Wrestling Room Battle: Men's Team vs Women's Team

MATCH 1 

Mihaela Boneva (Bulgaria) vs Lee Jun-sik (South Korea)

A wrestling training camp turned into a battle of the sexes last month after a leaking roof put one of the two mat rooms at the Bulgarian Olympic Sports Center out of commission. The top women wrestlers from all over the world had gathered for a two week training session.

At the same time, male wrestlers from international universities were spending there winter break training at the same facility. With only one matroom now open, the two groups of wrestlers had to decide who would get the room during prime daytime hours. Obviously, they would have to wrestle for it! The women and the men each selected 7 wrestlers in different weight classes to compete. Whichever side won the most matches could use the matroom during the day.

The losing team had to wait until the winners finished each day. Matches would be according to freestyle rules. The only exception: No points and no breaks. Wrestlers would battle nonstop until one had pinned the other.

WRESTLE!

Local Olympian Miheala Boneva was first up for the women's team. She looked confident as she warmed up on the edge of the mat. Her long blonde braids made her look quite harmless, but she was a tough wrestler who had won a silver medal at the Rio games.

The Korean male knew that, but he didn't see intimidated. In fact, the men were making bets on how fast he would pin the female wrestler. Boneva and Lee were now in the center of the mat, staring each other down.

They shook hands and with the tweet of the whistle grabbed hold of each other and began their epic battle. Lee had done a lot of greco in the past and had more upper body strength than the Bulgarian lady wrestler, so he tried to turn that to his advantage, clenching her tight and locking his hands behind her back.

The women on the sidelines could see what he was doing and screamed for her to break free. But it was too late. A wave of testosterone filled the gym as the Korean stud lifted Boneva off her feat and slammed her into the mat with a massive smack. The men cheered, sure that he would finish her off after such a devastating throw.

 But this match wasn't going to be that easy. The men's cheers turned to gasps as Boneva refused to let Lee get on top of her. She pulled out to the side, wrapped her arm around his and before he knew what happened she was on his back using her leverage to try to turn him over.

The women were delighted to see this big muscular Korean struggling to escape. Boneva kept pressure on Lee's right arm, extending it to the danger point. The referee was afraid she was going to break his arm so stopped the punishment and brought them back to their feet.

 An emboldened Boneva went in for a single leg take down, knocking Lee onto his ass before he know what hit him. The Korean tried turned to his belly but the Bulgarian had already trapped on of his legs against the other and was wrapping her legs sound the free one.

The male wrestlers were panicking. They could see she was going for a leg turk and if she got that she could pin their man. But it was too late. Boneva mounted the Korean and pulled his head down to the mat. Lee fought as hard as he could. Sweat poured off his face. He struggled to breathe. Slowly but surely Boneva pushed him down. Lee was helpless. He knew it was over.

With one last grunt he tried to shove her off, but it was no use. Lee collapsed and Boneva shoved his shoulder as deep as she could into the mat. A simultaneous slap and tweet signaled the match was finished.

High pitched cheers overtook the women's side of the gym as Boneva leapt up and pumped her fist in the air. Lee buried his face in his hands, rocking back and forth on the mat, knowing he had not only been humiliated but let his whole team down.

The female champion did a victory lap around the mat as the defeated male got to his knees and then to his feet.

The ref raised Boneva's arm high and Lee, head, down, slumped off the mat and into the lockerroom.

Girl wrestler wipes the mat with male opponent

Some Photos of the Chinese Female Wrestlers

This is a photo a friend gave me from a wrestling tournament in China that was open to both male and female wrestlers. They didn't differentiate, they just let the best wrestler win. You can see below that in this weight class, only one guy placed. And he only came in third.

Here are a couple shots I took of one of the women's team members in her room after her victory over one of the members of the men's team.

