Dremiel Byers (born September 11, 1974) is an American former

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

in the Greco-Roman discipline. Byers joined the World Class Athletes Program (WCAP) in 1996 and was the 2002 World Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling at 120 kg. In total, Byers won three World medals and was a two-time Olympian. He was inducted into the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

as a Distinguished Member in 2021.

Early life and education

Dremiel Byers was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Kings Mountain, North Carolina Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...

. Byers carries a childhood nickname, "Bam" or "Big Bam" to the current day. Byers earned this nickname from when he was a toddler, carrying a 1-pound dumbbell as a toy. He attended Kings Mountain High School, where he was an All-State wrestler, and the 1993

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

heavyweight wrestling state champion. Byers attended

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

for one year on a football scholarship. Byers studied

Animal Science Animal science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind". It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the ...

. He was forced to give up his scholarship to take care of family matters. After giving up his scholarship, he signed a 2-year enlistment for the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Wrestling career

Byers Senior level wrestling career started after he joined the World Class Athletes Program (WCAP) in 1996. He competed out of Colorado Springs, Colorado for the

, in the 120 kg (264.5 lbs) weight class. During his career he had many accomplishments and awards as a wrestler. He was recognized as the

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling is ...

Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year in 1999, 2002 and 2009. Byers would earn a gold medal in Greco-Roman at the

2002 World Wrestling Championships The following are the final results of the 2002 World Wrestling Championships. The 36th Men's Freestyle Competition was held in Tehran, Iran, while the 47th Men's Greco-Roman Competition was staged in Moscow, Russia and the 15th Women's Competitio ...

. He also helped the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

win its first Greco-Roman World team title at the

2007 World Wrestling Championships The 2007 World Wrestling Championships were held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event took place from September 17 to September 23, 2007. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men' ...

. Byers finished his career tied with

Matt Ghaffari Siamak "Matt" Ghaffari ( ; fa, سیامک غفاری, ; born November 11, 1961, in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran) is an Iran-born American amateur wrestler, MMA Fighter and professional wrestler. Matt Ghaffari was a two-time USA Olympic team mem ...

for the most Greco-Roman World Championship medals by a United States wrestler, by achieving three medals at the World Championships.

Personal life

Byers is an avid motorcyclist. He is a member of the motorcycle club Street Soldierz out of

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and is the

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Chapter commander. Byers is a Sergeant First Class in the US Army.Dremiel Byers
''Team USA''. Retrieved 4 March 2019.

References

External links

*http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=22129 *http://www.krdo.com/news/report-springs-poaching-suspect-is-soldier-olympian/27507860 *http://wrestling.teamusa.org/athletes/dremiel-byers *http://www.army.mil/olympics/2008/bios/byers.html *https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/usa/dremiel+byers/220319 *https://web.archive.org/web/20110902213851/http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=1091/bio/index.html * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byers, Dremiel 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Newark, New Jersey American male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1999 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2007 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of the United States Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program