Most don't wear them in practice. Almost nobody wears them for freestyle (I think it's technically against the rules for Free). For some, they ponly wear them for high school and NCAA competition...which is probably about 2% of thier wrestling.

Where headgear is not required and can be a detriment because the rules don't prohibit using those grip points. In high school now, headgear is required during practice but club practices...not so much. With so many hard head slaps, hard landings on the mats, knocks against knees and elbows and the like add up. The ears hurt when swollen. They can be drained and can be packed to reduce swelling up never go back to normal. My son had the help of the Tech wrestling medical staff to drain his ears and pack them and though it doesn't look as bad as the ones we see on TV, he's are still misshapen. Years and years later I can always spot a wrestler just by his ears.

Some guys who've wreslted alot end up with ok ears regardless.

I had it twice while wrestling. It hurts like hell. Frankly I don’t understand the guys that tried to develop a mean looking pair of ears. But anyone that’s wrestlers for a long time likely has cartilage damage to their ears.