Essay
Reading the tie-up before anyone has scored
The first honest information in a wrestling match is not the scoreboard. It is what the hands do when they finally meet.
International edition · Autumn 2026
Desk
Latest
Analysis
A ranking list is a diary, not a verdict
Points tell you who showed up and who was willing to lose in February. They do not tell you who will be standing in Las Vegas.
Disciplines
The styles
Legs, throws, scrambles
Freestyle
Above the waist
Greco-Roman
Freestyle, its own history
Women's wrestling
Also on the desk
Folkstyle
Collegiate and scholastic wrestling in the United States — headgear, riding time, a different score. Not an international style, and still one of the rooms international freestyle recruits from. We cover the crossing, not the dual-meet circuit as a whole.
Calendar
Upcoming
Portraits
Athletes
Jordan Burroughs
United States·Freestyle
Helen Maroulis
United States·Women's wrestling
Saori Yoshida
Japan·Women's wrestling
Tamyra Mensah-Stock
United States·Women's wrestling
Mijaín López
Cuba·Greco-Roman
Kyle Snyder
United States·Freestyle
Amit Elor
United States·Women's wrestling
Yui Susaki
Japan·Women's wrestling
Longer reads
Features
Mat-side
The hour before the whistle is the honest hour
Warm-up mats, taped fingers, a coach who has run out of new sentences. The match has not started. The information has.
Profile
The standard Saori Yoshida left on the mat
Three Olympic golds, a silver she did not apologise for, and a run of world titles that still organises the memory of the lighter weights.
History
Helen Maroulis and the final that redrew a map
Rio, 53 kilograms, Yoshida on the other side. The first Olympic wrestling gold for an American woman was also just a match.
Profile
Jordan Burroughs and the long season of being the match
An Olympic gold in London. Six world titles. The peculiar work of never being a surprise.
Evergreen
Guides
Wrestling rules, without the fog
Periods, passivity, the edge of the circle, and the fall. Enough to follow a final without pretending to be a referee.
Weight classes, Olympic and otherwise
Six golds a style at the Games. More weights at a world championship. The map, without the myth of the cut.
Scoring: what a point is worth
One, two and four. A viewer's scale for throws, turns, and the quiet point on the edge.
Freestyle and Greco-Roman, told apart
One style uses the whole body. The other refuses the legs. They are neighbours, not twins.
Olympic wrestling, from the programme to Los Angeles
Eighteen golds, three disciplines, and a qualification path that runs through the 2027 worlds in Las Vegas.
A beginner's guide to the sport, and to the room
What the first month feels like, what to bring, and how to watch before you wrestle.