I had a man ask me this question and I told him I would find out. He wanted to know what percent of the time the wrestler who got the first take down won. I am not looking for opinions. If anybody knows where I could find a stat like that please let me know. Maybe a coach kept it over the course of a year or it is has been written about in a book somewhere. Thanks

Never in the history of wrestling has a competitor won a match after giving up the first takedown. Ever.

I have won a at least 2 this year after giving up the first take down. usually i will quickly get a reversal and tie it back up.

I have heard something like 75% of wrestlers who score the first takedown in high school end up winning. In college the percentage increases to 80% or higher.

Its hard to say no one wins a match after giving up a first takedown, There are and were some very good wrestlers that did there damage while on top, Pete Koster who was an all american at Fort Hays, he was an animal on top and thats where he controlled a match and scored a lot of points

Actually, if you were a wrestler at Eisenhower Middle School in 1997 and 1998, Hatt Molovach made you well aware that he who gets first takedown always wins. Always. Every single time. It is indisputable.

Off topic, but does anyone know what happened to Hatt Molovach? Not only did he teach me how to be one of the world's finest wrestlers, but he also taught us all the definition of the word "malice." (This isn't a figure of speech, he actually taught us the definition.)

i was down 6-1 at the end of the frist at hays in the semis and i came back and lost in ot 8-6. it was a **** good match.

yes and your point would be?

i almost came back to win against seger from ulyeses so i dont think it matters who gets the first takedown as long as u wrestle hard the entire 6 min.

Alls I know is that I use to always believe that the guy with the first takedown will always win,and when I say always I mean 75% in high school and 80% in college as posted above, but I had a teamate last year with a whopping 12 takedowns compared to around 60 that he gave up, but he ended up something like 25-10 on the year. Simply dumbfounding.

I never seemed to think of getting the first takedown as that important. Then again, my only winning record was my senior year...

I noticed 3 yrs ago my son was always losing his matches by 1 or 2 points; he never got the 1st take down and was always wrestling from behind in points. His win, loses were about 40/60% that year. So we talked about what he was lacking in getting the 1st takedown. We found several moves that seemed to work for him and practiced them. Now, after 2yrs. His combined record is 50 win, 7 loses with 38 pins. Most of the pins coming off of the 1st take down. Of his 3 losses this year, was the only times he didn’t get the 1st take down and he lost, close each time, but lost. While I don’t believe the wrestler that gets the 1st take down always wins. I do believe it does make a big difference. I tell my son it it’s easier to wrestle ahead in points than to wrestle to get caught up. Works for us!!!

I don't know...75 and 80 seem awfully low to me. I think if you look at the best teams, 90 is probably closer to the truth at both levels. I have my managers keep this stat (as it is one of my favorites!) and this season we're at about 85 percent, which is up from last year's 77. And remember, that does count a kid who is 2-19, but he got the first takedown in both wins, so that's 100 percent! LOL

you are always looking to score the first points and the last

Walter, I keep track of that very statistic! Over the past two seasons, the figure for my team was 86%.

In 2001 I was in a statistics class at WSU had to do a project. Decided what the heck. In the 4a, 5a, 6a state tournament in came out to almost 88% percent. In the first round it was 94%, and then steadly declined by about 2% each round as the competion got tougher.

Well, I s'pose it IS important, then...

A man must know his limitations, and fortunately VS Vike coach has finally determined his.

A little humor coach!

I read in a wrestlingUSA magazine that it was 93%, I am not sure whether that figure came from all levels, college, high school, kids, or even senior level, but being good on your feet will take you further up the stand then any of the other two positions.

Coach Peterman

I appreciate everybody taking time to share the information they have either gathered or read.