Ask the Ref

Illegal Holds – Chicken Wing

The hand or arm positioned parallel to the long axis, in a chicken wing, is NOT illegal. It is illegal only when pressure is applied parallel to the long axis. All too often coaches verbalize their belief that the arm or hand placed parallel to the long axis is illegal, when in fact, it is not illegal until pressure is applied parallel to the long axis. (Rules Book PlayPic #82, page 78)

Technical Fall & Nearfall

Situation
Wrestler A has a 12-point lead and has an outside cradle on Wrestler B. Wrestler A turns B for a five count for three NF points. Wrestler A still has the cradle and keeps it when Wrestler B returns to his stomach. Since the Technical Fall has been earned, what should the official do at this point?

Ruling
If the near fall points earned result in a technical fall, the match is stopped when the near fall situation ends.
The definition of when the near fall situation ends is; when near fall criteria is no longer met.
In the proposed situation, wrestling is to be stopped when wrestler B returns to his stomach and wrestler A would be declared the winner by technical fall. Wrestling is not allowed to continue even though wrestler A has maintained the pinning situation (outside cradle).

Note: Near fall situations and pinning situations are different. Pinning situation ending is defined as; when the defensive wrestler is able to come to a defendable position and the offensive wrestler no longer maintains an advantage. Pinning situation ending is appropriate to determine when, and if, additional near fall points can be earned.

Ultimate Tiebreaker – Stalling

Unlike any other time in the match, during the 30-second ultimate tiebreaker period the offensive wrestler is required only to ride his/her opponent. The offensive wrestler is no longer required to attempt to break down and turn his/her opponent. However, the offensive wrestler is not allowed to use obvious stalling techniques (dropping down to one leg, not attempting to return the opponent to the mat from the rear standing position, applying a front or side headlock and simply holding on, etc.). The official is to stop obvious stalling situations as a stalemate on their first occurrence and penalize as stalling on their second occurrence. The belief that stalling is allowed, or that there is no stalling in the ultimate tiebreaker is incorrect. Again, in the ultimate tiebreaker, the offensive wrestler is tasked with riding his or her opponent without using obvious stalling techniques.