Beat the Streets' Oumar Tounkara takes 8th place at USA Wrestling National Championships

The Bronx native secured All-America honors in the junior freestyle division.

Oumar Tounkara took eighth place to earn All-American honors in the junior freestyle division Wednesday at the 2024 USA Wrestling Junior and 16U National Championships at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

Tounkara, who is part of the BTS Academy program, scored three wins to start the tournament before falling in the round of 16. The Bronx native and soon-to-be high school senior rebounded with a 38-second fall and a first-period technical fall to secure All-American honors. He then fell in his next two matches for eighth place.

It is the second time this year Tounkara has placed at a national tournament after he won a national title in folkstyle at the National High School Coaches Association tournament in April.

Tounkara nearly earned double All-America status, falling one win short of claiming a top-eight finish in Greco-Roman. He went 4-2, with one fall and three technical falls.

Tounkara started wrestling with the BTS Junior League, New York City's only middle school wrestling league, at M.S. 129 in The Bronx. He now attends New York Military Academy.

Firdavs Ahmadzoda, who is also part of the BTS Academy, claimed one victory in the junior freestyle division. BTS Junior League alums Kingston Daniells Silva, and brothers Kimoni and Xavier Giles also competed in the tournament. Daniells Silva had one win, while Kimoni and Xaiver each had two. Kimoni competed in the 16U division.

In Greco-Roman, Xavier and Daniells Silva each fell one victory short of earning a top-eight finish for All-America status. Xavier had four wins, while Daniells Silva had three. Kimoni claimed two victories. Ahmadzoda and Bilali Assoumanou, who is also a BTS Academy student-athlete, each picked up a win.

BTS Academy student-athletes Isabella Lorenzana, Siri Hyde and Marielys Lugo Fernandez competed in the girls freestyle division.

Lorenzana led the trio by going 3-2 and falling one victory shy of earning All-American honors with a top-eight finish. Lorenzana made tremendous strides on the mat this past year after she went 1-2 at last year's national tournament.

While Hyde and Lugo Fernandez did not earn a win, they both enjoyed the opportunity to compete in the tournament and traveled to a new part of the country.

Since being founded in 2005, Beat the Streets New York has pioneered a movement that now includes 150 individual wrestling programs, a youth league and the first girls high school league.

BTSNY works to develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and strengthen the New York City wrestling culture. We aim to make a lifelong impact on student-athletes through the lessons learned on the wrestling mat -- discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility and a strong work ethic. Discover how you can make a meaningful contribution to our work at btsny.org/donate.