Three-Time Nigerian Olympian Named Assistant Coach of Women’s Wrestling
Odunayo Adekuoroye, an eight-time African champion, a four-time World Wrestling Championships medalist and a three-time Commonwealth Games champion, will compete at the Paris Olympics this summer.Tuesday, May 7, 2024 04:55 PM
Odunayo AdekuoroyeMuhlenberg College has named three-time Nigerian Olympian Odunayo Adekuoroye as its first assistant coach of women’s wrestling.
Adekuoroye is an eight-time African champion, a four-time World Wrestling Championships medalist and a three-time Commonwealth Games champion. Currently ranked first in the world at 57 kg by United World Wrestling (UWW), she is training for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“This is an amazing opportunity for Muhlenberg College and our women's wrestling program,” said Head Coach Travis Spencer. “Being able to have a world-class competitor in our room is invaluable to the development of our program. Odunayo is a wonderful person, and her experience will have a lifelong impact on the women who wrestle for us. I look forward to cheering her on in Paris and helping her develop as a coach.”
The first African woman to reach the World finals, Adekuoroye won her first medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, taking bronze at 48 kg. She earned the first of her three straight Commonwealth golds in 2014.
Adekuoroye, who was an assistant women’s wrestling coach at Wayland Baptist University in 2023, claimed a bronze at the World Championships in 2015 and climbed to the top of the UWW 55 kg rankings in 2017, taking home a silver at the World Championships that year after a narrow loss in the final.
She represented Team Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished 16th, and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where she placed 13th. In 2021, en route to winning the Poland Open, Adekuoroye defeated Rio gold medalist Helen Maroulis.
“Being able to have a world-class competitor in our room is invaluable to the development of our program. Odunayo is a wonderful person, and her experience will have a lifelong impact on the women who wrestle for us.”
—Head Women's Wrestling Coach Travis Spencer
Adekuoroye’s position was made possible by an NCAA Coaching Enhancement Grant, which assists with funding new assistant coaching positions for all NCAA-sponsored sports during a two-year commitment. The grant is designed to provide financial assistance to the division’s member institutions that are committed to enhancing ethnic minority and gender representation in newly created assistant coaching positions for any NCAA-sponsored sport.
"We are excited that Odunayo has made the decision to continue in the coaching profession and we know she will make an immediate positive impact on our young team, as well as for the sport of women's wrestling,” says Director of Athletics Lynn Tubman. “We are thrilled to have Odunayo assisting in building our program and advancing the sport of women's wrestling, while providing her the opportunity, through the NCAA grant, to gain valuable coaching experience.”
Muhlenberg added women’s wrestling as its 23rd varsity sport in 2023 and is scheduled to begin full dual meet competition this fall.
