Video Review of DWW EU 25 - Schoolgirl vs. Schoolboy Wrestling By tomboymbmw@aol.com (Tomboy) As described in my review of DWW EU 20, in an armwrestling and legwrestling tournament between Hungarian girls and boys ages 10 to 12, the girls had proven superior to the boys in armwrestling and had utterly demolished them in legwrestling. After that performance, DWW decided to see how the girls would fare against the boys in an actual wrestling tournament The girls chosen to participate in the wrestling tournament included Lilla and Xenia, the two strongest girls from the armwrestling tournament, plus Veronika, who was, interestingly, the weakest girl in the armwrestling tournament. The fourth girl in the wrestling tournament was a pretty red-haired girl named Hajmal, who appeared to speak German, but whose name sounded vaguely Turkish. At the time of the wrestling tournament, Hajmal was 14, Xenia and Lilla were 13, and Veronika was 12. Their opponents were five Hungarian boys, one 14, three 13, and one 11 - none of whom had participated in the earlier armwrestling tournament. The wrestling matches were preceded by a "pin-escape" contest that apparently was taped at an earlier time. To be frank, it was pretty lame, and you might want to keep your finger on the "fast-forward" button until you get to the actual wrestling tournament. The only interesting thing in the "pin-escape" contest is where 13-year-old Xenia puts a 17-year-old boy in a pin and it takes him about three seconds of struggle to free himself, and then, when they reverse positions, Xenia escapes his pinhold in less than a second. Her older opponent did not look very pleased. The wrestling tournament took place before what appeared to be an audience of parents. Because space was limited, the contestants started off in a kneeling position. To win a fall, the wrestler had to pin her or his opponent for a long count (it appeared to be ten) or make the opponent submit. For the most part, the contestants appeared to be relative novices with just a little bit of wrestling training and experience. The first match was between Hajmal and a 14-year-old boy who was a few inches taller. Hajmal had a slender upper body and firm, but not stocky legs. It was therefore quite a surprise when she proved so superior to the boy that she had him utterly helpless throughout the entire match. This was the most one-sided mixed match I've seen, and it was the boy who was totally outclassed by the girl. She was quick and seemed to have some wrestling experience - very economical in her moves. But she also must have been much stronger than her male opponent, because he seemed totally unable to resist her upper body strength or struggle out of her grip. He spent almost the entire match on his back, never once being in a dominant position. It was no surprise when the girl's hand was raised in victory. Hajmal also defeated another boy in the last match, dispatching him with a painful arm hold that forced him to submit. Altogether, there were nine matches, and I won't go into each one. The girls didn't win every match. Lilla, the strongest girl in the armwrestling tournament, started out her match against a 13-year-old boy by trying to outmuscle him with her strength, but ended up losing the match. One of her parents appeared to be wiping a tear from Lilla's cheek after the bout - it seemed that these girls did not like to lose. Veronika, the 12-year-old, lost her first match to a smaller 11-year-old boy who was pretty tough for his size, although she did pin the boy in one fall. The 14-year-old boy who was so completely demoralized by Hajmal in the first match managed to redeem himself, winning his match against the 13- year-old Xenia and tying 13-year-old Lilla. But there were two 13-year- old boys who each lost both of their matches to a girl. One of these boys lost his first match to Lilla, a girl his own age, who seemed to be substantially stronger than he was. The boy was always reacting to her moves, and never assumed an aggressive position. Although Lilla did not outclass the boy as dramatically as Hajmal outclassed her opponent in the first match, Lilla was still able to overpower the boy consistently and score a pin. Then, several bouts later, the boy faced 12-year-old Veronika, who had easily been beaten by everyone in the armwrestling tournament a year before. In fact, in the armwrestling tournament, Veronika had seemed to be giving up without really trying. It was very interesting to see how combative and tenacious she had become in the intervening year. The 13-year-old boy was almost a head taller than his small preteen opponent, so it was surprising that she was able to hold her own. At first, the boy seemed a bit stronger, but the girl's aggressiveness began to wear him down. Several times, she got him in a headlock and forced him to the mat. The match went on for minutes, and the boy was unable to pin her. Finally, he found himself in a position where the girl was lying on her back on top of him. At one point, she seemed to be trying to grab his elbow and put him in some kind of arm hold, but the opponents were told to break. Then, a few seconds later, she ended up in the same position, and this time she managed to get hold of the boy's elbow and push up on it so that the boy's arm appeared to be bent double and trapped beneath her armpit or behind her neck (I don't recall which). Although the hold seemed somewhat unconventional, it was very effective - after a few seconds the boy was in too much pain to continue and tapped her shoulder in submission. He had been beaten not only by 13-year-old Lilla, a girl his own size who had proven too strong for him, but also by the smaller 12-year-old Veronika who had out-thought him as well as outfought him on the mat. When her hand was raised in victory, he looked somewhat bemused. All told, the girls won five matches, the boys won three, and there was one draw. In this unstaged and real competitive tournament between young teenagers who were mainly novices, the girls convincingly defeated the boys. The quality of the wrestling isn't great, but for those who want to see a rare competitive wrestling tournament between girls and boys, the tape is worth a buy. To purchase it, contact Danube Women Wrestling (DWW) on their website - The URL is http://members.magnet.at/users/wrestle.dww/ As is the case with all of the DWW EU series tapes, this video is pure athletic competition and totally suitable for family viewing.