By Staff Reporter WINDHOEK The Namibian Wrestling Federation held its National Championships and Year-End Function early this month. All the clubs in Namibia attended and excellent wrestling was on display during the NWF Championship Tournament. The prize-giving event was attended by the patron of Namibian Wrestling, Mrs Agnes Tjongarero, President of the Namibia National Olympic Committee, and the President of the NWF, Leon Conradie, congratulated the wrestlers on their excellent achievements during the year. Five gold medals were won at the South African Championships, the most achieved in a year at this event. The South African champions were Louis v.d. Westhuizen, Cindy Hangue, Jason Afrikaner, Martin Lofty-Eaton and Johannes Homateni. Cristina Swartbooi won a bronze medal at a FILA tournament in Turkey. This is the first ever medal won internationally by a female wrestler from Namibia. Johannes Homateni achieved two 5th places at the African Championships. Conradie expressed his concern that Namibia loses most of her wrestlers as soon as they have completed their schooling. He stressed that the wrestling fraternity must urgently address this situation as wrestlers only mature when they are approximately 26 years old. Namibia cannot afford to lose her best school-leaving wrestlers after huge investments have been made to get them to this level and ready for international participation. He also took the opportunity to thank the sponsors that assisted the wrestling profession in Namibia, and reiterated that sports cannot possibly function and achieve good results without the valued assistance of sponsors. The following Sponsors were mentioned: Welwitchia Travel: Mrs Debbie Louw – they sponsored the prize-giving event. Finaid: Mr Ron Weber – He sponsored the TOP 30 T-Shirts. Nashua: Mr Muis Burger – They sponsored a copier for the year. The following were this year’s winners in the respective age categories in the different styles of wrestling: Freestyle – Female Wrestler of the Year: All Ages: Cindy Hangue Freestyle – Male Wrestlers of the Year: Under 7 – Eben van Wyk Under 9 – Rainer Augustyn Under 11 – Michael Thomas Under 13 – Jason Afrikaner Under 15 – Sem Shilimela Under 17 – Martin Lofty-Eaton and Misha Steen Under 20 – Maruis Hangue Senior Trophy – Johannes Homateni Greco Roman Male Wrestlers of the Year: Under 11 – AndrÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚© Augustyn Under 15 – Sem Shilimela Over 15 – Johannes Homateni Wrestling School of the Year: Pionierspark Primary School. This trophy is awarded yearly to the school with the most active wrestlers. Administrator of the Year: Leonora Henning Official of the Year: Dawie Augustyn Top 10 Wrestlers: 10 Bennie Truter 9 Michael Thomas 8 Louis vd Westhuizen 7 Lukas Thomas 6 Paavo Hhihangwa 5 Tromp Conradie 4 Misha Steen 3 Jason Afrikaner 2 Sem Shilimela 1 Martin Lofty-Eaton Sport Achiever of the Year: Johannes Homateni This trophy is awarded to the wrestler with the best individual achievement during the year. Wrestler of the Year: Martin Lofty-Eaton This trophy is awarded to the wrestler with the most accumulated points during the year. Best Club: Alte Feste This trophy is awarded to the club with the most category winners. The Alte Feste wrestling club has won this prestigious trophy for the 13th consecutive year.