Conner Hartmann is one of the best Kitsap County wrestlers to take the mat at the collegiate level, yet out of the 2011 South Kitsap state champion’s accolades during his time at Duke, his invite to Atlanta for the 2015 NWCA All-Star Classic was especially historic.

Not only had he become the first Duke wrestler to earn such an exclusive slot, but his participation played a small part in shaping one of the most notable changes to this season’s high school wrestling rulebook.

As fate would have it, 2015 was the same year the NCAA decided to continue to use the classic as a testbed for potential rule changes, experimenting this time with a single adjustment to in-match scoring: a three-point takedown.

“I love it,” Hartmann said. “Both as a wrestler then and a coach now, I think it is fun, rewards aggressive wrestling and overall is a positive change.”

The NCAA’s playing rules oversight panel would eventually see the new point tally fit for the collegiate rulebook in 2023, and in the interest of incentivizing offense and scoring while mirroring next-level rules, the NFHS’s newest slate of rule changes includes the increase from two points to three on takedowns along with five other game-changers to be seen in action this winter.

Hartmann, just one of the many coaches in Kitsap tasked with guiding their programs through the new rules’ language, offered his enthusiastic take on the rules that he believes will give new energy to the sport and will provide much-needed clarity to rulings once left to subjectivity.

Joining Hartmann in the preseason hype was Kingston’ Casey Nelson, who added that as a coach he wants to see his wrestlers shoot first anyway. “I think with the addition of the three-point takedown, it will give the wrestlers a little more initiative to take more shots throughout the match,” he said.

Point adjustments were also made for near falls or back points. Offensive wrestlers now earn two points for two seconds, three points for three seconds, and four points for four seconds by putting opponents in a near-pin position. Five points would be awarded if the defensive wrestler is injured, is indicating an injury or bleeding is seen after the four-point near fall.

“A takedown to someone’s back can (now) be seven points,” Hartmann said. “And with back points now up to 4 points for a four-count, you can see tech falls very quickly from near fall. This translates into some very, very fast matches.”

Hartmann said he’s watched several matches over the summer that resulted in a technical fall in less than a minute, a trend that if continued into the high school season could lead to an increase to the required point threshold for tech falls. He also believes that more wrestlers will be willing to give up the single escape point to work for additional takedowns. “I think the new rules slightly diminish the value of being tough on top unless you believe you can turn someone,” he said.

Nelson spoke more on the tap-out implications in the new rule, saying, “There have been too many times in a match where a wrestler was most likely going to get a pin and the match was stopped due to a wrestler tapping out or saying he was hurt. I think this will make the wrestlers have to decide a little more if it’s worth giving their opponent additional points.”

Another rule change is that wrestlers will now be inbounds with just one point of contact inside or on the boundary line by either wrestler, a change made to further assist officials in making out-of-bounds rulings and giving coaches and wrestlers alike the opportunity to further understand what constitutes out of bounds.

“I think implementation in some instances will be difficult (space constraints/safety concerns), but it’s a great rule change,” Hartmann said. “From an approach perspective, however, it doesn’t change how we coach kids much.”

Other rule changes include making the 10-foot circle surrounding the starting lines on wrestling mats optional and creating a signal for an official timeout not covered under blood, injury or recovery time.