By Ed Piper
The Vikings' Stanley Vishnevskiy, a standout sophomore, was still out of breath when he answered a question after an early bout at the Carlsbad Invitational Sat., Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day.
"I was just trying to do takedowns, because they were working," the tousle-haired wrestler said. He had just put his opponent through the ringer with several takedowns--by the new high school rule, worth three points each instead of the previous two--on his way to an overwhelming 26-7 win.
Coach Joey Stofko provided the proper term: "A technical fall."
A potential unanticipated downside to the rule change is that someone like Stanley, dominating his foe, can perform a takedown, let the person up, take him down again, and do this repeatedly. Why even go for the fall (pin)?
When Vishnevskiy could manufacture points to this level, a rare, high-high score in wrestling--in only six minutes of competition--there wouldn't seem to be much motivation to change one's approach. Unless you're talking about working on certain moves or technique, or generally trying to improve as a competitor on the mat.
We'll see how this plays out over the course of the 2024-25 season.
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