Injury account during the 1980 NCAA wrestling championships

Data were gathered during the 1980 NCAA Wrestling Championships in order to document various specifics involving the injuries sustained by the participating athletes. Any time a match was stopped for medical reasons, specific information was recorded and later organized to indicate any injury tendencies in wrestling. Of the 353 athletes who participated in the championships, 110 incurred injuries requiring the attention of a physician and/or an athletic trainer. Results indicated an overall injury rate per athlete of 31.2% with no conclusive trends considering the weight classification. Injury variety was great with only six athletes (5.5%) injured severe enough to require withdrawal from the tournament. The head-face-neck region was the most commonly injured area (36.4%). Data suggest the fatigue may affect the injury rate while results related to wrestler position and match score seemed to be inconclusive.