Ogunwole had what it took.

“He’s extremely athletic for a 265-pounder,” said Harvard wrestling coach Jay Weiss. “I still think he doesn’t know how good he is or how good he can be.”

Even when Ogunwole had recovery time, it wasn’t always in ideal conditions.

“Usually in the United States they have smoke-free areas set aside for warm ups that are next to the mats for the matches. In Lithuania, people were smoking constantly next to the warm-up mats which made it really hard to warm up,” he said.

Going to the mat with the best young competition in the world was a challenge for Ogunwole, who just missed All-American status at the 2005 NCAAs. But the wrestler said he has his sights set on next season—when he’ll have to adjust back to more endurance-focused American wrestling—rather than the highest ranks of the international circuit.

“He placed third in the world. His confidence level’s gotta be sky high,” Weiss said.

The sky could be the limit—although Ogunwole’s goals aren’t as high-flown.

“Representing the USA was a big honor and it was definitely in the back of my mind throughout the tournament,” Ogunwole wrote, though he added that it isn’t something he plans to make too much a habit of. “I don’t have any Olympic aspirations.”

In the last National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, released in March, Ogunwole was ranked No. 11 in his weight class in NCAA Division I.

“This kinda opens his eyes up a little bit. Winning a national title is definitely in his reach,” Weiss said.

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.