Zim Wrestler “Mr Mat” Targets Gold At World Wrestl...

Zim Wrestler “Mr Mat” Targets Gold At World Wrestling Championships

Bridget Mabanda

Wrestling heavyweight champion Jonathan Muvingi (affectionally known as ‘Mr Mat’) will represent Zimbabwe at the World Wrestling Championship tournament to be hosted by India on November 23.

Muvingi, who turned professional in 2016, scooped a gold medal at the 18th African Kurash Championships in South Africa in August this year and prior to that, he managed to bag a bronze medal at the 2020 World Championships.

Being the only professional wrestler in Zimbabwe, Muvingi is optimistic and confident that he is going to bring the gold medal home.

“Despite the challenges I have been facing in terms of funding, I want to maintain the gold medal status since I have become used to it and I’m going to make Zimbabwe proud,” he said.

Like any other sport, wrestling follows a strict set of rules and diet in order for one to stay on top of the game and this, coupled with limited sponsorship, are the only obstacles in his way.

“Preparations are very difficult because you need to find other wrestlers from outside to do sparring with as we don’t have much competition locally,” he moans.

He predicts good tidings in store for the sport following the ushering in of a new authority in the form of the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board, pinning hopes there will finally be more regular wrestling activity on the domestic front.

According to Muvingi, the last time a meaningful wrestling tournament was hosted in Zimbabwe was way back in 1995 and he has had to look up to other countries for competition.

Tinashe Ganyani, Muvingi’s manager is anticipating that there will be positive changes in terms of how wrestling is going to have support and funding.

“I have faith in the newly-appointed board. I really look forward to something better compared to yesteryear when the focus of previous boards solely concentrated on boxing and excluded wrestling,” he said.

Ganyani concurred with “Mr Mat” that while wrestling is a very popular sport in Zimbabwe it has been in hibernation owing to a lack of funding. With the right scope and structures in place, he said, Zimbabweans would be compelled to forgo television programmes such as WWE to concentrate on local stuff.