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Wrestling Fan Guide Olympic competition dates: Greco-Roman: Sept. 24-27; Freestyle: Sept. 28-Oct. 1 Venue: Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour The outlook The competition format has changed from double-elimination to pools and the IOC ordered wrestling to cut down its weights from 10 to eight. The United States has 99 Olympic medals in wrestling, 44 gold, almost twice as many as any other country. Former Greco-Roman gold medalist Jeff Blatnick predicts as many as seven U.S. medals in freestyle. The finer points Format: Matches consist of one five-minute period. A pin, in which the opponents' shoulder blades are held to the mat for one half of one second, automatically ends the match. But most matches are won on points, which are awarded for performing techniques or moves within the rules. If a wrestler earns 10 or more points than his opponent at any time, the bout is stopped on a technical fall. Points are scored by takedown, worth one point or, if the opponent is brought down on his back, more; exposure, which is turning the opponent's shoulders to the mat; and reversal, when the man underneath completely reverses his position and comes to the top position. Freestyle vs. Greco-Roman: In Greco-Roman wrestling, competitors may neither grasp the legs of their opponents nor use their legs in any aggressive action. Changes: Pool play will be used instead of double-elimination. The 20 wrestlers will be randomly divided into six pools and will face all others in their pool. The winners of two four-man pools advance to the semifinals. The winners of four three-man pools wrestle in the quarterfinals. The losing semifinalists will wrestle for the bronze. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |  | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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