Dakar (Senegal), 6 November 2021. After three days of high-level competitions, the 9th African wrestling tournament organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which pitted against each other, 60 wrestlers from ten Member States of the regional organization, ended on Saturday, 6 November 2021 in Dakar, Senegal.

At the end of the tournament which was conducted under the true spirit of fair play, the foals of Senegal under the management of its coach, Ambroïse Sarr stood out with five gold medals including one as the winning team and four among four individual wrestlers from that country.

The Senegalese wrestlers Moussa Faye (66kg), Ngor Niakh (76kg), Anson K. Ndour (86kg) and Modou Faye (100kg) won a gold medal each by overpowering Wotna Sangun (Guinea Bissau), Julio Armandou (Guinea Bissau), Ekeremie Ogiomor (Nigeria) and Babacar Mbodji (Gambia) respectively.

Nigerien’s Kadri Abdou, brought Burkina Faso’s wrestler Savané Romaric to his knees during the 12kg final tournament to win the gold medal.

This edition of the tournament, puts Senegal in the lead, followed by Niger in the 2^nd position, and Nigeria in the 3rd position.

In the final ranking, Senegal, the host country in this year’s edition, won 5 gold medals while Niger won 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal and 4 bronze medals; Guinea Bissau won 2 silver medals, followed by Nigeria with 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. However, Gambia and Burkina Faso had one silver medal each.

It should be noted that the ECOWAS Traditional Wrestling Tournament (TOLAC), instituted by ECOWAS in 1986, is a tournament which, over the years, has developed and gained popularity as an interesting sporting and cultural event.  It has also become a framework for strengthening ties of solidarity and friendship among Member States as well as promoting integration and sustainable development in the West African region

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