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Wrestling Gear
While wrestling can be a complex sport, the gear wrestlers are required to wear is fairly simple. The items listed below are common types of gear you’ll encounter in the sport of wrestling.
Types of Wrestling Gear
Wresling gear typically falls into just a few categories including wrestling shoes, wrestling headgear, wrestling singlets, mouth guards, and wrestling pads.
Wrestling Shoes
Wrestling shoes are a unique type of athletic shoe that is made of soft material that is meant to be worn snug to the foot, but which also flexes and stretches around the foot. It has no arch and typically laces up around the low ankle. Wrestling shoe soles are made of rubber and grip the mat to provide traction.
Wrestling shoes are made in nearly all sizes from youth to adult. There are a few common wrestling shoe makers including:
- Asics
- Rudis
- Nike
- Adidas
Wrestling Headgear
Wrestling headgear is made to provide protection for the ears during wrestling matches. Headgear prevents cauliflower ear, which can occur when wrestling without ear protection.
There are a few common wrestling headgear makers including:
For more information about headgear, checkout the discussion on the pros and cons of wearing headgear.
Wrestling Singlet
This is the main uniform worn by wrestlers. It is a single piece of thin fabric (usually spandex, Lycra, or nylon) that covers the body from the chest down to the thighs. Some singlets will include full leg cover as well. Singlets are meant to be tight fitting so as not to allow accidental grasping by competitors.
Wrestling Mouth Guards
Mouth guards protect the teeth from accidental contact, and from biting one’s tongue during physical activity that accompanies all wrestling matches. For those with braces on their teeth, mouth guards are a necessity.
Wrestling Pads
Wrestling pads are typically worn around the knees an sometimes, though less commonly, around the elbows. Wrestling pads are typically made of neoprene for its durability and compression fit, though other materials have been used.
Which Wrestling Gear is Required?
In youth wrestling, very little gear is actually required. A wrestler can participate in most matches and tournaments wearing a tight fitting short and shorts, along with wrestling shoes or sneakers.
Some tournaments do require proper wrestling attire, including the gear mentioned above. Mostly commonly required items include a singlet, wrestling shoes, and headgear. Headgear is not commonly required for freestyle matches, but is required in organized scholastic wrestling and most non-school organized folk style wrestling tournaments. Some teams and clubs require wearing headgear in practice, though most don’t. Again, you can find more information  in the discussion on the pros and cons of wearing headgear.
Since traction is so important in wrestling, a good first investment is a pair of wrestling shoes. A second good investment is headgear to protect the ears, and then a singlet to compete in.
Who Provides Wrestling Gear?
For most youth sports, wrestling gear is not provided by the club or team, which means you’ll likely need to buy all your child’s gear. Compared to other sports like football or hockey, wrestling gear is relatively affordable. A pair of youth wrestling shoes will run approximate $30-$50 new. Singlets and headgear are approximately the same amount, between $30-50 each.
It’s not uncommon for kids to hand down gear as they grow out of it – thereby making a second-hand pair of gear available for you to try before you buy new. Check with the team or club coach or manager to see if they have a stock pile of second hand gear available. If this is your child’s first year, you might opt for second hand gear until you know your child wants to commit to wrestling as a sport.
While wrestling does take place all year round, in folk style and scholastic athletics it’s a winter sport – which means you’ll typically find wrestling gear at your local sporting goods store starting in October and running through March of the next year. Outside of the scholastic wrestling season, you typically find wrestling gear through specialty wrestling stores online, like those mentioned above.
Dick’s Sporting Goods carries most wrestling gear you’ll need. Online sources like amazon, Rudis, and WrestlingMart.com provide specialty items the big box online stores don’t usually carry.
If you’re new to the sport, talk to your coach or club leader about gently used equipment that other team members make available for newer kids to try before they buy their own. It’s common for teams to have a bin of used items.
For more information on the cost of gear and wrestling matches / tournaments in general, checkout the discussion on the monetary cost of wrestling.
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