Aaron Meister remembers something Tamyra Mensah told him back in 2011 when he and another former Wayland Baptist wrestling coach, Johnny Cobb, were trying to convince the budding grappling star to become a WBU Pioneer.

Meister recalls Tamyra saying, ‘I have a heart of gold, Coach.”

Mensah wasn’t referring to her abundant kindness and loving personality, which the world is quickly discovering, but Mensah’s heart-of-gold reference had to do with her very real intention of winning Olympic gold on the wrestling mat.

Fast-forward 10 years and Tamyra Mensah-Stock does, in fact, have a heart of gold.

“We’re all pretty proud today,” Meister said after Mensah-Stock claimed the gold medal in the 68kg women’s freestyle event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Cobb, who started the WBU wrestling program in 2010 after being hired by then-athletics director Dr. Greg Feris, remembers being impressed with Mensah the first time he saw her compete. It was at the Texas state high school championships in Houston, where Tamyra was winning the last of her two state titles, that Cobb told Meister, his then-assistant coach, “We’re going to get those kids. Whatever it takes. That is a talent, right there.”

Cobb was targeting both Tamyra and twin sister Tarkyia, who convinced Tamyra as sophomores at Morton Ranch High School in Katy to give up track & field and go out for wrestling.

“I knew her and her sister were pretty special,” Meister remembered. “Then when they went and placed at nationals that solidified it. I knew they could be pretty good.”

Cobb figured it could be a challenge to land the Mensah twins, since Wayland’s program was only a year old and much more established programs like Oklahoma City University, Campbellsville in Kentucky, King University in Tennessee and Missouri Valley were interested, too.

“We did really well getting in the mix with those guys,” Cobb said.

Cobb and Meister both said being in Texas gave Wayland a leg up on the others, since at the time Wayland was the only college in the state to offer wrestling.

But it was more than just that. Cobb said it was the school’s family atmosphere, and he made sure the Mensah family knew Wayland would care for them.

“I did everything I knew to do to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take care of you,” Cobb said. “I think she knew I meant it, and that’s what we darn sure tried to do the entire time they were at Wayland.”

Meister agreed.

“After her visit she was pretty well set. We had to talk things over with her mother, and I think she felt like Wayland would be home and the coaching staff cared about her.”

Said Cobb, “They don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care, and Tamyra was one that that certainly would apply to.”

“It just seemed like after the visit (Wayland) was the right place for them,” Meister said. “We tried to sell them on making history, and in that sense Tamyra is a true Pioneer. She came in and told us what she wanted to do, and Coach Cobb and I did everything we could to get her where she needed to go.”

Tamyra went on to win a pair of Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association titles at Wayland in 2014 and 2017, in between training for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She won the U.S. Olympics Trials that year but because the U.S. didn’t qualify her weight she wasn’t able to compete in Brazil.

After winning the World Championships in 2019, in addition to numerous other titles, and after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to COVID-19, Mensah-Stock won the U.S. Olympic Trials again this year and went on to win all four of her matches in Japan to claim gold.

Cobb and Meister wished they were there to see it happen in person, but due to COVID-19 restrictions spectators are not allowed at the Games. Cobb, though, was in Mensah-Stock’s corner at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon.

“That was a real honor,” said Cobb, who after retiring from Wayland in 2014 became a volunteer coach for Mensah-Stock’s Titan Mercury Wrestling Club. He’s been helping her ever since. “I’m glad I got to help some with the Xs and Os, but she obviously was in really good (coaching) hands at the Olympic Training Center. She couldn’t ask for more.”

Mensah-Stock is actually the second gold medalist Cobb has coached, having also groomed Brandon Slay at Amarillo Tascosa High School before Slay went on to win gold at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Meister, now the wrestling coach at Friends University (Kan.), said he is “beyond proud” of his former Pioneer. He admits to getting emotional just thinking about everything Mensah-Stock has done.

“I’m blessed to be a part of her journey. When you have a true passion and joy for the sport of wrestling and you can help people, it’s a great thing,” he said. “It’s been fun and a dream come true. It’s completely awesome when somebody has a dream and accomplishes it. That’s such a beautiful thing.”

Looking down the road, Cobb isn’t sure what lies ahead for Mensah-Stock, but her arrow couldn’t be pointed any higher.

“She’s a little bit of the face right now for USA Wrestling, for sure on the female said,” he said. “With her only being 28, and with the next Olympic cycle three years away as opposed to four, at 31 she could make a real run at another Olympic medal.

“I anticipate that will be her decision, but I know she’s also anxious to start a family. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Whatever Mensah-Stock decides to do next, the 72-year-old Cobb will be proud of her.

“For me it’s like a second daughter situation with T. There’s always been a real close relationship there, kind of like coach/dad.