The next day they all went to the beach and she wouldn't let the guy she beat forget about it. She was kept making fun of him and rubbing it in that she beat him. On of his friends got kind of pissed and told her to leave him alone, but he obviously didn't want to push it too far because he was afraid of her.

Battle of the Sexes on the Wrestling Mat in Japan

After my experience photographing women wrestlers in China taking apart a men's team, I decided to go to Japan, whose women's wrestling team was one of the best in the world. My photos from China got me a lot of interest, and with interest came money, so I thought I would see how far I could go with this.

I arrived at the wrestling room of a university in Tokyo to find 72kg wrestler Satoko training with a male wrestler. The two were on their feet just grabbing at each other. Satoko went in for a double-leg takedown, lifted her shirtless male opponent off his feet and slammed his sweaty back to the mat with a loud slap. He tried to twist around, but she was already on top of him with her hips pressed down against his belly. I zoomed in with my camera to catch his expression of desperation mixed with resignation. He was fighting, but he knew it was futile. His face disappeared as Satoko pressed her upper body down on him and she held him there for a few seconds until he stopped struggling.
Then she leapt to her feet and her coach called her over to talk to me.
She told me that tomorrow she was competing in a tournament. What got me really interested, though, was when she said that so far she was the only 72kg wrestler in the women's division and that if no one else showed up she was going to see if she could wrestle in the 74kg men's class.
I said that I would be there and went back to my hotel to make sure all my photography gear was charged up.
I got to the gym where the tournament was being held a little late. I was hoping I hadn't missed any of Satoko's matches, but it turned out that my timing was perfect. As expected, there were no other women for her to wrestle and the organizers had just agreed to let her compete against the men.
This was pretty unusual in Japan. While women's wrestling was quite popular, they almost never competed against men. Japan is pretty male dominated and I suspected that any guy who got beat by a female wrestler would feel totally humiliated.
I sat down on the edge of the mat where the 74kg matches had already started. As I brought my camera out, two wrestlers nearly plowed right into me after one guy threw the other on his back. I snapped a few shots as the winning wrestler pinned his opponent. As they cleared off the mat, I saw another guy warming up in the far corner. He was lean but very muscular and was wearing a wrestling singlet from a university in Tokyo. As he jumped up and down and stretched, one of the mat judges ran over to him and started talking. I figured out right away what he was telling him because he had a shocked look on his face and immediately turned over to the opposite corner where Satoko was warming up.
The male wrestler chuckled and nodded his head and his teammates in his corner laughed. I got a few pics of them all laughing because I didn't think he was going to be laughing when he got on the mat with Satoko.
The two shook hands in the center of the mat and the ref blew the whistle. The male wrestler shot a takedown, but Satoko sprawled and pushed his head down, and wrapped her arms tight around his upper body. She was being really aggressive and drove all her weight onto him so he collapsed onto his belly with his face in the mat. I think he was kind of stunned because before he knew what hit him, she had jumped on his back and was trying to get her arm under his to turn him on his back. It looked painful and almost illegal as she wrenched his arm up and fought to turn him. I zoomed in on what you could see of his face. It was all contorted as she mopped the mat with his forehead. He was definitely in some pain judging from the loud groans I was hearing. He looked up at the referee hoping for some mercy, but she had relaxed her grip on his arm so it wasn't dangerous anymore. The action slowed and the ref blew the whistle to bring them up to their feet.
It took him a minute to get up after the beating he just took. He slowly got to his feet and swung his arm around a few times to make sure it still worked. His teammates looked worried. I think they were afraid that she was going to actually hurt him.
Satoko looked confident, but not cocky. All she cared about was beating this guy. She knew she was better than him. And she was going to make sure he didn't forget it. The ref blew the whistle and the male wrestler shot low, wrapped his arms around her hips and lifted her off her feet. Satoko fought to get away and in the scuffle she rammed her elbow right into his eye.
"Awhhhhh!!" he cried and released his hold, calling a time out. A nurse came over to him to look at his eye. He was definitely going to have a shiner, bit there was no blood, so they sent him back to the mat for more punishment.
He looked mad now. Not only was he probably going to get beat by a girl wrestler, he was going to have a huge black eye that everyone was going to ask him about.
AS they started wrestling again, he tried the same throw, but she was ready for him and the two collided, chest to chest, struggling to get the upper hand for a throw. But Satoko managed to get some leverage and in one explosive moved lifted the guy up, letting out a scream as she did. The spectators around the mat, who were mostly male wrestlers gasped as Satoko slammed the guy to the mat. He let out a cry of agony as his body fell. His female rival climbed on top of him. He tried to bridge. His cock bulged out of his singlet as he pumped his pelvis in the air. But Satoko slammed her hips right down on him, pinning his penis as she pinned his shoulders. One of her breasts was smothering his face, as if to remind him that he was being defeated by a woman.
Finally the ref put an end to the beating and slapped the mat, calling the pin. Satoko jumped to her feet and screamed, punching her fist in the air. Her beaten male opponent clutched his head with his hands and curled up in the fetal position on the mat.

