By Akeem Lawal
GOLD medalist at the just concluded Governor Nyesom Wike
Wrestling Challenge Cup, Yahuza Yahaya has revealed that he learned how to
wrestle by merely watching videos of the sport and practice with pillow.
Yahaya, who is one of the three athletes that represented
Benue State at the championship, defeated Buhari Umar from Bauchi in the final
match to emerge winner of the Greco Roman 80kg class at the Indoor Sports Hall
of the Alfred Diette-Spiff Civic Center in Port Harcourt.
The remaining two athletes Adeyongo Tetese Festus (Cadet
Greco 71kg) and Tsenongo Iveren Suzan (Cadet Women Freestyle 61kg) won silver
medals for the Food Basket of the Nation.
In a chat with SportingLife, Yahaya said after winning a
gold medal in his first competition, he is now looking forward to represent the
country at the African Wrestling Championship coming up next year February in
Port Harcourt.
“I feel great
winning gold in my first tournament and I see it as a sport that I should put
all my efforts to be up there. I started wrestling in 2014 and this is my first
tournament. I’ve not been able to attend competitions because of school
engagement which has made me not to be stable with the sport. So I finished
second school last year and wrote my NECO exam this year and that was why I
have time for this tournament.
“Most times I don’t have time to train but I download
wrestling videos and watch them. Sometimes when I am the only one in my room, I
will be practicing with my pillow. When I see a technique I will study and
practice it with my pillow. So when it remained like three weeks to the
competition, my coach Adah Adamu Jonathan started teaching me what to do and
with my experience from the videos, I put it into practice.
“I am very excited to qualify for the African
Championship because that is one of my dreams. I will definitely try my best to
do the nation proud,” Yahaya told SportingLife.
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