1. Pinning Down Some Points
A pin, also known as a fall, in wrestling ends the match. The beauty of the pin is that one wrestler can be down by as many as 14 points and come back to win the match in a matter of seconds. An individual doesn't receive any match points for a pin, but rather a "win by fall." When a pin occurs in a dual or tri-meet, it's worth six team points, the most points a wrestler can get from winning a match. When it occurs in a tournament, the pin is usually worth two team points.
2. Back ro the Mat
A pin occurs when one wrestler holds his opponent's shoulders flat against the mat. The area that counts as the shoulders goes from across the top of the shoulders all the way down to the bottom of the shoulder blades near the center of the back. Wrestlers can use many different moves to pin their opponents, including the half or the three quarter nelson, an arm bar, a cradle and even by controlling the legs with a double grapevine or a guillotine.
3. Hold Him Down
If you've ever been to a wrestling match you'll notice some referees call a pin very quickly and others require a wrestler to hold it for longer before making the call. The rule governing the pin says a wrestler must hold this position for two seconds in high school wrestling and one second in college. If a pin occurs near the out-of-bounds line, at least on shoulder must be completely in-bounds for the pin to count.
4. Close But Not Close Enough
Some wrestlers come very close to a pin but may run out of time or just fail to get both shoulders down at the same time. Fortunately, a wrestler scores points for coming close to a pin as well. This situation is known as a near fall or back points and is worth anywhere from two to four points. If a near fall lasts for two seconds, the wrestler on top gets two points. If it lasts for five seconds, the wrestler earns three points. A four-point near fall usually only occurs if the bottom wrestler appears to be hurt and the referee stops the match to make sure no injury occurs.
5. Making the Call
In some cases, a wrestling pin is easy to see and the referee can make a quick call. More often than not, though, a pin is not so obvious. The referee must adjust his view throughout the match to get the best view of the wrestlers' positions and determine if a pin occurs. A referee may even place his hands near the wrestler's shoulders to determine how near they are to the mat but should never touch the wrestler. When the referee decides a pin is the call, he'll slap his hand against the mat to make the call.
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