As a young aspirant at the Pratap Sports School, Kharkhoda in Haryana, Sajan Bhanwala was not considered fit for freestyle wrestling. He was seen lacking the confidence to tackle stronger kids. That is when the coaches decided to try him out in Greco-Roman style. Bhanwala wasn’t impressive in it either to start with, but showed such transformation that it left the coaches in awe.

Now 23, he made a big impact in international age group tournaments by winning medals at the sub-junior and junior World Championships. Bhanwala’s exploits had stopped surprising his coach Rajbir Chhikara long before he became the first Indian wrestler to win a Greco-Roman medal at the U-23 World Championships in Spain last week, an event considered next only to the senior world meet. He was only delivering on expectations though Indian wrestlers are mostly known for their excellence in freestyle.

Following Bhanwala’s (77kg) feat, Nitesh (97kg) and Vikash (72kg) too secured bronze medals. The success in Spain comes after three Greco-Roman wrestlers-Sunil Kumar, Arjun Halakurki and Neeraj-won medals at the Asian championships earlier this year.

These are encouraging signs for the Greco-Roman style that has been neglected for long in India’s wrestling space dominated by freestyle.

Freestyle wrestling is steeped in Indian epics, and those bouts invariably attract most wrestlers, parents and coaches. It brings fame and medals followed by jobs and prize money. Greco-Roman for long was mostly taken up by wrestlers who either switched from freestyle due to intense competition or sought a career revival after mostly knee injuries.

In technique and execution, the skills required to excel in Greco-Roman are different from freestyle. Moves in Greco-Roman is confined to the upper body. Holds below the waist are not allowed; the wrestler must use the upper body to execute moves and throws to score points or pin his opponent.

The style though is one of the oldest in the Olympics going back to the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. However, in India most wrestlers graduate from mud akhadas (pits) that are ideal to hone freestyle skills.

“You need good upper body strength, back flexibility, gripping and ability to grasp and learn technical skills in Greco-Roman,” says Chhikara.

“Mud wrestling is not ideal to learn the basics in Greco-Roman. It can only be learned when you train on the mat from the beginning. Mostly parents and kids choose freestyle because that is where you get the awards and rewards. It is also natural progression from mud wrestling and they will naturally be inclined towards freestyle,” the former international said.

That seems to be beginning to change now with Greco style gaining more acceptability among domestic wrestlers. Still, there are only a handful of academies that specifically train Greco-Roman wrestlers from a young age. Pratap Sports School is one. It currently has around 30 wrestlers training in Greco-Roman. Two of the U-23 Worlds bronze medallists-Bhanwala and Nitesh-are the academy trainees.

“We judge kids on different parameters based on their athletic strength and wrestling movements as they grow and then shift them to Greco-Roman. From 13 to 17 years when they develop specific skills, we divide their stream either to freestyle or Greco-Roman. There are dedicated coaches who are former Greco Roman wrestlers,” says Chhikara.

More domestic competitions, international exposure and regular national camps have helped Greco-Roman wrestling grow in India. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) wants to give equal priority to this style and targets an Olympic medal by the 2028 Olympics.

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“We’re getting better in the discipline,” says long-time chief national coach Hargobind Singh. “A lot of things have helped. The most important thing is that kids are now starting early in Greco-Roman. The federation is also pushing it to the forefront. There are more domestic competitions at every age-group. We are also competing in more international meets,” he says.

This year, Greco-Roman wrestlers were in the camps for seven to eight months and the federation too started a ranking series. “It is very important to have long camps for Greco-Roman. When they go back to their academies or akhadas, they are not able to train properly. They do not get to spar or have coaches to help them with specific skills needed for this discipline,” he says.

Bhanwala could mould himself because he trained only with Greco-Roman wrestlers, including Chhikara, from a young age. He was 12-years-old when he made the switch; early enough to master the basics.

“He was not very strong with his legs but we noticed he kept getting better in Greco-Roman movements. He had good upper body strength, and had the explosive power that one needs for quick throws from an early age. He built on that and became a completely different wrestler in Greco-Roman,” says Chhikara.

How Greco-Roman, freestyle differ

In Greco-Roman, it is illegal to grasp the opponent below the belt line, trip him, or to use the legs actively for a move.

In freestyle, it is allowed to grab the leg/s of the opponent, to trip him/her and to use the legs actively for a move.

In Greco-Roman, wrestlers rely more on headlocks, body locks and arm drags. An offensive technique called suplex is used where the rival is lifted in a high arch while they fall backward

Since legs cannot be used on the mat, Greco-Roman wrestlers use techniques like gut-wrenches and body locks to turn the opponent’s shoulders to the mat and get the pin.

Parterre position (on the mat): Plays an important role in Greco-Roman. A passive wrestler is penalised with “parterre position”. He must lie on his stomach at the centre of the mat while his opponent gets the advantage of a hold to score points.

Using a throw, freestyle wrestlers can toss the opponent and regain contact with them when they are on the canvas to secure a favorable position. In Greco-Roman, contact has to be maintained with opponents throughout the takedown.

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