I'd like to discuss control on takedowns with you. In one of our matches at the Eastside Catholic Tournament (where you were reffing and I was coaching), from the neutral position, the wrestlers wound up in a position where the opposing wrestler was in a sitting position with his butt on the mat and our wrestler was behind him with his arms underneath. I thought it was a takedown but you clearly indicated that they were still neutral. I didn't continue arguing the point because we both had a clear view of the situation, and you were waiting for a certain something from our wrestler to finalize control (and you have a much better scope of the rules than me).
It was interesting to me because it means I may need to re-evaluate what's classified as a takedown in my head when I referee. From my interpretation, they were still moving a lot, but they were on the mat with our boy behind and arms underneath well beyond reaction time, but you obviously had a different perspective. Was there something additional our wrestler needed to do, or were you waiting for the dust to settle, or perhaps something else?
I know that control is felt, not specifically defined, but I'd be very interested to hear your take on the situation.
I'll try to post the video later tonight for reference.
It's right around the :30-:40 time frame, with the specific time I'm referencing between :34-:38.
The reason I'm curious is because the red wrestler clearly stops moving at :36 for two seconds. What would green need to do for takedown criteria to be established? Holding him there is clearly not enough from your perspective - would he have to switch to a different move or position?
on 1/5/2011, 9:48 am