Wrestlers Are Warriors

Downloads temporarily on hold

2011-07-27T11:04:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the inconvenience all, but I need to migrate my files off of Rapidshare, so downloads are temporarily on hold for a little bit. Please email me if you have a request for a shot.

Thanks!

Tony

2011 US World Team Posters

2011-06-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the 2011 US World Team Posters for you to download and print. Click the text to download.
This 20x14 file is 11mb and can be directly downloaded here: Full Team

This 20x16 file is 16mb and can be directly downloaded here: Mens Freestyle Team

This 20x16 file is 18mb and can be directly downloaded here: Womens Freestyle Team

This 20x16 file is 16mb and can be directly downloaded here: Greco-Roman Team

Robles poster and NCAA Team photo

2011-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but the NCAA has asked me to not post the Anthony Robles poster or the NCAA team shot. I'm trying to see if it's okay to post those at a later date. Please email me if you have any questions. Thanks, TR.

2011 USA Women's Wrestling Poster and Schedule

2011-06-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the 2011 USA Women's Wrestling calendar from USAW.

2011 WAW CALENDAR - Now available for ordering

2011-01-26T12:15:00.000-08:00

This is the official Calendar that you can order from Lulu!

Click here to order one for you or a friend!

Click here for a low-resolution preview of the calendar.

2010 US World Team Member - Jake Clark - 84kg GR

2010-12-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

Before having his hand raised at the 2010 US World Team Trails Jake felt moved to salute the crowd. Jake is a true wrestler/warrior.
Jake's details:
2010-11 Team USA Ranking No. 1 at 84KG
Years on Team USA: 6 (2003-08, 2010-11)
Residence: Colorado Springs, CO
Club: Air Force
Coach: Rich Estrella
College: Minnesota
HighSchool: Saint Paul, Minn. (South Saint Paul)
Born: 02/15/1980 in Waconia, Minn.
Height: 5-10

This 16 x 20 file is 20mb and can be directly downloaded here:
2010 US World Team Member - Jake Clark

2010 WORLD CHAMPION - Besik Kudukhov (RUS) - 60kg MF

2010-12-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

Kudukhov is awesome, plain and simple. He should do well in London in '12. Here he just defeated Vasyl Fedoryshyn of the Ukrian in the gold medal match at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

This 16 x 20 file is 20mb and can be directly downloaded here:
2010 World Championships - Besik Kudukhov - 60KG Finals

2010 WORLD CHAMPION SUSHIL KUMAR (IND) - 66KG MF

2010-12-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

Sushil Kumar made history when he became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the 2010 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow on September 12, 2010!

Kumar is really fun to watch as he pushes the action and is explosive on his feet. He beat crowd favorite Alan Gogaev of Russia in the finals for gold at 66 kg. I like this shot from the QRTs against Batzorig Buyanjav of Mongolia.

This 16 x 20 file is 15mb and can be directly downloaded here:
2010 World Championships - Sushil Kumar - 66KG Qrts Finals

2011 WRESTLERS ARE WARRIORS CALENDAR!

2010-11-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

[PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS NOT THE 2011 CALENDAR FOR SALE VIA LULU.]

This is the inaugural WaW calendar. Below is a PDF for you to download and print at 8x10.

I had mine printed and bound at Apple Photo Services and it rocks! I'm working with them on how to make it easy for anyone to order a copy for themselves. Unfortunately at $30 (printing, taxes, shipping), but it's also pretty cool that you can get a one-off printing project at 13x10 for $30. Please contact me if you would like me to order you one at cost

The 20mb PDF is here.

Below are some sample pages from this year's calendar:

2009 Worlds - Tatiana Padilla & Coach Steiner

2010-11-04T23:22:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting a long time to post this photo. There's a lot going on here, not only on the mat but in press row as well. On the mat, Tatiana was wrestling Geeta Geeta of India in the quarters. It was a wild match, Tatiana came out with a 3-0 win in the first period, but then lost 4-1 in the second. This shot was the break between the second and third period. I'd love to know what Coach Steiner (one of my favs right now) said specifically. As a former coach and long time wrestler I've spent a lot of time in the corner, I think he probably kept it pretty basic: "Wrestler smart, wrestle to win. I believe in you, and I know you believe in yourself." Or something like that. Maybe they will let us know what was said. I just think this photo shows a great dynamic and relationship between a wrestler and a coach.

Tatiana stuck Geeta in the third period. It was a great win, and continued the momentum she needed to capture the bronze medal. There's something about Tatiana that I think the US can build around. She has a swagger and confidence, and has proven she belongs on the world stage. London's calling...

