High Crotch

Last updated: May 31, 2026

What is a high crotch takedown?

The high crotch is a single-leg attack with a twist. Instead of grabbing low around the ankle or knee, the wrestler shoots in and clamps onto the opponent’s lead leg high up, around the inner thigh, with the head positioned inside. Fanatic Wrestling describes it as the high crotch single leg, a leg attack that controls the leg from just above the knee while the wrestler drives forward.

What sets it apart is the entry. According to two-time NCAA All-American Dan Vallimont, the high crotch traditionally uses a center penetration step, the same deep, driving step that powers a double leg, but the hands attack only one leg. That gives it a foot in both camps. Evolve MMA calls it the hi-C single leg, targeting the opponent’s frontmost leg to pick them up and put them down.

The reason wrestlers love it comes down to options. Once a wrestler is locked onto that high leg, they can finish as a single leg, swing the free hand across to the far leg and finish as a double, or lift the opponent off the mat entirely. Sportmentary notes the technique is most common in scholastic and collegiate wrestling in the United States, though freestyle wrestlers use it worldwide.

How the high crotch works

Picture a wrestler in a neutral stance. They clear a tie, drop their level, and step deep between the opponent’s feet, head sliding to the inside of the lead leg. The arms wrap high on the thigh. From there, the wrestler comes up to their feet and turns the corner, cutting the angle so the opponent loses their base and goes down.

The defining feature is the height of the grip. A low single snatches the ankle. A high crotch attacks the top of the leg, close to the hip, which makes lifting easier and opens the door to a slam or a dump. That high control is also what lets the move flow into a double leg, since the free hand is already near the opponent’s other leg.

Head position is the detail that separates a clean high crotch from a stuffed shot. The head stays inside, against the body. If a wrestler ends up forehead to forehead, or the opponent gets their head on the attacking side, the shot tends to die before it starts.

High crotch vs single leg vs double leg

Most people searching for this term are trying to sort out how the high crotch differs from the two takedowns it sits between. The grip height and the number of legs attacked tell the story.

Takedown	Legs attacked	Grip location	Head position	Typical use
Single leg	One	Around the knee or ankle	Inside or outside	Controlling one leg, often lower
High crotch	One (then often both)	High on the inner thigh or hip	Inside	Lifting, slamming, converting to a double
Double leg	Both	Around both knees or thighs	To the side, head up	Driving through both legs at once

The simplest way to think about it: a high crotch is a single leg that grabs high and behaves like a double. It borrows the deep penetration step of the double leg but commits to one leg the way a single does. That hybrid quality is exactly why coaches teach the conversion between all three.

Common high crotch finishes

A wrestler rarely stops at the initial grip. The high crotch is a launch point, and which finish a wrestler reaches for depends on how the opponent reacts. The School of Wrestling lists three standard finishes coaches drill: the crackdown finish, the change-direction finish, and the step-slide finish.

Finish	What happens
Crackdown	The wrestler drives the trapped leg down and across to break the opponent’s base
Change direction	The wrestler switches the angle of attack when the opponent defends the first direction
Step slide	The wrestler slides their step to reposition and finish to the side
Lift to dump	The wrestler stands fully, lifts the opponent off the mat, and returns them down
Convert to double	The free hand catches the far leg and the wrestler finishes as a double leg

Each of these answers a different defensive reaction, which is part of why the high crotch holds up against experienced opponents. There is almost always a next option.

The high crotch in MMA

Wrestling takedowns carry straight into the cage, and the high crotch is one of the most reliable. MMA coach and researcher Kostas Fantaousakis, writing for Bloody Elbow, points to the high crotch lift as a popular path to a slam, naming former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier as a fighter who hits it regularly. Cormier, an Olympic wrestler before his MMA career, built much of his takedown game around getting in on that high leg and lifting.

In MMA, the move changes shape slightly. Fighters often hit it against the cage, using the fence the way a wrestler would use the edge of the mat, and the high grip makes the lift-to-slam finish a natural threat. Fight Encyclopedia lists the high-crotch single, gripping high on the inner thigh, as an NCAA staple that fed directly into modern grappling and MMA. The same source notes that leg attacks as a group account for roughly 70 percent of scoring takedowns in NCAA Division I national finals at the lighter weights, which says a lot about why the family of techniques the high crotch belongs to shows up so often in the cage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the high crotch a single leg or a double leg?

It starts as a single leg, since the wrestler attacks one leg with a high grip. It often finishes as a double, though, because the free hand can swing to the far leg. That in-between quality is the whole point of the technique.

Is the high crotch legal in wrestling?

Yes, in folkstyle and freestyle, both of which allow leg attacks. It is not used in Greco-Roman wrestling, where attacking the legs is banned, and only upper-body techniques are allowed.

Where does the name come from?

The name describes the grip. The wrestler’s controlling arm passes high between the opponent’s legs, near the crotch and inner thigh, rather than low around the ankle.

Is the high crotch good for beginners?

Coaches commonly teach it early because it links the single and double leg together. Learning the high crotch helps a wrestler understand how to convert between the two, which is why it appears in many beginner curriculums.

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Sources

1. Fanatic Wrestling. “Crotch Wrestling: Exploring the High Crotch Technique.” Accessed May 2026.
2. Fanatic Wrestling. “High Crotch To Double Leg By Dan Vallimont.” Accessed May 2026.
3. The School of Wrestling. “High Crotch Attack.” Accessed May 2026.
4. Sportmentary. “How To Shoot A High Crotch In Wrestling.” Accessed May 2026.
5. Fight Encyclopedia. “Wrestling Moves: The Complete Catalog of Takedowns, Throws, and Pins.” Accessed May 2026.
6. Bloody Elbow. Kostas Fantaousakis. “High crotch takedown slams and how to avoid them.” Accessed May 2026.
7. Evolve MMA. “10 Essential Wrestling Moves And Techniques Every Beginner Should Master.” Accessed May 2026.
8. USA Wrestling. “Rule Book & Guide to Wrestling.” Accessed May 2026.

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