Olympic freestyle wrestling was introduced into Malta by Simon A. Bonello who introduced the sporting discipline way back in 1968. A year later, the Malta Amateur Wrestling Federation was formed with Simon Bonello as its first President, a position he still holds till this present day.

Freestyle wrestling is a very old discipline and one of the first to be introduced to the Ancient Olympic Games. Despite being a very small federation, Maltese wrestlers have managed to compete in practically all important events including the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and in Seoul four years later. Nowadays, it is practically impossible for Maltese athletes to compete at the Olympic Games given the strict quotas introduced by the International Olympic Committee.

Olympic freestyle wrestling is governed by a series of throws and holds to which points are assigned. Recently the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) has introduced a number of new regulations to the discipline, the most prominent being that rather than two bouts of three minutes each, wrestlers now have to contest three bouts of two minutes each with a thirty second interval in between.

If a wrestler manages to pin down his opponent to the mat, with the shoulder blades making contact with the mat, the attacking wrestler wins the bout even if he is trailing his opponent on points. In wrestling this is referred to as a ‘fall’. Alternatively, a wrestler will be declared the winner of a bout if he manages to accumulate a seven point lead over his opponent. This is known as superiority.

Wrestlers compete according to their weight category and must be wearing a singlet which is either red or blue. In the senior category, wrestlers compete in the 55kg, 60, 66, 74, 84, 96 and the 96+ kg. Wrestlers are usually weighed a day prior to the competition and if they do not make the exact weight category, they will be disqualified.

In international competitions, the mat must have a nine metres diameter and surrounded by a 1.5 metres border of the same thickness. Each bout is controlled by three officials, the referee present on the mat, the judge who sits on one end of the mat and the Mat Chairman who sits at the other end of the mat together with other important officials such as the time keeper. Electronic scoreboards are now a common occurrence in this discipline and the Malta Amateur Wrestling Federation is no exception as it is currently making use of one of the latest models of this scoreboard which became possible thanks to funds from the GSSE 2003 project introduced by the Malta Olympic Committee.

Jesmond Giordimaina, the national coach had an excellent career in wrestling as he competed in the Olympic Games, Mediterranean Champions, Commonwealth Games and countless other international tournaments.

Presently the Malta Amateur Wrestling Federation has four clubs within its ranks with over 60 active wrestlers in various categories particularly in the youth sector. Recently four young wrestlers competed in a Commonwealth Championship in Glasgow. Further information on the federation can be obtained by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 21248680.

Pierre Cassar

Secretary General