Off the mat, the Denmark Worlds were cool in many ways, small, localized, but the photography section was an afterthought, so we were roped behind the athletes and coaches. That means every time a coach or athlete walked to a mat, they blocked the photographers (who aren't 6'6" ;^). Taking a different approach, I shot from the stands which were mat level. I am grateful to the Paulson and Felix families for accommodating me in the stands. What makes this shot special is that the color balance is really interesting. When the wrestlers are on the yellow portion of the mat all the photos come out cast yellow/red which can be adjusted in post processing, but that's not ideal. When they step to the blue part of the mat, the light gets much better, as this shot shows.

PS: Check out the singlet AND hair grab in the semi-fianl match with Tatiana vs Ahmedli of AZE.

More photos from this match and her semi final match (plus all of the 2009 Worlds) can be seen on Tech-Fall.com.

This 20x16 file is 15mb and can be directly downloaded here:
2009 World Championships - Padilla vs Geeta - 55KG Qrt Finals

2010 NCAA Champ - Kyle Dake, Cornell

2010-11-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Not only did 141lb Kyle Dake from Cornell impress everyone winning the NCAAs as a true freshman, he did it with humility and determination. This is a shot from the finals against Montell Marion of Iowa. I just love this shot. [Backstory: at the 2010 NCAAs I got food poisoning Friday night along with a bunch of other media folks. I was double evacuating all night, and missed the medal rounds Saturday morning. (The first full round of wrestling I've ever missed.) With difficulty I rousted myself in the afternoon to accept my NWMA photographer of the year award and crawled to the finals. I was not feeling well at all. On a good day the finals are tricky to shoot, there's a lot going on with where we are allowed to shoot from, and our lenses are pointed toward the light, making all the settings we've worked on for two days obsolete. You would think great shots are a dime a dozen, but they are not. I didn't know immediately that this was a good shot. On a SLR camera the shutter actually blinds the shooter for a split second, since so much happens in wrestling in that split second, my mantra is "If you see the action, you've missed the shot."]

More photos from this match can be seen on Tech-Fall.com.

This 20x16 file is 20mb(!) and can be directly downloaded here:
2010 NCAAs - Dake vs Marion - 141lbs NCAA finals

2010 World Team Trials - Tatiana Padilla vs Helen Maroulis

2010-10-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

2010 World Team Trials - Council Bluffs, IA
55kg Tatiana Padilla (Sunkist Kids) vs Helen Maroulis (NYAC)
An epic three-match battle for the World Team, this shot is from the second match, which Padilla won! The matches went: Maroulis 1-0, 1-1; Padilla 0-2, 1-0, 2-0; Padilla 3-1, 1-0. Both women are true warriors.

More photos from this match can be seen on Tech-Fall.com.

This 5x7 file is 2.7mb and can be directly downloaded here:
2010 WTT - Padilla vs Maroulis - 55kg WF

2009 NCAA Champion - Steve Luke

2010-10-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

In 2009 Steve Luke was impressive the entire season wrestling for UM at 174 lbs. I think Steve epitomizes the idea of wrestlers being warriors, not just on the mat but in the classroom and in life. He's a great guy and is a great champion. This shot is from his semi-final match with Raymond Jordan of Missouri. Once again, Luke's eye was a gusher.

More shots from that match can be found on Tech-Fall.com: Scroll to the bottom of this page.

The 8x10 file is 4.3mb and can be directly downloaded here:
Steve Luke - 2009 NCAA champion at 174 lbs - 8x10

2009 MMA Steve Ramirez's 3 second knockout

2010-05-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

I was shooting the Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree fight as part of the July 25, 2009 "Pure Combat 9: Home Turf" event at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Calif. That night Ramirez threw a devastating right hand one second into the match and two seconds later it was over! It's tied as the fastest knockout in MMA history. Below is a photo of that one punch.

Wanna make a poster of it? The links below are for prints of 8x10 and 16x20.

The 8x10 file is 4.4mb and can be directly downloaded here:
Steve Ramirez - Pure Combat 9 - Home Turf - 8x10

The 16x20 file is 13.5mb and can be directly downloaded here:
Steve Ramirez - Pure Combat 9 - Home Turf - 8x10

2009 US WTT - Jake Herbert Wins 84kg Men's Freestyle

2010-05-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of Jake Herbert (NYAC) after beating Bryce Hasseman (NYAC) 0-1, 3-2, 1-0 at the 2009 US World Team Trials. Herbert pointed and yelled to his friends and family. Later USA Wrestling used this shot as a poster. The links below are for prints of 8x10 and 16x20.

