Ethan Ramos, a former Tar Heel and now assistant coach at Duke, is making history as the first Carolina wrestler to qualify and compete in the Summer Olympics. Competing in the 87kg Freestyle bracket, Ramos will represent Puerto Rico.
Ramos secured his spot in the 2024 Olympic Games after earning a spot on the podium at the 2024 Pan-Am Olympic Games Qualifiers in Acapulco, Mexico. This achievement marks a milestone as Ramos is the first Tar Heel wrestler to ever qualify for the Olympics. Reflecting on his journey, Ramos shares his mindset going into the competition.
“I think it’s just like any other match,” he says. “I’ve just got to take it one step at a time and not worry about the result. Just worry about what I’ve got to do to make sure that I’m in the best position to win. And then I’ll be alright.”
Ethan Ramos competes with the Tar Heels during the 2018 season. (Photo via Carolina Athletics.)
During his time at UNC from 2013 to 2018, Ramos was a two-time ACC Champion and a 2015 All-American wrestler. He reached a 106-39 record as a Tar Heel while wrestling at 174 pounds. Now, Ramos is in his fourth season as the Wrestling Assistant Coach for Duke University Athletics — making him only the second representative of the Duke wrestling program to compete in the Olympics.
Hailing from Hawthorne, New Jersey, Ramos grew up near a vibrant Puerto Rican community in Patterson. Both sets of his grandparents moved from Puerto Rico to New Jersey in their early twenties, establishing deep roots in the area. Despite many family members eventually relocating to different states, the Puerto Rican culture remained a significant part of Ramos’s upbringing. Now, he continues to visit at least once a year and hopes to go beyond representing the country in the Olympics.
“I started a channel called Koki Wrestling,” Ramos says, “and the idea with that was to try to elevate wrestling on the island of Puerto Rico because, right now, it’s growing, from a standpoint that… me and a couple other guys, we’re here now. We’ve been doing well, and now I think we’re getting more interest.”
Ramos will begin his Olympic action in Paris on Thursday. The full wrestling freestyle schedule can be found here.
The Chapel Hill Media Group is partnering with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media to publish stories reported by students in Paris, France for the 2024 Olympic Games. Ashley Humphrey and Lee Jeffries aretwo of 25 student journalists working under the direction of professor Charlie Tuggle, which are publishing their stories through a variety of North Carolina outlets.
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