Astrid Ostberg vs. Katsuragi Tanaka [D]

[CaptainL]

In delivering a sharp kick into Katsuragi's side, Astrid managed to hold her opponent back, buying her some time to collect herself. She knew enough that being grounded for so long could be bad for her if her fellow blonde was still on her feet and had the high ground. Her breaths coming in hard and heavy, Astrid started to pick herself back up, rolling back around to right herself on her knees so that she could start to raise.

However, Katsuragi proved she wasn't too shabby in terms of resilience herself, and she was coming right back towards the Norwegian. This time, Astrid wasn't in a good position to retaliate, and when Katsuragi got her arm, she managed to lock in whatever it was she had planned. Astrid growled under her breath, halted in her attempts to advance.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi endured a kick but it wasn't quite enough to take her down for long as she soon came at Astrid again, with the girl still only on her knees, this time outflanking the girl successfully. As Astrid couldn't quite defend this angle, Katsuragi managed to secure one of the girl's arms and would quickly get behind her foe to lock her in.

WIth one of Astrid's arms already in her grasp, Katsuragi attempted to lock in a choke on the girl from behind, snaking one arm above Astrid's left shoulder, while her right arm went underneath Astrid's armpit. If she managed to capture the hold completely Katsuragi's strong arm would begin squeezing Astrid's throat, at the same time keeping one of the girl's arms captured in the hold, forcing it to extend upwards, with no good angle to work against the hold.

[CaptainL]

With her arm caught in Katsuragi's grasp, Astrid had no idea what she was in for - she could only anticipate what Katsuragi would do with her next, now that she had obtained a solid grasp on her. With time, Katsuragi would get into a more controlling position over the Norwegian, securing her arms around her neck to get in a chokehold, while at the same time working her grasp on her arm to keep it bent into a painful position and out of Astrid's use.

Held down in such a way, Astrid clenched her teeth, snarling under her breath as she struggled to bear though the pain and pressure Katsuragi was bearing down on her with. Her breaths became hoarse with her opponent holding down her windpipe, but Astrid was determined to power out of this. She pressed the sole of her boot down against the canvas, trying to push off the ground to bring herself up and get to her feet in the hopes of counteracting Katsuragi's weight on her.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi managed to trap her foe in a powerful hold, her arm crushing against Astrid's windpipe and keeping one of her arms out of the action. Still, even this powerful hold was not enough to close out the match. The mighty Norwegian wrestler started collecting her feet and slowly pushing up. Even with some of Katsuragi's weight piled on top of her, Astrid slowly started rising, lifting her opponent.

Feeling her opponent stand up, and being unable to prevent her doing so, Katsuragi did the same with her arm remaining firmly fixed around Astrid's neck. Even as Astrid rose fully up to her feet, Katsuragi stayed behind, on her feet, still trying to choke out her opponent. At the same time, she would attempt to step backwards, hoping to tug Astrid back and prevent her from reaching the ropes.

[CaptainL]

So far, Katsuragi was proving to give Astrid a run for her money. She knew how to strike fast and to hit hard when she did it. With Astrid's own style being slower-paced and relying on her own physical prowess, that would make things difficult for her to keep up. But, because Astrid relied on her power and endurance, she still had a trick up her sleeve. If she had to rely on her strength, she might as well try to turn it to her advantage now, as she fought to lift Katsuragi off her by the force of her body alone.

The fellow blonde, however, didn't go very far, keeping her arm fixed on Astrid's throat. She could keep up even with a change in altitude. Astrid groaned and coughed, trying to struggle back and forth against the pressure on her as Katsuragi held her down, applying more pressure to her joints. It was beginning to get frustrating to Astrid, but she had another trick up her sleeve. She tried to kick her foot off the ground, attempting to unbalance her own stance to come crashing down, and hopefully take Katsuragi with her!

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi rose together with Astrid, her arms staying tightly locked around the Norwegian wrestler's neck. Astrid, however, had quite the endurance as she kept going even as she was being choked tightly. With both of them now on their feet though, Katsuragi couldn't imagine her opponent holding out much longer. The audience watched breathlessly as Astrid visibly collected her strength for her next trick.

