Trinta (Moldavian Wrestling)
Moldovan national wrestling trânta. Opponents try to bring each other to the ground, and according to the daily Adevărul a bout lasts four minutes for juniors and six for adults.
Quick Facts
MoldovaCharacter & 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.
Catalogs & Databases for Trinta (Moldavian Wrestling)
About Trinta (Moldavian Wrestling)
Trinta, in Moldovan trânta, is the Moldovan national wrestling. The daily Adevărul called it in 2015 the national sport of Moldovans, practised in almost every village including by children, and Green (2001) lists trente from Romania and Moldova among regional variants of wrestling. Radio Moldova describes it as wrestling in which two opponents try to bring each other to the ground, related to Greco-Roman wrestling. According to Adevărul, grips on the arms, waist, body, neck or legs are allowed, along with throws over the shoulder, hip or back, while painful holds are excluded and striking a downed opponent is forbidden. According to the daily, a bout lasts four minutes for juniors and six for adults, or ends sooner when one wrestler leads by 12 points. Traditional sports websites give different durations. According to Radio Moldova and the Moldpres agency, the national championship returned in November 2024 after about five years, with over 200 athletes competing. It is organised by the national trânta sports federation, whose president, according to Radio Moldova, also wants to assemble a team for the belt wrestling world championship.
History
According to Adevărul, director Anatol Codru made the film Trânta in 1968 about the traditions of this sport. The website traditionalsports.org places the first mentions at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century, when it served to train soldiers, cites descriptions in the ballads of Vasile Alecsandri and novels of Mihail Sadoveanu, and writes that in 1954 a group of young coaches began reviving the sport. The website worldethnosport.org states that under the Moldavian SSR trânta was part of school curricula. Green names trente from Romania and Moldova under one name.
How it differs
Moldpres describes the trântă dreaptă variant as a modernised traditional wrestling without grips on the legs and trips, whereas Adevărul lists grips on the legs among the permitted ones. Radio Moldova calls trânta related to Greco-Roman wrestling. United World Wrestling, in its 2016 report on the forum of associated wrestling styles, names neither trânta nor Moldova.
Technique
Adevărul lists grips on the arms, waist, body, neck or legs and throws over the shoulder, hip or back, while painful holds are excluded. According to it, striking a downed opponent is forbidden and the bout stops until the opponent gets up. The website traditionalsports.org writes that wrestlers wear sturdy trousers, a wide belt and soft heel-less footwear, the bout begins with a greeting and a mandatory waist grip, and it is decided by pin or on points.
Competition
According to Adevărul a bout lasts four minutes for juniors and six for adults, the website traditionalsports.org gives four and five minutes and nine weight categories under 1956 rules, and the website worldethnosport.org three and five minutes. Worldethnosport.org awards three points for a throw onto the back, one for a throw onto the stomach, two for holding the opponent in a dangerous position for three seconds and five for a spectacular throw. At the November 2024 championship in Chișinău, according to Radio Moldova, bouts were held in two age groups and 13 weight categories, while Moldpres lists 9 senior and 10 junior ones. Moldova 1 wrote in May 2026 of over 150 athletes and prizes of 3 000, 2 000 and 1 000 lei for the best seniors.
Today
In 2024 Radio Moldova names the federation Federația Sportivă Națională de Trânta with president Anatolie Moldovan, while Moldpres in 2025 writes about president Anatol Moldovan junior. In April 2025, according to Moldpres, a republic tournament in trântă dreaptă with about 70 athletes took place in the summer theatre in Ialoveni. According to Radio Moldova, the junior championship in October 2025 took place as part of the Born Fight Fest festival in Chișinău with more than 70 young wrestlers. The website worldethnosport.org states that trânta is today the main event of local festivals and of the national Day of Sport.
Did you know
At the 2024 championship, according to Moldpres, State Secretary of the Ministry of Education Sergiu Gurin spoke, calling support for traditional wrestling a moral duty and trânta a bridge between generations. Radio Moldova states that some evenly matched bouts of the 2025 junior championship were decided by a draw and the final up to 75 kg by a throw in the last seconds. The website worldethnosport.org writes about traditional prizes in the form of rams, live cuckoos and rabbits.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a trânta bout last?
According to the daily Adevărul four minutes for juniors and six for adults, or less when one of the opponents leads by 12 points. Traditional sports websites give five minutes for adults and four or three for juniors.
Which holds are allowed in trânta?
Adevărul lists grips on the arms, waist, body, neck or legs and throws over the shoulder, hip or back, but not painful holds. According to Moldpres, the trântă dreaptă variant has no grips on the legs or trips.
Is trânta recognised by United World Wrestling?
The list of associated wrestling styles that UWW published in 2016 does not name trânta.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.