Ike Okoli

Ike Okoli (born March 23, 1988) from Cayce, South Carolina[1] is a beach wrestler who is a 3x U.S. Beach Wrestling Nationals/ World Team Trials champion at +90 kg. Winning in 2013[2][3] 2014 and 2015[4][5] At the 2014 FILA (now known as the UWW or United World Wrestling) Beach World Championships in Katerini, Greece where he earn the bronze medal as a member of the USA World Beach Team with a record of 4 - 1. Okoli was the only world beach medalist of the U.S. delegation in 2014 after suffering travel delays due to inclement weather.[6]

Ike Okoli
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1988-03-23) March 23, 1988
Columbia, SC
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Sport
SportWrestling
Event(s)Beach wrestling
College teamUniversity of South Carolina
Medal record
Men's Beach wrestling
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2014 Katerini+90 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 Cartagena de Indias+90kg
National Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 Carolina Beach+90kg
Gold medal – first place2014 Carolina Beach+90kg
Gold medal – first place2015 Carolina Beach+90kg
Silver medal – second place2016 Carolina Beach+90kg
Silver medal – second place2017 Carolina Beach+90kg

In 2015, Okoli won gold in the first UWW Pan American Beach Wrestling Championship, where he beat an opponent from Colombia in a best-of three series. Okoli won in two straight matches by 3-0 margins, he was the only U.S. athlete entered in the competition, which featured athletes from Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States.[7] Okoli is of Nigerian descent.

Okoli wrestled at Brookland-Cayce High School in Cayce, South Carolina.[8] He later became a 2x NCWA All American for the University of South Carolina.[9][10] In 2013, Okoli help South Carolina to a 2nd-place finish behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the NCWA Division II National Team Standings[11]

Prior to South Carolina, Okoli played football for Mount Union University for one season.[12]

References
  1. U.S. Army Cadet Command (ROTC) - Posts | Facebook Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  2. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ike Okoli wins 2013 Beach Nationals. YouTube.
  3. Immel, Richard. "14 wrestlers qualify for Worlds". USA Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014.
  4. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Ike Okoli, 2015 Beach Nationals champion at Unlimited. YouTube.
  5. Abbott, Gary. "World medalist Okoli repeats as Beach Nationals champion with record field at Carolina Beach, N.C." Archived from the original on June 9, 2015.
  6. Davidson, Rusty. "Ike Okoli of the USA wins bronze medal as Greece dominates Beach Worlds". USA Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015.
  7. Abbott, Gary. "Okoli wins gold at first Pan American Beach Championships held in Colombia". Archived from the original on October 24, 2015.
  8. "South Carolina College/U.S./World Wrestling Records".
  9. http://ncwaalumni.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/5/4/12543370/2012.jpg
  10. Farrell, Scott (13 March 2013). "NCWA National Championship Notes & Preview". The Open Mat.
  11. Farrell, Scott. "Cal Baptist wins second NCWA title in three years". InterMat Wrestling.
  12. "2007-08 Mount Union Football Roster - Mount Union". athletics.mountunion.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03.
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