Desmond Iwuchukwu
Team Nigeria capped an impressive outing at the 2022 African Wrestling Championships in El Jadida, Morocco, claiming a silver and two bronze medals in the Freestyle (FS) events on the final day of the tournament.
It means all 11 wrestlers paraded by the country at the Championships each won a medal.
Wrestling in the 57kg FS, Commonwealth silver-medallist Ebikewenimo Welson won silver, while African champions Ogbonna John (74kg) and Ekerekeme Agiomor (86kg) both settled for bronze medals.
After securing quarter and semi-final wins against Congo DR’s Rabby Kilandi (12-1 via fall) and Diamantino Iuna Fafe of Guinea-Bissau (2-1), Welson lost 5-0 to Gamal Mohamed of Egypt in the final.
On his part, John, who had won four straight African titles hitherto failed to make it five in a row, after he was stopped in the semi-finals by Egyptian Amr Hussen via a fall victory. He however won bronze by overcoming Brian Oloo of Kenya 10-0 via superiority in the 74kg class.
Similarly, Tokyo 2020 Olympian Agiomor (86kg) also claimed bronze after beating Tunisian Sabri Mnasria 9-0.
After receiving a bye in the qualification round, the 2018 African champion defeated Guma Bashir of Sudan 10-0 via pinfall in the quarter-finals before narrowly going down 3-2 to Egyptian Mahmoud Badawi in the last 4.
On the penultimate day of the competition, Team Nigeria claimed 4 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze medals in the Women’s Wrestling events.
Nigeria’s performance at the 2022 African Championships:
Women Wrestling
Mercy Adekuoroye (53kg) – Gold
Jumoke Adekoye (55kg) – Gold
Odunayo Adekuoroye (59kg) – Gold
Blessing Oborududu (68kg) – Gold
Patience Opuene (62kg) – Silver
Hannah Reuben (76kg) – Silver
Sunmisola Balogun (65kg) – Bronze
Ebi Biogos (72kg) – Bronze
Freestyle
Ebikwenimo Welson (57kg) – Silver
Ogbonna John (74kg) – Bronze
Ekerekeme Agiomor (86kg) – bronze
