technical fall
{{Short description|Point-based victory condition in wrestling}}
In amateur wrestling, a technical fall, or technical superiority, is a victory condition satisfied by outscoring one's opponent by a specified number of points. It is a mercy rule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as both a noun and verb.
High school and college
In scholastic wrestling, a differential of fifteen points ends a match regardless of when it is reached. In collegiate wrestling, a pin may still be awarded as a continuation of a near fall even if the necessary point differential is reached while achieving it.{{cite web|author=National Collegiate Athletic Association|author-link=National Collegiate Athletic Association|title=2009 NCAA Wrestling Rules and Interpretations |work=p. WR-24 |publisher=NCAA |date=2008-08-01 |url=http://www.ncaapublications.com/Uploads/PDF/Wrestling_9_9_2008bf011438-719d-4418-ba9b-975c7b60f84c.pdf |access-date=2008-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219015341/http://www.ncaapublications.com/Uploads/PDF/Wrestling_9_9_2008bf011438-719d-4418-ba9b-975c7b60f84c.pdf |archive-date=February 19, 2009 }}
| author = National Federation of State High School Associations
| author-link = National Federation of State High School Associations
| title = 2008-09 NFHS Wrestling Rules Book
| publisher = NFHS
| date = 2008-08-01
| page = 24 }}
United World Wrestling
Under the old rules of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, a ten-point differential ended the match.
Under the rules adopted in 2004–05 by United World Wrestling (then known as FILA), the international styles moved to a three-period system similar to a best of three series; the technical fall won only the period, as opposed to a pin, which ends the match entirely. However, if a wrestler won two out of three periods in this way, he was then the winner of the match by technical superiority. The international styles moved to a two-period system in 2006, with scoring continuing to accumulate throughout the match until its end. Accordingly, a technical fall was once again awarded once a specified point differential was reached.
As of 2019, UWW rules specify that a technical fall, officially termed "technical superiority", occurs once a wrestler leads by 10 points in freestyle or 8 points in Greco-Roman.{{cite web|url=https://unitedworldwrestling.org/sites/default/files/2018-12/wrestling_rules.pdf |title=Article 23: Duration of the Bout |work=International Wrestling Rules: Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Women's Wrestling |page=21 |publisher=United World Wrestling |date=January 2019 |access-date=2019-05-09}}