“Tamyra is just a shining light for everybody. She’s a very sincere, very vivacious young lady. She never met a person she didn’t like.”

The post A Heart of Gold: Former coaches reflect on Olympic champion appeared first on Texas Sports.

MAKUHARI, Chiba, Japan – From a host of national champions to inductees in the basketball hall of fame, Wayland Baptist University Athletics has realized its share of impressive accolades through the years.

Not until today, however, has Wayland had its own Olympic gold medalist.

With a wrestling style and personality all her own, Tamyra Mensah-Stock captured the top spot in the 68 kg weight class at the Tokyo Olympic Games, defeating Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu, 4-1.

As described by Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling: “Mensah-Stock, the No. 1 seed, won a rough-and-tumble battle with the powerful Oborududu, who came in as the No. 2 seed. Mensah-Stock scored first on a spin-behind takedown to lead 2-0, but Oborududu was able to get a reversal to close it to 2-1. Mensah-Stock added a leg attack takedown later in the first period to make it 4-1 at the break.

“There was no scoring in the second period, although the athletes were both aggressive. Oborududu never got close to getting a takedown on Mensah-Stock. As the time ticked down, chants of USA, USA went through the arena from the American delegation and it ended with a 4-1 win for the American star.”

A two-time national champion at Wayland in 2015 and 2017, and the 2019 World Champion, Mensah-Stock becomes just the second U.S. female to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, joining 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis. She also becomes the seventh U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in wrestling since the sport was added in 2004.

As always, Mensah-Stock was gracious in victory and overcome with emotion. As she did a day earlier after each of her three dominant wins leading up to the gold medal match, she flashed her signature “heart” sign to the audience.

In her post-match interview, Mensah-Stock – with the U.S. flag draped around her shoulders – showed why the world has fallen in love with the 28-year-old from Katy, Texas.

Asked if she ever dreamed of winning a gold medal, Mensah-Stock, who started wrestling in the 10^th grade at the encouragement of twin sister Tarkyia (also a former WBU wrestler), said, “100 percent yes! I knew it would be hard. I prayed I could do it (and) left it in (God’s) hands.

“I knew I could do it. From when I first started wrestling I felt I could be an Olympic champ. I did it!”

TV commentator Jordan Burroughs, an Olympic champion himself, said following Mensah-Stock’s post-match interview, “Only Tamyra could laugh, cry and sing karaoke all within a matter of 30 seconds of an interview. Her spirit is truly contagious. The way she reflects her radiance and her light on the world truly is from within.

“You can tell she has a strong faith. Her beliefs are strong and that’s why she was able to achieve this goal, because she believed in herself, her faith, her staff, her training partners, and they all helped her get it done.”

Mensah-Stock, who won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2016 but didn’t get to compete in Rio de Janeiro because the U.S. didn’t qualify her weight, said she embraces being a role model to young girls.

“Just because you’re a female doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish the biggest of goals. Being an Olympic champ is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my entire life.

“I’m excited to see what I have next.”

With members of her family watching from Orlando, Mensah-Stock said she relishes representing the United States.

“I love it. I’m so happy I get to represent U-S-A.”

Finally, Mensah-Stock showed her shy, quiet side.

“I can’t wait,” she said, “to be at home with my husband and my dogs to celebrate with them.”

OLYMPIC GAMES WRESTLING
At Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, August 2

68 kg – Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC), gold medal
WIN Sara Dosho (Japan), tech, fall 10-0
WIN Feng Zhou (China), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine), 10-4
WIN Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria), 4-1

Group Two final results
68 kg
Gold – Tamyra Mensah Stock (USA)
Silver – Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria)
Bronze – Meerin Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine)
5th – Sara Dosho (Japan)
5th – Battsetseg Soronzonbold (Mongolia)
7th – Zhou Feng (China)
8th – Khanum Velieva (ROC)
9th – Anna Carmen Schell (Germany)
10th – Elis Manolova (Azerbaijan)
Gold – Tamyra Mensah Stock (USA) dec. Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria), 4-1
Bronze – Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine) pin Sara Dosho (Japan), 2:33
Bronze – Meerin Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) pin Battsetseg Soronzonbold (Mongolia), 4:06

Group 3 women’s freestyle finals pairing

The post Mensah-Stock brings home the gold! appeared first on Texas Sports.

TOKYO – Former Wayland Baptist standout runner Benard Keter finished in the middle of the pack in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics.

Keter was at the back of the pack early in the tactical race, but found himself near the front near the midway point. But Keter fell back and wound up in 11th place in the 15-runner field.

Keter’s final time was 8:22.12. The winner, Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, finished with a time of 8:08.90. Athletes from Ethiopia and Kenya took silver and bronze, respectively.

