Wrestling Box Scores - New Performance by Wrestler Box Score

If you thought we were done with the wrestling box scores discussion, you're in for a pleasant surprise. We've got more. We're still talking about how to build a better folkstyle wrestling box score. In this post we continue with the dual meet between Iowa & Penn State from the 2019-20 season and we'll take a look at the Performance by Wrestler Box Score I'd love to see utilized in Folkstyle Wrestling.

New Wrestling Box Score

In this post we'll look at a new concept for presenting a Performance by Wrestler Box Score (image above and table view below). We believe this box score presents a much richer view of individual wrestler performance. Additionally, I believe this type of statistical view would breathe life into collegiate wrestling because it lends itself so nicely to the following types of performance by wrestler views.

Performance by Wrestler should Exist for the Following:

• Season
• Dual season
• In-conference Duals
• By Individual Tournament
• Against Ranked Opponents, and so on ...

The Wrestling Box Score Performance by Wrestler

The performance by wrestler box score gets to new levels of depth and provide rich color about the match, the wrestler, and how they performed against their opponent. Why develop such a performance based box score in 2020:

• To catch up to other sports, where this is typical at both the collegiate and professional levels: football or basketball
• Wrestling, thanks to Trackwrestling, Flowrestling and others, has the technology and data capabilities to make this happen (NCAA Wrestling Rulesets might be another hurdle, but we'll get to that in subsequent discussions)
• Performance details tell part of the story of the dual meet
  • why did wrestler X win
  • where did wrestler Y excel
  • how close was wrestler Z in their loss
• The stats are readily available in today's live entry software (if utilized correctly)

Here's a descriptions of the fields I'd love to see included in this type of performance based box score after the wrestler's name and weight class:

*Minutes in Neutral (MoF) and Takedowns per 60 seconds wrestled Thanks to Brian Jones (@LemonsAndPie)

**Includes points scored in Falls, Inj., DQ matches

New Performance by Wrestler Box Score - in Table Format

This view is a bit easier on the eyes on computer monitors and laptops. We'll split the box scores by team and lose the fancy colors for this illustration, but you get the point.

Dual Meet Performance by Wrestler - Penn State

Dual Meet Performance by Wrestler - Iowa

*Minutes in Neutral (MoF) and Takedowns per 60 seconds wrestled Thanks to Brian Jones (@LemonsAndPie)

**Includes points scored in Falls, Inj., DQ matches

***Shown for Wins for simplicity

Current Wrestling Performance Box Scores

Now back to the current Folkstyle Wrestling box scores that describe performance. Oh yeah, they don't exist yet. Let's change that. Who's with me?

Wrestling Performance Box Scores are Pretty Much a Blank Slate - Let's fill that void Photo by:Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

A Plea to Wrestling Fans Everywhere - Match Performance Stats for Matches Ending Early should be Noted

After writing about a new and improved Box Score I gratefully got some feedback on Twitter with some ideas and discussion, including this good reminder from Jason Bryant on Tie Break Criteria:

Jason Bryant's Tweet on Tie Break Criteria

Tie Break Criteria Today

After the tweet I learned, thanks to Wrestling by Pir8, that 10 NCAA DI dual meets were decided by criteria in 2019-20. I definitely had neglected the tie break criteria in my new and improved Box Score, partially on purpose because I was looking purely at in-match performance regardless of outcome, and yes, I hate to admit it, partially by forgetting to check if I should include those items in my box score.

So, I went back to the drawing board and found that the Trackwrestling OPC does include a nice Tie Break Criteria box score for each dual today (I've replicated this here with a few colors added). This is great and exactly the type of direct viewing options we need for this and other box score views.

Dual Tie Break Criteria

Wrestling Box Scores Going Forward

Tie Break criteria is obviously a key component to be aware of and have at hand for a Dual Meet, so I am not trying to replace that. I am recommending having a Tie Break Criteria Box Score and also having a Performance Based Dual Meet Box Score Overview (see below).

Why you might ask, Well I'm glad you did. I think it is nice to review details of the entire match, even if it ended in a fall or injury default. If I compare wrestling to boxing matches or the UFC fights, and listen to how commentators speak about bouts that ended in a knock out or a submission, I quite frequently hear them talk about and list statistics about what went down prior to the knock out, for example:

• head strikes vs body strikes for both contestants in earlier rounds
• who they think won the rounds prior to the knock out or submission and why, i.e., what performance stats led them to believe a specific fighter was winning
• what happened in the contest prior to the knock-out - was it expected, could everyone see it coming, or was it a close bout leading up to the early finish

So, for my book, I vote for having both and being aware of the differences:

New Dual Meet Overview Box Score

Dual Meet Match by Match

Dual Meet Performance by Wrestler

Dual Tie Break Criteria

Challenges to Getting There

There is one major challenge in our way that we've talked about in past articles. This relates to the fact that Trackwrestling allows table help to enter +1 and +2 instead of E1 and T2.

Trackwrestling's Live Entry dashboard. This is a great tool offered to teams for Dual Meets as part of the OPC, but ... it has one major drawback.

Here's The Problem with Trackwrestling's Live Entry Dashboard

Please note that we at 3DWS love Trackwrestling and the amazing things they've done for our sport. We also know that the Trackwrestling Live Entry Dashboard needs some work. Most importantly: they need to remove the +1, -1, +2, -2, +3, -3 buttons from the Live Entry dashboard for Folkstyle. Every point scored in Folkstyle wrestling has a purpose and should be noted as such. Points entered in error should be changed to the correct points or removed based on the referee's decision.

Submit a Ticket

Please let Trackwrestling know by submitting a ticket requesting this:

Remove the +1, +2, +3, etc. and the -1, -2, -3, etc. buttons from the Folkstyle Live Entry Dashboard. Every point in Folkstyle has an action tied to it, e.g., T2 (takedown 2 pts), N3 (nearfall 3 pts), P1 (penalty 1 pt). Letting table help use +1, +2, -1, -2 in Folkstyle ruins the history of the match and makes the match action record useless. Please remove these buttons from the TrackWrestling Live Entry Dashboard.

Trackwrestling Ticket Submission Form - Please Help

Trackwrestling Live Entry Dashboard

Here's an image of the dashboard. They may not look "prominent" here, but table help at all levels of wrestling, yes, including ALL NCAA Levels, love to click those -1, +1, -2, +2 buttons.

And I can't think of a reason why those options are needed at all in Folkstyle Wrestling ...