course and the anti-doping course Coach True, run with WADA. These programs cover wrestling as a whole, not just freestyle. We found no description of freestyle-specific preparation, such as a national training curriculum, in federation sources.
Ranks and progression
Freestyle has no grades, belts or technical examinations. A wrestler's path leads through the UWW age categories: U15 (14 to 15 years), U17 (16 to 17), U20 (18 to 20), U23 (19 to 23) and seniors from 20 years. Only a man over 97 kg and a woman over 72 kg may enter the heaviest category, and seniors and U23 may compete one category higher. Standing is decided by results and the ranking. According to the UWW Ranking Rule Book, the ranking determines 8 seeds in each category for the Olympic Games and the senior World Championships and 4 seeds for continental championships. Olympic medallists receive an additional 8 000, 6 400 and 5 200 points in the Olympic year for first to third place. At the World Championships four wrestlers per category stand on the podium (gold, silver and two bronzes) and every world champion receives a world champion's belt.
Who it suits
The youth categories U15 (14–15 years) and U17 (16–17 years) are shared by freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. U15 has ten categories for boys from 34 to 85 kg, for girls from 29 to 66 kg. A youth match lasts two periods of 2 minutes. In U15 and U17 passivity is handled without a verbal warning: if the score is 0:0 after the first minute of the first period, the referee designates the passive wrestler and active time begins. We have not found any children's programs or studies of children devoted to freestyle alone. Molnár and colleagues (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 2022) registered, at five championships from 2016 to 2019 (three world and two European championships), 8.5 moderate to critical injuries per 1 000 exposures in freestyle and 9.5 in Greco-Roman and women's wrestling. Studies of American high schools and universities follow school and university wrestling with different rules, not international freestyle.
Competition
The UWW rules (January 2026, Art. 7) have ten freestyle categories for senior men, 57 to 125 kg, and ten for senior women, 50 to 76 kg, U20 and U23 being the same as senior. Only a man over 97 kg and a woman over 72 kg may enter the heaviest category, and seniors and U23 may compete one category up. At the Olympics women have six categories, 50, 53, 57, 62, 68 and 76 kg. Weigh-in is the same as in Greco-Roman wrestling (Art. 8 and 11). The first, with a medical check, lasts 30 minutes on the morning of a category's first day, the second, for the repechage and finalists, 15 minutes the next morning. At the World Cup and international tournaments a 2 kg tolerance applies, but not at the second weigh-in. Whoever misses or fails the weigh-in is eliminated.
Gear
Bouts take place on a circular mat 9 m in diameter: the central wrestling area is 7 m across, around it is a passivity zone 1 m wide and outside it a protection zone 1.5 m wide. Wrestlers wear a red or blue singlet, women a women's-cut one. The UWW equipment regulation of January 2025 specifies only the material for ear guards: flexible, elastic, with no hard parts or buckles. Before each period the referee checks the clothing and whether the wrestler has any greasy substances on the body.
Today
Freestyle is governed by United World Wrestling, based in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, which has united 189 national federations since its congress in Shijak, Albania, on 27 October 2024. It is an Olympic sport: Greco-Roman wrestling has been at the Games since 1896, freestyle since 1904 and continuously since 1920, women's freestyle since 2004. The Olympic tournament has six men's freestyle categories (57, 65, 74, 86, 97 and 125 kg) and six women's (50, 53, 57, 62, 68 and 76 kg), and lasts 7 days on 3 mats. The senior World Championships are held every year except the Olympic one, last 9 days on 4 mats and are complemented by annual U20 and U17 World Championships. In December 2025 UWW confirmed that the weight categories will remain unchanged for the next Olympic cycle.
Did you know
The first Olympic freestyle tournament in St. Louis in 1904 was also the championship of the US amateur union AAU: all 42 competitors lived in the United States, some with Norwegian citizenship. Kaori Icho of Japan won women's freestyle gold at four consecutive Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016), at 63 kg in Athens and London and at 58 kg in Rio, and olympics.com lists her as the first woman with four titles in a row in one discipline. Her compatriot Saori Yoshida won thirteen world champion titles in a row (2002 to 2015) and three Olympic golds (2004, 2008 and 2012), but Helen Maroulis took the fourth from her in the Rio 2016 final at 53 kg, winning 4:1.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a freestyle wrestling match last?
A senior match (U20, U23 and seniors) lasts two periods of 3 minutes with a 30-second break. Youth U15 and U17 wrestle two periods of 2 minutes.
How is a freestyle wrestling match won?
By a fall on both shoulder blades, by technical superiority at a 10-point difference, or on points, if the wrestler leads by at least a point after both periods combined.
How does freestyle wrestling differ from Greco-Roman wrestling?
In freestyle wrestling you may grab the opponent's legs, trip and actively use your own legs. In Greco-Roman wrestling this is forbidden and holds are made only above the waist.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.