The 8x10 file is 5mb and can be directly downloaded here:
Jake Herbert 2009 WTT - 8x10

The 16x20 file is 13.7mb and can be directly downloaded here:
Jake Herbert 2009 WTT - 16x20

2009 WORLDS - Jake Herbert vs. Gokhan Yavaser (Turkey)

2010-05-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of Jake Herbert after he beat the Turk in the quarters at the 2009 Worlds. The Turk was very upset and had to be scolded for crying too long on the mat.

This file will print best at 5x7, but could go as high as 8x10.

This is a 2.98mb file and should download directly to your computer. Click here for the download:
Jake Herbert, 2009 World Championships

© 2009 Tony Rotundo. All rights reserved. This image may not be used for any promotional material in print or on-line without the written permission of the photographer.

2009 Worlds - Competition Day 2 & 3

2009-09-24T01:46:00.000-07:00

COMPETITION
Alright, we had a great performance on Tuesday, Jake (Herbert) wrestled superb to get a silver. He put together a really good day, he wrestled smart (which includes knowing when to bail out, or give up a 1 instead of 3), and was so close to winning it all. The finals was brutal as you can watch from TheMat.com, one push out, stalling for 3 1/2 minutes and then to the ball. I think the whole day was a good learning experience for Jake.

Tervel wrestled to his potential as well, he knows he belongs on the world stage. He was not at all satisfied with 3rd, so you know he's going to work hard to come back and will some big tournaments. That and you know Mocco will be pushing him to stay in top form.

Bunch pulled out of a move he didn't need to hit, so if anyone will be learning from Tuesday, it will be Shawn. He hit a great blast double, and could have won that match. Check out the photos, the Bulgarian tries a back flip and lands on his face, that was pretty funny in a very not funny moment.

Schlatter had a tough guy in Kumar, but was totally in the match all the way through.

Clarissa (Chun) had a cream puff in the first round, I heard that the Singapore program is just getting off the ground, so there are some sick shots of Clarissa tossing the girl around. She then hit a stud in the 17 year old North Korean. Dang, that first ankle pick was so quick. (I have no idea how I got that shot.) How do you scout a 17 year old North Korean? Chun can keep her chin high, she wrestled hard and was working with a blown shoulder. She's a tough kid.

Medina wrestled well in her first match, but hit the eventual champ who was wrestling like she knew she was going to win. Mattson is great, and cute, it's like mixing a tough Russian with a gymnast. I have some awesome shots of Medina and Mattson during the day.

SHOOTING
I'm definitely starting to dial-in and get in a groove. I'm shooting from the stands, which puts me on a great level with the mat and I can sit most of the day, while the suckers on the floor have to stand and hold their gear head-high. I found a great secret spot to shoot Mat D from. The stands should be pretty wide open tomorrow as it's the one day with all women. Unfortunate but true.

Thankfully, they stopped the smoke bombs for the finals, they are just blasting some sparks and flames, which puts out a bit of haze, but not nearly as bad as Monday and Tuesday. The smoke is why the Tuesday finals are all tweaked out, I have to crank the blacks in post to eliminate the smoke. I'm settling in at 3200k (super cold due to the yellow mats and red lights), 750 s, 3.3 f, 4000 ISO. Two sets of shots will go up today.

SOCIAL
Best social night ever, it got going late, but into the bar walks Herbert and about 15 others wrestlers and coaches, then we move across the street and the place is PACKED with USA Wrestling folks, wall to wall. The Paulson twins did their best to get us all tossed out (Trent started pouring his own Jack), but someone plunked down a bunch of bills and the bartender stayed open until three. It was so cool, I actually had a conversation with John (Smith). Total pay off for all the hard work to hang with the country's elite athletes, coaches and directors.

It was a long two days, but so much fun...And so much more to come.

Tony

PS: This 1pm start time is SO civilized! It's great to have a nice relaxing, rested morning. We need to do this in the US.

2009 Worlds - Competition Day 1 - Monday

2009-09-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

COMPETITION
If the Americans can't score from par terre, they will struggle to win on the internationals stage. A take down without bonus points leaves you up one with 30 seconds left and a hungry European, very familiar with needing to score in the last 30 seconds, will find a way to win. This is their game, the European game, and the Russians dominate it. They consistently score when they need to. "Finding a way to win" is everyday wrestling for them, not some coach's platitude.

