Nutrition in Combat Sports

Chapter 13
Wrestling
Randall
R. Wroble
Learning Objectives
To review the important elements of wrestling pertaining to health care
providers
To identify the most common injuries that occur in amateur wrestling
To understand the acute care of wrestling injuries
To describe risk factors and preventive measures
13.1 Introduction
Wrestling is one of the most ancient sports. Artifacts recovered from a 5,000-yearold
Sumerian temple depicted wrestlers in action. In an ancient Egyptian wall
painting from 1850 bc , a “manual of wrestling” documented the course of a match
and demonstrated knowledge of many holds still used today. In The Iliad , Homer
gives a detailed description of a wrestling match. In classical Greece, wrestling was
one of the sports contested in the Olympics and was an important part of the physical
training of every young man. Early roots of wrestling are also found in Central
Asia, Japan, and China.
Currently, wrestling is a popular sport at the youth, high school, college, and
senior level. Part of its popularity relates to the opportunity for participation by men
and boys of all sizes. Wrestling has evolved into three distinct styles. In the USA,
high school and collegiate athletes practice what is termed American Folkstyle.
Competitions are also held in Freestyle wrestling, which is practiced throughout the
rest of the world and in Greco–Roman wrestling, another international style that
R.R. Wroble (�)
Sports Medicine Grant and Orthopaedic Associates ,
323 East Town Street , Columbus , OH 43215 , USA
e-mail: wroblerr@smgoa.com
R. Kordi et al. (eds.), Combat Sports Medicine, 215
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-84800-354-5_13, © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009