President of the Wrestling Federation of Nigeria, Daniel Igali, has applauded the efforts of all his wrestlers at the just-concluded National Trials in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State after 13 of them qualified for the African Games and the Olympic qualifiers.
Igali who showered praises on the technical officials for hosting a successful event said that despite what he saw, there was still much room for improvement ahead of the upcoming competitions.
“There were a couple of young athletes I saw here that got me very excited, every weight class was well contested for that gives me a lot of joy.
“However, our performance would be determined by how we prepare because I don’t think our athletes are prepared well enough to start thinking of gold so we need to start camping immediately.” Igali said.
2020 Olympic silver medalist Blessing Oborodudu booked a slot in next month’s African Games in Accra, Ghana after a convincing performance at the Nigeria National Wrestling trials in Bayelsa State.
Blessing wasted no time in dispatching her 68kg opponent Tokere Appah of Bayelsa in a pinfall dominant fashion.
2022 Commonwealth Champion, Mercy Genesis from Bayelsa state in the 50kg defeated Peace Paul from Edo with a pinfall while 2020 African champion Esther Kolawole overpowered Precious Teibril of Nigerian Army in the 62kg.
Other high profile matches were Ogunsanya Christiana of Ondo humbling Bekefula Tarilyefa from Bayelsa in the 53kg and Mercy Adekuoroye of Ondo beating Favour Opuene from Bayelsa in the 59kg.
In the 55kg, Idirisi Adijat from Kano pipped Jumoke Adekoye of Ondo and Bayelsa sensation Mary Adeloola to finish first.
Similarly, Ebipade Mugaenbola topped her fellow Bayelsa counterpart Temene Deye and Rachesl Felix of Ondo in the 65kg.
Meanwhile, in the male freestyle, Solomon Ulabo of Bayelsa, Ebi Akere from Bayelsa and Okuro Augustine of Delta secured first positions in the 87kg, 97kg and 130kg respectively.
Also qualifying, Duck Enenibodi from Edo, Paristan Alfred of N.S.C.D.C and Emmanuel Nworie of Delta came tops in the 60kg, 67kg and 77kg respectively.
Meanwhile, the African Games are scheduled to take place in Ghana from March 8 to 24, 2024 while the first Olympic Qualifiers for the year runs from March 12 to 20th in Alexander, Egypt.
Credit Gist New Today News in Newspaper Nigeria Headlines