How much injury, blood and recovery time does a wrestler get?
Rule- USA
- NFHS
- NFHS rules
- High school
- Grades 9-12
- Folkstyle wrestling
- 2026-27 season
- Officials
| Time-out | Allowance | If it runs out |
|---|---|---|
| Injury time (8-2-1) | Two injury time-outs per match, totaling no more than 1 minute 30 seconds | Wrestler must continue or default |
| Blood time (8-2-7) | Cumulative 5 minutes. The number of blood time-outs is up to the referee. Cleanup after the bleeding stops isn't counted. | Match ends, and the opponent wins by default |
| Recovery time (5-28-3) | 2 minutes when injured or bleeding because of the opponent's illegal hold/maneuver, unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, or false start in the neutral position | If the wrestler can't continue, they win by default |
| HNC evaluation (8-2-4) | Up to 5 minutes, only with an appropriate health care professional present | Default |
New for 2026-27: bleeding now qualifies for recovery time. A wrestler bleeding because of an opponent's illegal hold, unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct or false start gets 2 minutes of recovery time, with no time deducted from their 5 minutes of blood time. Previously they could have bled for 5 minutes before winning by default.
Recovery time isn't deducted from injury time and doesn't count as an HNC time-out. Warn the coach and wrestler as the remaining time runs down.
Added 21 Oct 2026