I was proud today that the three Americans were competitive in every match. Jake (Varner) wrestled well, he looked very solid in beating the Hungarian and Japanese wrestler but hit a wall in the Iranian who couldn't be muscled around. Without that, Jake struggled, but it was a good experience for him, and I'm sure his folks are proud. He was really late in getting to the mat for the quarters, he was on his last call, not sure happened there. (Today I'll go back and check out how they are announcing the matches in the warm-up area.) Paulson was in the match, he fought off a couple shots, but lost to a tough Kazack wrestler. Danny had a strong opponent who he was evenly matched with, but he lost a really close clinch situation (he fought off the initial attack) and scored some points, but not enough. He got clocked in the head in the first few seconds, I wonder if that affected him.

SHOOTING
They didn't have a plan for the photographers and we all only got a journalist credential. They finally set up a rope behind we we can shoot from along one full side of the arena. IOt works okay during the early part of the day, but was a mob scene for the finals. I started shooting from the stands, sitting next to the Paulsons and Danny Felix's family. Great families and I had a good vantage point above the madness that was the media mosh pit. It took a while for me to dial-in, the light is very hot on hot mats, I'm dialed down to about 3200K for white balance, and am still playing with my SO and shutter speeds. They are allowing flash, and since the light is so good I can use a balance TTL which is cool for just a bit of fill flash. I'm reaching quite a ways with the 200, so things have been a little more soft than I'd like. I've upped the SO to about 4000 and am starting to crank the shutter speed.

In all their infinite wisdom, the organizers thought it would be fun to shoot off some pyrotechnics before each finals match. That's cool, except it's horrible for the athletes (think huge plumes of fireworks smoke right as they are walking by) and really really bad for photography (especially with flash) as the cloud of smoke settles on the mat. I've been told they only did that yesterday and won't do it again.

I got some decent shots today, but my proudest moment came when I scored one of about 15 foot lockers in the media room, which means I can store my gear there over night and don't have to lug it back and forth everyday. How's that for making John Sach's proud!? Today I rent a bike and do some grocery shopping so I can have some food after the finals, I don't see anything changing with regards to getting out of there before 11pm any night this week.

SOCIAL
It's almost criminal they way this town shuts down at 10pm. There is NO where to eat after ten, and for anyone who knows wrestling if the competition ends at nine, it's tough to get a group together by ten. As a photographer I'm working right after the event to get some shots up, so I'm not ready to eat until eleven or later. It's hard to know how or why FILA got snow-jobbed by the folks in Herning, and I don't mean that too sound harsh, it's a very beautiful and quaint town, but there is NOthing happening here, it's a ghost town, and it's no lie, there's are no restaurants open past ten. Most folks are being bussed in from 30 km away, so maybe there's stuff happening outside of town, I hope so, because in town is dead. Maybe I wasn't invited to the party in Jason (Bryant) and Craig (Seskers) room. Can you imagine? Those guys must cut more wood than the Zadick brothers with a new winch.

So, with few food options and having had a pear, horrible coffee, and chips for dinner, I needed food or the next best thing, beer, and stopped into the one pub that was open, and ordered a Guinness and peanuts. In walk Steve (Mocco), Joe (Mocco), Mike (Zadick) and Bryce (Hasserman), a more motley group you couldn't find, but we had a good time and met a local couple who, foolishly or presciently, invited the guys back to their pad to drink a few "slabs" of beer -- a "slab" being my new favorite term for a case of beer. I went home to get much needed rest and was up by 7am (see coffee above), what with the construction at my little B and B. B and B standing for Bed A(in't) N(o) D(inner) Breakfast.

Tak (Thanks),

Tony

Enter Denmark

2009-09-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

I won't bore you with the minor details. I got on a plane, it was cramped, the food was only okay, I didn't sleep well, but the entertainment is much better (many more movies, personal TV, etc). You know the drill. Heathrow was a MOB scene and even though my flight was an hour and a half from boarding a very kind woman let me bypass an hour of waiting in line for passport check to stand in a 45 minute line for security screening. (In SFO all my camera gear made it through without a glance, but they rescanned my burrito!)

Puddle jumped from Heathrow to Copenhagen and the first thing that struck me was that the hard wood floors of the gate I came out on were really really cool, and it was amazingly quiet. The bathroom though, was kind of nasty. Okay, too many details.

Hopped on a train to Copenhagen, bought my train ticket for Herning, and found my hotel right away. Easy peasy.

I'm starting to get excited and anxious about Monday, but the gear is in order and all those days behind a camera are like the wrestlers training in the room. I'm in good shape, mentally and physically, and all I can hope for are some US golds and the angles to be in my favor. I'm carrying the John Sachs "every good shot turns to me" luck, I just know it.

See you in Herning.

Concord Youth Center

2008-07-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

Nice supe!