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Tamyra Mensah-Stock

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Tamyra Mensah-Stock
Tamyra at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships
Personal information
Full nameTamyra Mariama Mensah-Stock
Born (1992-10-11) October 11, 1992 (age 32)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Home townKaty, Texas, U.S.
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb)
SpouseJacob Stock
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportWrestling
EventFreestyle
College teamWayland Baptist University
ClubTitan Mercury Wrestling Club
Coached byTerry Steiner
Izzy Izboinikov[1]
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 68 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Nur-Sultan 68 kg
Gold medal – first place 2022 Belgrade 68 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Budapest 68 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Oslo 68 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima 68 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Buenos Aires 68 kg
Gold medal – first place 2020 Ottawa 68 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Guatemala City 68 kg
Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin
Gold medal – first place 2017 Krasnoyarsk 69 kg
Gold medal – first place 2018 Krasnoyarsk 68 kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Krasnoyarsk 72 kg

Tamyra Mariama Mensah-Stock (born October 11, 1992, née Mensah) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she wrestles on the NXT brand under the name Tyra Mae Steele.

Mensah-Stock previously competed in women's freestyle wrestling, winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on August 3, 2021, and became the first black woman to win gold in women's freestyle wrestling.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

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Tamyra was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Her father was a Ghanaian who lived in Ghana until the age of 30, and her mother is from Illinois.[1]

At Morton Ranch High School in Katy, Texas, her twin sister, Tarkyia, joined the wrestling team their freshman year while Tamyra pursued track and field. She joined the wrestling team her sophomore year, at age 15, after her sister and the wrestling coach, Mark Balser, convinced her to take part in a wrestling practice session.[4][5][6][7][8][9] However, she almost quit after her father's fatal car accident, on his way home from one of her high school wrestling matches.[10] She blamed wrestling for her father's untimely death. She saw him as her biggest supporter.[11]

In 2010 and 2011, she became the Texas High School Girls Champion having finished second in 2009.[12] In 2010, she became the U.S. Junior National runner-up.

After high school, she attended Wayland Baptist University (WBU) where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise and Sports Science. As a student wrestler, she became the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) Nationals Champion in 2014 and 2017. She also took third place in the 2013 at the U.S. Universities Championship and first place in 2015.

Amateur career

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Although she won the 68 kg class at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, none of the athletes from the United States secured a spot to compete in relevant 68 kg weight category at the 2016 Rio Olympics, so she spent her time in Brazil as a practice partner for teammates who were eligible in other weight categories.[13]

She won the gold medal in the women's 68 kg event during the 2019 World Wrestling Championships and also qualified to represent United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14][15] She was one of the three gold medalists for the United States in women's freestyle category at the 2019 World Championships, which also marked the first instance where U.S. delegation claimed three gold medals in women's wrestling event at a single World Championships.[16]

Tamyra also claimed a bronze medal in the women's 68 kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships.[17]

In January 2021, she won the gold medal in the women's 68 kg event at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2021 held in Nice, France.[18] She also won the gold medal in the 68 kg event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021 held in Rome, Italy.[19]

On August 3, 2021, she won the gold medal in the women's freestyle 68 kg, after defeating Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu 4–1, at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[20][21] She became the first female African-American and the first Black wrestler to win Olympic gold,[22][23] and only the second female American to win gold, after Helen Maroulis in 2016.[24] Two months after the Olympics, she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 68 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway.[25][26]

She won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 Tunis Ranking Series event held in Tunis, Tunisia.[27]

Professional wrestling

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On May 3, 2023, it was announced Mensah-Stock had signed with WWE to become a professional wrestler.[28] She is the third Olympic wrestling gold medalist (after Kurt Angle and Gable Steveson) and the first female Olympic wrestling gold medalist to sign with the company. On the taping of the July 5, 2024 edition of NXT Level Up, she made her in-ring debut under the name Tyra Mae Steele, in a losing effort against Wren Sinclair.[29]

Personal life

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In 2016, Mensah-Stock married Jacob Stock, who wrestled alongside his future wife at Morton Ranch High School and at Wayland Baptist University.[30][4] Mensah-Stock is a pescatarian.[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wagner, James (August 3, 2021). "Tamyra Mensah-Stock becomes the first Black woman to win a wrestling gold". New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "International Wrestling Database - Tamyra Mensah". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Goodman, Claire (August 6, 2021). "Bond between Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock, ex-Katy ISD coach carries on beyond the ring". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Tamyra Mensah - 2016-17 - Women's Wrestling". Wayland Baptist University Athletics. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  6. ^ Vype, Dennis Silva Ii (July 14, 2021). "'A Heart of Gold:' Former Katy Morton Ranch High star Mensah-Stock bound for Olympics". KPRC. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  7. ^ "Is US wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock the most upbeat athlete at Tokyo 2020?". The Guardian. August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  8. ^ "Tamyra Mensah-Stock: USA wrestler is a pescatarian and has a zombie alter ego". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  9. ^ "Meet the Athletes: Tamyra Mensah-Stock | NBC Olympics". www.nbcolympics.com. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Bumbaca, Chris (August 2, 2021). "'How I always am': Karaoke machine in tow, Tamyra Mensah-Stock dominates, sings way to wrestling finals". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  11. ^ Barron, David (July 15, 2021). "Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock equal parts hunter and hugger". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  12. ^ Tamyra Mensah Team USA
  13. ^ "Wrestling Helped Tamyra Mensah-Stock Find Her Confidence And Her Calling". www.teamusa.com. February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  14. ^ "World Wrestling Championship". Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  15. ^ jeandaniel. "2019 World Wrestling Championships". United World Wrestling. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  16. ^ OlympicTalk (September 20, 2019). "Tamyra Mensah-Stock caps historic wrestling worlds for U.S. women". OlympicTalk. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  17. ^ "2018 World Wrestling Championships". United World Wrestling. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  18. ^ "Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2021 Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  20. ^ "Tamyra Mensah-Stock Takes Gold in Wrestling". NBC Chicago. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  21. ^ "Olympics-Wrestling-Mensah-Stock wins women's freestyle light heavyweight gold medal". Reuters. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  22. ^ "Tamyra Mensah-Stock wins women's freestyle 68kg". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  23. ^ "Mensah-Stock 1st first Black U.S. woman wrestler to win gold". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  24. ^ Ayala, Erica L. (August 3, 2021). "Tamyra Mensah-Stock becomes second U.S. woman to win Olympic wrestling gold". Yahoo!. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  25. ^ Burke, Patrick (October 7, 2021). "Helen Louise Maroulis wins third title at Wrestling World Championships in Oslo". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  26. ^ "2021 World Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  27. ^ "2022 Zouhaier Sghaier Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  28. ^ "WWE signs wrestling gold medalist Mensah-Stock". ESPN.com. May 3, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  29. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (July 2, 2024). "Spoilers For This Week's NXT Level Up". 411Mania. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  30. ^ Finn, Mike (May 6, 2021). "Making of a Superhero". WIN Magazine. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  31. ^ "Tamyra Mensah-Stock: Five things to know about the wrestling Olympic champion". Olympics.com. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
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