Suddenly the wrestler kicked off the ground, giving up her balance to come crashing down, and taking Katsuragi with her. Katsuragi's hold was locked on tight but even she didn't imagine Astrid's full weight suddenly starting to work against her, and as the pair fell, Katsuragi's arms came loose. The Japanese fighter took the worse part of the fall as well with Astrid's body half-landing on her with a hard impact and Katsuragi too late in moving her arms to dampen her own fall or Astrid's impact. With the air knocked out of her, Katsuragi would attempt to squirm away from her landing, before Astrid could make use of her luckier landing on top of the girl.

[CaptainL]

Astrid might be being choked out. Her face might have been growing red from exertion and lack of breath, as she sputtered and groaned, the sweat beading on her brow. She could feel her body growing heavier and harder to move - but Astrid still had her endurance. She had the will and the determination to keep fighting on, no matter what, and she had to prove herself! Slowly but surely, she pushed herself back up, the muscles in her legs tensing and locking to secure the position even if she wobbled a bit on her footing. But then, she kicked back, and let it all fall, with Katsuragi coming down with her!

It was a last-ditch effort to get out of a tough situation, and with how winded Astrid was, even after the hold had been broken she still needed to lie on her back for a moment catching her breath, her chest rising and falling. Because of this, she didn't have time to get on top of Katsuragi and go for a pin like she had been planning to. Katsuragi managed to pull herself out from under Astrid, getting a short distance away.

Not to worry, the Norwegian though to herself. What mattered was that she had broken herself free of a powerful sleeperhold; as long as she could keep herself conscious, she would have other opportunities. Astrid rolled up to her knees, crawling closer to Katsuragi as she raised her hands for a test of strength.

She faced her fellow blonde with a smile as she got into place. "You've proven yourself a worthy opponent, so far. I'm impressed you've given me this much of a challenge!" Regardless, though, Astrid was still fully prepared to give this match the best effort she could put forth!

[Satoshi]

Though her hold broken, Katsuragi managed to squirm away from her foe and get to her feet, winded but still ready to fight. Astrid was certainly a powerful foe, but Katsuragi wasn't done either. And after the long and powerful sleeper hold, Katsuragi didn't imagine Astrid had a lot of fight left in her, as she was considering how to end the match, only to see the Norwegian offering a lockup. With a smile Katsuragi decided to comply, stepping forward and gripping her foe's outstretched arms.

"Thank you. You've been a tough opponent as well." She returned the compliment. "I'm impressed you're still going after that." Once they were done talking, Katsuragi's muscle sprung into action, starting to shove hard into Astrid. The Japanese girl went for a simple, fair contest for now, testing how much strength her opponent had left before going in for any big moves.

"Let's see how much you got left!" She roared as the mighty but tired wrestlers tested their strength against each other.

[CaptainL]

Having been at the business end of a sleeperhold from a fellow strongwoman for so long, Astrid had been left winded. She couldn't manage much more than rising wearily to her knees, panting for breath as she propped herself up and wiped some sweat-soaked hair away from her eyes. Her face was red from the exertion, and her body was sore. But she had managed to escape, and to take Katsuragi down with her! Astrid couldn't stop now. As long as she had even an ounce of fight left in her, she would be holding onto it!

Astrid nodded to Katsuragi, accepting the challenge between them. "I would want to put forth only my best for an opponent like you!" Grasping at Katsuragi's arms, Astrid tried to lift herself onto shaky legs, leaning forward and groaning through clenched teeth as she attempted to shove back at Katsuragi to try and overpower her.

With how tired she was, she could barely stand on her own without using her opponent for support. When Katsuragi pushed her, she went skidding back, and her foe would find her more easily steered than she was at the outset of the match. Astrid's strength was waning, and it was unlikely she'd last much longer, but she would give it her all! She dug her heels into the mat, refusing to be overturned so easily!