Everyone started applauding what she had just done to this guy. It must have been hard for him, but he managed to compose himself and get up as the ref raised Satoko's arm in victory.
But it wasn't over yet. Having beat this guy, she advanced to the next bracket. Everyone was wondering if she could actually win the weight class and become the champion.

Great Pin

Chinese Women's Wrestling Team Defeats Men's Wrestling Team

I was heading over to the wrestling training center again today to photograph something I couldn't believe was even happening. Yesterday, after witnessing one of the members of the Chinese women's freestyle wrestling team destroy one of the male wrestlers, the coach told me that they were going to have an informal dual meet today with the women's team going up against the men's team. He said they started doing it a while ago because they thought it would help make the women's team stronger, but they were surprised by how well they did against the men and so now it is seen as a good training exercise for both teams.

A female wrestler squares off with a member of the men's team and takes him down to the mat.

When i got to the gym, i staked out a place matside and pulled out my camera equipment. The men's team was warming up, waiting for the women to come out. They were all wearing blue singlets and I couldn't help noticing that a lot of them didn't seem to be wearing any underwear under their uniforms, so their bulges were quite pronounced. They all lined up according to weight class on the edge of the mat as the women came out in their red singlets.


The 55 kilogram match would start things off. The male wrestler took his place in his corner with two of his teammates massaging his arms and shoulders as he prepared for the match. His opponent was jumping up and down and stretching her arms in the other corner. The referee took his place at the center of the mat and called the wrestlers out to begin. The male wrestler slapped his cheeks and let out a loud grunt as his teammate patted his ass and pushed him out toward the center of the mat. The female did the same as if to show she wasn't intimidated. The two athletes shook hands and hunched over, ready to battle it out.


The whistle blew and they locked up. He grabbed hold of her surprisingly solid bicep as she dug her fingers into the back of his armpit. They broke and circled each other some more, each looking for an opening.  He went to his knees and lunged for her left ankle. But as he caught hold of it she leaped to his side, slipping free of his grasp. His failed attempt at a takedown left him on his knees and his opponent was going to make the most of it. Before he could think of a way to defend, she swung behind him and grabbed him around his waist. She was now in control and he looked worried. So did his teammates. As the female team let out a cheer, the men cringed and tried to coach their teammate out of his predicament. But it started to look like a lost cause as the female wrestler let go of her male adversary's right forearm, brought her hand back and shoved her whole arm between his legs, latching on to her other arm which was still squeezed around his waist. He let out a groan as her bicep dug into his balls. I zoomed in close to capture the expression of agony on his face. With the leverage she had achieved, the girl turned him onto his back in a cradle. She squeezed him tighter as he struggled in vain to free himself. It was no use. She rocked his shoulders back and the referee slapped the mat and blew his whistle. The women's team erupted in cheers as their victorious teammate released her victim and jumped to her feet. The male team sat stone-faced as their defeated wrestler punched the mat with his fist and got up to his feet for the final humiliation of having to stand there as the ref raised his female opponent's arm in victory.


