You asked which bodies sanction high school, amateur, and collegiate wrestling in Connecticut and its surrounding states.

SUMMARY

High school competitions are sanctioned by state high school associations. The associations are members of a national federation, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which promulgates rules. Connecticut and Rhode Island follow all of the federation's wrestling rules. Massachusetts and New York generally follow the national federation's rules, but each has adopted one variation.

USA Wrestling and the Amateur Athletic Union sanction amateur competitions. The both follow the NFHS rules for folkstyle competitions and rules promulgated by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles for freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions.

The National Collegiate Athletic Conference sanctions collegiate competitions and writes its own rule book.

FORMS OF WRESTLING

There are three forms of wrestling practiced in the United States, folkstyle, Greco-Roman, and freestyle. Folkstyle is the form used throughout American schools, but it is not used outside of this country. Greco-Roman and freestyle forms are followed throughout the world.

SANCTIONING BODIES

Competitions between high schools are sanctioned by state sanctioning organizations. In this area, the state sanctioning bodies are: the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, and the Rhode Island Interscholastic League.

USA Wrestling sanctions amateur meets and tournaments between clubs for high-school age wrestlers. The Amateur Athletic Union also sanctions competitions for wrestlers of all ages.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctions university-level wrestling.

There are also meets and tournaments held by clubs that are not affiliated with a sanctioning body. These are sometimes called “wildcat clubs. ” The clubs may develop their own rules or decide to use variations of published rules. Since they are not affiliated with a sanctioning body, they also determine for themselves whether and how much insurance coverage they will carry.

RULES

The high school state sanctioning bodies all generally follow the NFHS rules. They are for folkstyle wrestling. Connecticut and Rhode Island follow all of the national federation's rules. New York follows them with the exception that it has a different weigh-in procedure. Massachusetts follows them except that it does not have a tie-breaker for dual meet competitions.

USA Wrestling, for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, uses the rules promulgated by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. The organization, known by its French acronym FILA, has 156 affiliated national organizations and its rules are used in the world championships and the Olympics. USA Wrestling also sanctions folkstyle competitions. When it does so, it uses the NHFS rules. Similarly, the AAU follows the FILA rules for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and the NHFS rules for folkstyle.

The NCAA writes its own rules.

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