Keter, who competed at Wayland in 2015, qualified for the finals with a personal-best time of 8:17.31 in the preliminaries on July 29. Keter’s time was the 12th-fastest among the 15 finalists.

A native of Kenya, Keter competed for Team USA after qualifying through the U.S. military athletic program.

Keter still holds the Wayland record in the steeplechase, 8:42.94, and won NAIA titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He later transferred to Texas Tech where he won NCAA Division I titles in the steeplechase in 2016 and 2017.

Current WBU senior Che Lara also is in Tokyo, having qualified with the Trinidad & Tobago 4×400-meter relay team. Preliminaries of that event are set for 6:25 a.m. Central time Friday.

Earlier today, former WBU wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock, competing at 68 kg (149½ pounds), won all three of her matches to qualify for the gold-medal match. The 2019 World champion who was a two-time WCWA national champion at Wayland in 2015 and 2017, Mensah-Stock will go for gold at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday (Central time) against Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria.

The post Keter finishes 11th in Olympic steeplechase appeared first on Texas Sports.

MAKUHARI, Chiba, Japan – Former Wayland Baptist wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock will wrestle for an Olympic gold medal.

Mensah-Stock, competing at 68 kg (149½ pounds), won all three of her matches at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, the first two by 10-0 technical fall then in the semifinals, 10-4.

The 2019 World champion who was a two-time WCWA national champion at Wayland in 2015 and 2017, Mensah-Stock will compete in the gold medal match set for 5:30 a.m. Tuesday (Central time). The Katy, Texas, native will face Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria, who won her semifinal, 7-2, over Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia.

Facing a tough draw, Mensah-Stock opened her Olympics with power and poise against 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 World champion Sara Dosho of Japan, getting a 10-0 first-period technical fall. Mensah-Stock opened with a takedown and ankle lace for a 4-0 lead. She added a blast double takedown to make it 6-0 and two more ankle lace turns stretched it to the 10-0 technical fall. 

Dosho was fifth at the 2019 Senior Worlds, where Mensah-Stock defeated her 10-1 in the quarterfinals.

Her next opponent was two-time World medalist Feng Zhou of China, who also was unable to stop the powerful Mensah-Stock’s offense in another 10-0 technical fall. In this match, Mensah-Stock scored five straight takedowns, including three in the first period and two in the second period. Included were some powerful blast double legs for which Zhou had no ability to defend. 

Mensah-Stock then battled 2018 World champion Alla Cherkasova of Ukraine in the semifinals round, which took place at 5 a.m. Central time. Mensah-Stock went to the break with a 2-0 lead. Cherkasova got a spin behind and a gut wrench for a 4-2 lead, but Mensah-Stock got two points on a reversal to tie it at 4-4. 

Mensah-Stock continued on the attack, later putting Cherkasova on her back on a counter for a 10-4 lead. The clock ran out and Mensah-Stock won 10-4, to qualify for the gold-medal finals.

Mensah Stock was a 2019 World champion in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and also won a World bronze medal in 2018. She was also a member of the 2017 Senior World Team. She won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but did not compete in Rio de Janeiro because the U.S. did not qualify her weight class for the Games. 

Mensah-Stock is one of three Olympians with WBU ties. 

Benard Keter, who competed at Wayland in 2015, qualified for the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase after he ran a personal-best time of 8 minutes, 17.31 seconds in the preliminaries on July 29. Keter’s time was the 12th-fastest among the 15 finalists.

The fastest qualifying time among the 44 competitors, 8:09.83, was turned in by Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia. 

A native of Kenya but competing for Team USA, Keter was the only one of three Americans to make the finals, set for 7:15 a.m. Monday, Aug. 2.

Keter ran a time of 8:21.81 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on June 25, finishing second and securing a spot on Team USA.

Keter still holds the Wayland record in the steeplechase, 8:42.94, and won NAIA titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He later transferred to Texas Tech where he won NCAA Division I titles in the steeplechase in 2016 and 2017.

Meanwhile, current WBU senior Che Lara qualified with the Trinidad & Tobago 4×400-meter relay team. Preliminaries of that event are set for 6:25 a.m. Central time on Friday.

(Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling contributed to this article.)

OLYMPIC GAMES WRESTLING
At Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, August 2

U.S. women’s freestyle performances
68 kg – Tamyra Mensah Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Sara Dosho (Japan), tech, fall 10-0
WIN Feng Zhou (China), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Semifinals – Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine), decision 10-4

Finals – vs. Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria), 5:30 a.m. Central, Tuesday, Aug. 3

The post Mensah-Stock to wrestle for gold appeared first on Texas Sports.

PLAINVIEW, Texas – Wayland Baptist wrestling and track & field will be represented at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games by three athletes. Wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock and tracksters Benard Keter and Che Lara (pronounced Shay Luh-RAH) will be in Tokyo for the delayed Games.

