Bayelsa state excellence in Nigerian Sports scene manifested once again at the 2026 National Arm-UMEwrestling Championship which ended today in Lagos. Held from 9-12 April 2026 at the CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, team Bayelsa won 7 gold, 4 Silver and 3 bronze medals totalling 14 medals, thus reaffirming her pre-championship ratings
as a strong force to be reckoned with when it comes to wrestling, sports in Nigeria, especially Armwrestling.
Encouraged by the Bayelsa state Director of Sports, Chief Aye Andrew, who ensured that team Bayelsa is counted among the over twenty teams that took part in the exercise , the Coach Timi Koku tutored team assisted by coach Maiika Tonkumor, were never found wanting as they contested for every medal at stake as if there is no tomorrow despite the initial participation challenges they encountered that created great uncertainty in the minds of the athletes.
Kudos must also be given to Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe for his support and encouragement.
Meanwhile, with the inclusivity agenda of his Excellency, Senator, Douye Diri, the executive governor of Bayelsa state and the giant strides the South-South state have been making of recent sports wise, one is of the opinion that participation in domestic events such as this wouldn’t be a difficult task for the state athletes hence those in charge of Sports should take the athletes welfare as a priority in order to sustain Bayelsa excellency.in sports.
Besides coach Timi Koku who also competed and accounted for Bayelsa’s 2 gold medals and the assistant, Maiika Tonkumor that won 2 silver medals for the state, other wrestlers performed excellently well include, Udochi Chidinma Goodness, Amadi Silas Uzochukwu, Blessing, ogungunre Adebimpe and Ajao Oluwasegun Tunde among others while Deborah Obolo is the secretary.
Probably, team Bayelsa would have won more laurels than they did if they had prosecuted the championship with full squad.
The question now is, if Bayelsa can win this much with only six to seven Arm-wrestlers, what would have wondered what would have happened if ten or more athletes had stormed Lagos to represent the oil-rich state in this championship
