The 5 Takedowns Every Wrestler Must Master Before Anything Else

Jon Trenge, 3x NCAA All-American, has been on more podiums, won more matches, and coached more champions than most wrestlers will ever meet. If he could only teach a wrestler 5 techniques, these would be them.

Master these 5 wrestling takedowns. Don't move on until you can hit each one in live wrestling against a resisting opponent. A wrestler with 5 excellent takedowns beats a wrestler with 20 mediocre ones every single time. Trenge's core principle: "You want to use your legs to move his body. You don't really want to use your arms."

1. The Double Leg: The King of Takedowns

The double leg is wrestling's bread and butter. It's the first takedown taught in every wrestling room in America, and it's the last takedown Olympic champions use in gold medal matches. It works at every level. (For a complete breakdown of every wrestling technique by category, see our wrestling moves guide.)

Trenge's favorite setup is the double elbow chop. When your opponent is pulling on your head with both hands, you chop both arms down simultaneously. "Pull in towards me and snap down. His reaction is pull back and stand up. I'm already low, so I can shoot right away." The chop is also your level change, so you're in shooting position before they recover.

The mechanics from there: penetration step, forehead to their sternum, arms wrap both legs at the knees, and drive through. Not to the side, not at an angle. Through. Head position is everything. Too low, you get sprawled on. Too high, you get guillotined. Sternum height is the sweet spot. Trenge calls the finish "steering the wheel on the bus." Head goes one direction, hands sweep the legs the other way. Their center of mass shifts off their legs, and they go down.

2. The Single Leg: The Most Versatile Attack

If the double leg is a battering ram, the single leg is a Swiss Army knife. You can finish it five different ways. You can hit it from multiple setups. And it's often the takedown you get when the double leg fails, because you missed one leg but got the other.

Trenge teaches a setup he learned from Mahabir Nawal, "a really athletic wrestler who was fourth in the world for the United States." Grab both wrists and pull them down. Your opponent's reaction is to pull back and stand up. "He just lets go and shoots. He doesn't come back up with him." The brilliance is that pulling the wrists down disguises your level change. Your hands are already near their knees when you release.

The arm drag is another setup that feeds directly into the single leg (and works for the double too, covered in technique #5 below). Head on the inside, never on the outside. From there: run the pipe, lift and trip, or dump them to the mat. The single leg rewards creativity more than any other takedown.

3. The Snap Down: Control the Head, Control the Match

Not every takedown starts with a shot. The snap down is a standing technique that uses your opponent's posture against them. When they push into you, and wrestlers always push, you redirect that energy straight to the mat.

Trenge reveals a detail that changes the snap down entirely: "If I pull his head straight down, it doesn't do anything to his arm. But if I pull it down and to the side, that arm comes out a little." This matters because the snap down isn't just a score by itself. It sets up the underhook (technique #4 below). Pull their head to the side, their arm lifts, and you sneak your arm underneath for inside control.

The snap down also pairs with the underhook as a one-two combo. "If I lift this up and go for his leg and he pulls his leg back, he pulls it back. Now I have a window right back there between his legs." Back up in a circle, use your hips to snap them down into that triangle between their feet where they have no base.

4. The Underhook to Body Lock Lift

The underhook is the most dominant tie in wrestling. When you have it and they don't, you have inside control. You can attack and they can only react. Trenge's reasoning is blunt about the alternative: "I always hated this position because I'm stuck. I can't get to his legs. His arms are in the way. He's pinching my head like a grape."

The underhook key: keep your elbow pointed at the horizon. Don't let it drop. From there, get your forehead into their temple. "What I want is to take his head from under here, push it away, and get my head in between. Now he can't use his arm very much." This head position gives you the inside track on every attack.

From the underhook: step your hips in, lock your hands around their body (Gable grip, palm to palm, no thumbs), lift from your legs, and dump. The lift doesn't need to be dramatic. Getting their feet 6 inches off the ground is enough to take them wherever you want.

5. The Arm Drag: Create Angles, Take Backs

The arm drag is the sneakiest takedown on this list. It doesn't look like an attack until it's too late. You're hand fighting, you grab their wrist and tricep, and you pull them past you. Suddenly you're behind them with a clear shot at their legs or a direct path to their back. It's also one of the best setups for the fireman's carry.

Trenge's fundamental principle applies here more than anywhere: "You want to use your legs to move his body. You don't really want to use your arms." The arm drag is a whipping motion powered by your hips. "Side step, lower the hips, and then pull at the very end." Your arms only engage at the tail end of the movement. If you try to drag with just your arms, nothing moves.

He also teaches a steering concept: "This is like steering a wheel on a bus. Push this way. Pull this way." One hand pushes their head, the other pulls their arm. Move your hips the opposite direction of where you want them to go. That whip creates the angle that sets up the double leg (#1), single leg (#2), or a direct back take.