It’s a common situation found in wrestling that eventually you’ll find yourself on the losing end of a high pointed match and in those situations -one of the big questions to ask yourself is; do I have a five point move in my arsenal?

This is an easy question to ask because you need to prepare yourself for the situation that happens frequently- maybe a takedown or two went bad, maybe you’re down by three, maybe you’re down by four, maybe you need a pinning combination? Whatever the situation, being down in a match and having a situational awareness is incredibly important for you to attempt in the last precious seconds of a match. Having the patience to wait for the move, and the patience to ensure that it pays off.

One of my early teammates on my high school team, who was particularly known for his double legs and lateral drops, was down by four points in the finals of a really tough tournament with about 15 seconds left. He knew that he had to hit a hail mary/home run move. He escaped from bottom, and proceeded to lock up and throw his opponent for a five point move that secured him the finals by one point. It was one of the greatest wins that I’ve ever seen live.

In those circumstances, you’ll need to think about what you can do that will truly guarantee you a five point move and ensure that you can still come out on top of a match. Here’s a quick move list:

Lateral drop

Head and Arm Throw

Over and Under Throw

Jap Whizzer/Arm Throw

Cement Mixer

Front headlock Roll Under

Inside Trip to back

There’s plenty more to think about, but this is just a start of moves that you should be practicing in situational awareness drills. Shying away from these moves can leave you down and out in a match that you should or could be winning.