Questions have come forward from the MNUSA membership about some recent changes in rules and policies in Greco and Freestyle.  Recently, the Junior Olympic Wrestling Committee (policy making arm of USAW) voted to accept FILA's rules of wrestling for 2014, with three exceptions: 

• Wrestlers shall be provided with a minimum 15-minute rest between matches.
• A 10-point differential is needed for a victory by technical superiority for Juniors and below in both Greco and Freestyle. 
• And lastly, that Cadets and Juniors have two (2) 3-minute periods while schoolboy and below have two (2) 2-minute periods. These rules are in effect at all USA Wrestling Regional and National championships.

MNUSAW is following these changes so that our rules and policies are in line with the National organization.

Other FAQs from recent weekend tournaments:

1. Why are we being forced to wrestle Greco and freestyle at open tournaments?

• No one is forced to wrestle at that event. This is the club’s choice in how they want to set up their event. If that is not what athletes want to do, they can choose another event that is not a combo.  We have both types of events for a person to qualify for State. A club is hosting the event to raise funds for their club so yes money comes into play along with the ease of running the event. It is easier and runs smoother if they can use the same groups for both styles without having to repair.  The intent is if a wrestler pays the entry fee we will do the best to get them 3 matches for each style in a Combo event.  

2. Why is our website so difficult to find items?

• Our website is a continual work in progress and has gone under reconstruction recently due to USA Wrestling involvement with (local company) Sport NGIN to provide a consistent website platform for all USAW State programs to use. Information is categorized under the Tabs across the top. For example tournaments are listed under the Events tab (e.g., see the upcoming Kids & Cadets State Greco/Freestyle tournament). MNUSA is open to any and all suggestions as to how to make it better for the membership. Please email our webmaster Dave Peterson if you have constructive suggestions at dpeterson@mnusawrestling.org

3. Why is it so difficult to get volunteers and we have to threaten the tournaments don't start.

• MNUSA and USAW were founded in the 1980’s on the premise of volunteerism. The basic idea was that if each club provided volunteer’s entry fees could be kept low, host clubs could make some money for local programs, and kids could get a good wrestling experience and practice for state tournaments.  Volunteerism seems to be an idea that is disappearing, a sad commentary for our kids and society.

4. Why doesn’t MNUSAW require trainers at local open tournaments?

• The local clubs have the responsibility to make their tournaments safe.  They also have to incur the cost if they hire trainers. This is a decision the local club has to wrestle with.  It would be virtually impossible for MNUSAW to police the certification and presence of trainers at local tournament across the state.  One might ask: Why don’t local parks and playgrounds have certified medical staff on hand while kids are playing and climbing on the equipment?