The next match offered the men some hope. Their 66 kg wrestler proved to be too much for his female opponent. From the moment the whistle blew he dominated her. She managed to get a couple take downs, but as the clock ticked down at the end of the first period, he had her on her back and she was struggling to keep her shoulders off the mat. She was saved by the bell, but the second period was more a less a repeat of the first. Still, he had a hard time pinning her and she fought him fiercely. Finally, though, he was too strong for her and he flattened her, pressing his hard pecs into her breasts as she succumbed to him for the pin. The men's team was ecstatic as their champion got to his feat, his penis poking out from his singlet as the ref raised his arm in victory.


The score was tied now. The guys obviously hoped that the first match was a fluke and that they would be able to prove that wrestling was a man's sport in the remaining matches.


The men were feeling cocky again as they sent their 74 kg wrestler out to face his female foe. The male wrestler had a very military look - he was lean and muscular with a typical buzz cut. The woman he was up against had shoulder length hair and was shorter than him, but looked kind of stocky.

A male wrestler locks up with his female opponent.

I wondered if this guy was going to be able to take her. Because she was shorter and had broader hips, the girl was going to be tough to take down. The male wrestler discovered that early on. He tried shooting takedown after takedown to no avail until finally, he stepped into a trap she had set and she caught him in a headlock and threw him over her shoulders, slamming him to the mat. The women's team went wild as their wrestler clamped her brawny arm around the man's head as he desperately flailed. He tried to bridge out of it, which gave me a great photo. As he thrust his hips into the air, his cock and balls bulged from the tight lycra. His head was buried in her breast and his face was red and contorted. I was pretty close to the action, snapping away with my camera. The guy was struggling to breathe as the woman continued to grind his sweaty head into the mat. She dug her heels in and leaned into him, putting all her weight on his upper body. It was too much for him. His bridge collapsed. He was helpless. The ref slapped the mat and she released him. He looked relieved that his beating was over and he could at least breathe again. The female wrestler leaned up and flexed her muscles for the camera. It was a great shot - this powerful athlete and her vanquished male opponent.


The men's final hope was in their heavyweight wrestler. He was a national champion and was kind of chubby but muscular. His chest was like a barrel with a little black hair around his nipples. His armpits were also very hairy, but the rest of his body was smooth. He walked to the center of the mat to face his female opponent. She looked smaller than him, but was very muscular. Apparently she used to be a weightlifter but had switched to wrestling a few years ago.

A male wrestler lies on the mat after his defeat at the hands of one of the women wrestlers

The match started with both of them locking up. Heavyweight matches were usually pretty slow, but i got some nice photos of the two of them with their heads pressed tightly together. He brought his arms in tight around her and managed a throw, grunting loudly as he brought her to the mat. But they were close to the edge and they rolled out of bounds. They came back to the center and the action repeated. This time, he made sure they were in the center of the mat when he again locked his arms around her and let out yell as he attempted the throw. But this time she was expecting it and fought back. Instead of throwing her over completely, she cut him off part way and landed on top of him. Suddenly, he was on his back with the female wrestler on top of him. The women's team started screaming as the men looked on in horror. Their heavyweight champion was on his back. The female wrestler shifted her weight to his upper body, straddling his belly as she pulled his arms over his head. Bridging was useless. She was too heavy. drops of sweat streamed from his hairy armpits onto the mat as she bore down on him, pressing his bog shoulders into the mat. Anther loud slap of the mat signaled another victory for the women's wrestling team over the men. It was all over now and the men's team had been defeated.

One of the female wrestlers celebrates her victory over a male wrestler

I wouldn't had believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. I was happy though because I figured that the pictures I got from this spectacle would get a lot of attention.