Nigeria wrestlers win 15 medals at African Military Games 2024

The Nigerian Armed Forces wrestlers delivered a stellar performance winning 15 medals at the ongoing African Military Games 2024 in Abuja on Thursday.

The Nigerian team dominated the women’s wrestling events with an impressive haul of five gold medals, securing 6 silver and 4 bronze medals in the men’s Greco-Roman category.

The women’s team was particularly outstanding, with Joy Egwuche (50kg), Josephine Inijimafe (55kg), Queen Essien (59kg), Ijeoma Iwuji (65kg), and Rhoda Shonde (72kg) all securing gold medals in their respective weight categories.

In the men’s 87kg Greco-Roman event, Tochukwu Okeke narrowly missed out on the gold, winning two bouts and losing one in a closely contested round-robin format, earning a silver medal for his efforts.

Head coach of the Defence Wrestling Team, Godswill Tiebri, spoke to www.aclsports.com after the event, sharing his thoughts on the team’s performance.

Tiebri had set an ambitious target for the team and was cautiously optimistic despite falling slightly short of that goal.

“My target was to win at least eight gold medals today, but all the same, the results are still favorable. Five golds in the women’s category and strong showings in the Greco-Roman events are still a positive outcome,” Tiebri said.

Tiebri also expressed his determination to keep pushing his athletes for excellence in the remaining matches.

“I have charged the remaining wrestlers to give their best in the coming rounds. We want to make sure we make the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa OFR, proud by carting away all the available gold medals. There’s no room for complacency – we aim for nothing less than total dominance in this competition.”

The coach also acknowledged the challenges posed by competing nations, particularly Algeria, which provided tough competition in some categories.

“Algeria was a stumbling block in today’s event, but this is sport and there are always hurdles. Hopefully, all the errors noticed during the bouts will be corrected as we move forward,” Tiebri said.

Coach Tiebri remains optimistic that Nigeria’s wrestlers can clinch more medals in the upcoming days.

Greco-Roman Results:

97kg

1st- Bendjellou Amine (Algeria)

2nd- Raslen Zitouni (Tunisia)

3rd- Elebiju Oke (Nigeria)

130kg

1st- Haloui Hamza (Algeria)

2nd- Alshaybani Almargani (Libya)

3rd- Akubude Frederick (Nigeria)

87kg

1st- Chems Fetaria (Algeria)

2nd- Tochukwu Okeke (Nigeria)

3^rd– Sobri Mmosra (Tunisia)

82kg

1^st– Amar Moumen (Algeria)

2^nd– Jabri Mohammed (Tunisia)

3^rd– Tobechukwu Udeh (Nigeria)

77kg

1^st– Doueche Chawki (Algeria)

2^nd– Nidal Shili (Tunisia)

3^rd– Richard Alex (Nigeria)

55kg

1^st– Sofiane Gzainia (Algeria)

2^nd– Prezi Emomdemi (Nigeria)

60kg

1^st– Ferguat Abdelkarim (Algeria)

2^nd– Stephen Olowo (Nigeria)

63kg

1^st– Aouni Abdenour (Algeria)

2^nd– Edah A (Nigeria)

677kg

1^st– Faycal Benfredj (Algeria)

2^nd– Julius Adekunle (Nigeria)

72kg

1^st– Ghaiou Walid (Algeria)

2^nd– Femi Adebayo (Nigeria)