Freestyle, its own history
Women's wrestling
International women's wrestling is freestyle with a separate Olympic programme, a deep field, and champions who no longer need a preface.
Women's wrestling at the world championships and the Olympic Games is contested under freestyle rules. Legs are legal. Throws score. The clock is the same two periods of three minutes. What is not the same is the history: a shorter time on the Olympic programme, a different map of powers, and a generation of champions — Saori Yoshida, Helen Maroulis, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and others — who made the preface unnecessary.
Olympic weights are 50, 53, 57, 62, 68 and 76 kilograms. World championships add 55, 59, 65 and 72. The 57 kilogram class has been, for several cycles, the most crowded room in the sport. Famous names do not get an easy early round.
The wrestling itself is not a softer freestyle. Scrambles are long, hand-fighting is technical, and a one-point step-out still decides finals. If you are new to the sport, start here as readily as with the men's cards. The rules guide on this site applies without translation.
NVWF covers women's wrestling as a core section, not as a theme week. The world championships in Astana will be edited that way.