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!!!