Mensah-Stock, a 2019 World Champion, is among the favorites in her 68-kilogram weight class. Coverage of the competition begins with round of 16 matches at 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 2, with the gold medal match scheduled to be delayed televised at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3. (The gold medal match will be live at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday.)

Wrestling coverage is on NBC, The Olympic Channel and USA Network.

Mensah-Stock, of Katy, Texas, last competed at Wayland in 2017 after winning a pair of WCWA national championships for the Pioneers in 2015 and 2017. She won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2016 but the U.S. failed to qualify her weight class.

Keter, a Kenyan who attended Wayland in 2015, will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Preliminaries are set for 7 p.m. CST Friday, July 30, with finals on Monday, Aug. 2. Keter is one of 45 athletes expected to compete.

Keter ran a time of 8:21.81 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on June 25, finishing second and securing a spot on Team USA.

Keter still holds the Wayland record in the steeplechase, 8:42.94, and won NAIA titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He later transferred to Texas Tech where he won NCAA Division I titles in the steeplechase in 2016 and 2017.

Lara, who will be a senior at Wayland this fall, will represent Trinidad & Tobago as a member of the men’s 4×400 meter relay. Last spring in Gulf Shores, Ala., Lara and the Pioneers continued their incredible tradition in the 4×400 relay when he helped WBU win another national title in that event.

It’s believed WBU has more current or former athlete in the Tokyo Olympics than any other NAIA school.

NAIA members – including current student-athletes, alums, coaches and athletic trainers – will be participating in the 2020 Summer Olympics in various capacities. Between the 13 known NAIA members participating, they will be representing five different countries.

The post WBU to be represented by three at Olympic Games appeared first on Texas Sports.

EUGENE, Ore. – Former Wayland Baptist Pioneer Benard Keter will be headed to Japan as part of Team USA later this summer, qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials, Keter – who after Wayland competed at Texas Tech and who has spent the last few years running for the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program – finished second in Friday’s race with a time of 8 minutes, 21.81 seconds, only about half-a-second behind the winner, Hillary Bor, who broke the tape in 8:21.34.

In the preliminaries Monday, Keter topped 13 other runners in his heat with a time of 8:29.04. By far, Keter’s was the slowest of two heats, with the first heat providing the fastest 10 times. That means Keter’s qualifying time was just the 11th fastest of the day.

But Keter was up to the challenge Friday evening as he was runner-up in the 14-runner field.

Keter’s qualification means Wayland will be represented by two former student-athletes. Tamyra Mensah-Stock will also be in Tokyo competing in women’s wrestling.

Keter becomes the sixth Pioneer track & field athlete to qualify for the Olympics, and the first for the U.S. Other WBU Olympians, their event and places are: Billy Konchellah (Kenya), 1984, 800 meters, 4^th place; Moses Ugbisie (Nigeria), 1984, 4×400 relay, bronze medalist; Devon Morris (Jamaica), 1988, 4×400, silver medalist; Morris, 1984, 400, quarterfinalist; Morris, 1984, 4×400 relay, semifinalist; Zakayo Malekwa (Tanzania), 1980, 1984, 1988, javelin; Isa Phillips (Jamaica), 2008, 400 hurdles, semifinalist.

Four women who competed for Wayland have participated in the Olympics: Mwinga Sote (Tanzania), 1984, 3,000, semifinalist; Nzael Kyomo (Tanzania), 1980, 200, quarterfinalist; Kyomo, 1980, 100, first round; Kyomo, 1984, 200, quarterfinalist; Kyomo, 1984, 100, quarterfinalist; Tigist Moreda (Ethiopia), 1992, 10,000 meters, 8^th place; Janelle Redhead (Grenada), 2012, 200, semifinalist.

Former WBU Flying Queen Cherri Rapp competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics in women’s basketball. (Jill Rankin qualified for the U.S. boycotted-1980 Moscow Olympics.)

Back to Keter, a native of Molo, Kenya, who competed at Wayland during the 2014-15 academic year after transferring from Cloud County Community College (Kan.). As a Pioneer, Keter won the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in 2014 before placing second the following year.

In track and field, Keter was a two-time national champion at Wayland, winning the indoor 5,000 and the steeplechase outdoors while also placing third in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 10,000. Keter still holds the Wayland record in the 3,000 steeplechase, 8:42.94, set while winning the NAIA title in 2015 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

WBU finished second as a team both indoors and outdoors in 2015.

Keter went on to compete at Texas Tech, winning multiple Big 12 distance and cross country titles and finishing 10^th in 2016 and sixth in 2017 in the steeplechase.

The post Benard Keter – WBU’s latest Olympian appeared first on Texas Sports.