It will be like a fool’s rush, where angels fear to tread when Bea Meiring takes to the mats to wrestle an opponent during the African Games, which is currently underway in Ghana in West Africa.

The Tuks wrestler is no stranger to competing internationally. Last year, she won silver at the African Beach Games in Tunisia. She was also in action in the semifinals of the Singapore World Series Beach Wrestling Tournament. She has yet to compete internationally on the mats in freestyle wrestling.

But this is going to change. After the African Games she will be in action at the African Championships in Egypt. The following week, she will compete at the same venue at the African Olympic Trials.

Meiring quickly points out that wrestling on loose sand and mats is different.

“In beach wrestling, the contest is more upright. It is like Greco-Roman wrestling. The difference is that you can use judo techniques to bring your opponent down. Meanwhile, in freestyle, the combat is much more open, which allows for more action. There are always gaps to attack the legs,” she explained during an interview just before her departure to Ghana.

The promising wrestler do not know what to expect at the African Games.

“The most important thing is to gain experience and get a feel for how I compare to international standards. During last year’s Big Five Tournament, I competed against some USA wrestlers. Unfortunately, it was a no-contest as they were much younger than me. I did not get a feel as to what freestyle wrestling is about. During training, I mostly wrestle against boys. It is not the same as wrestling against women. Still, I am grateful to Arno van Zijl. He has taught me so much,” she remarked.

Meiring is so serious about mastering the finer intricacies of the sport that she trains at three clubs.

“I train at Tuks and Reitz, and on Saturdays, I train with the masters. Being bruised has become a norm for me,” said the black belt judoka, who only started to wrestle towards the end of 2022.

Judo is her family’s favourite sport and she was quite young when I stepped up to ‘fight’ for the first time.

“Judo has taught me tactical savviness. During a bout, you continuously think and analyse. It all boils down to setting up that perfect to catch an opponent off-guard. However, wrestling is quite different because there is more contact and the techniques may be slightly more complicated,” Meiring concluded.

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