Beat the Streets Academy's Oumar Tounkara wins 2024 NHSCA national title

Evin Gursoy and Isabella Lorenzana each earned All-America honors with a top-eight finish.

Oumar Tounkara is a national champion.

The Beat the Streets Academy student-athlete defeated Connor Sheridan 9-3 to secure the 106-pound title in the junior division at the National High School Coaches Association tournament Sunday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Tounkara, who started wrestling in middle school with BTS' Junior League, had two falls and a 4-2 win to advance to the semifinals. Trailing 6-2 three minutes into the match, Tounkara rallied with a fall to punch his ticket to the championship match. He controlled the final match with three takedowns en route to victory.

"When I was down 6-2, I looked at my coaches and they told me I was fine so I decided to dig deep and think about any way possible I could get a pin," Tounkara said.

BTS student-athlete Evin Gursoy earned his second NHSCA All-America honor with a third-place finish in the 113 junior division. Gursoy had four wins before falling 6-3 in the semifinals to eventual champion Bradley Patterson of Georgia. Gursoy bounced back with two wins (5-0, 7-0) to secure third place. He claimed fifth place at the 2023 NHSCA tournament.

BTS Academy student-athlete Isabella Lorenzana showed heart and determination to earn All-America honors with her seventh-place finish. Lorenzana dropped her opening match then secured three falls to claim seventh place.

"After I lost my opening match, I honestly lost all my confidence," Lorenzana said. "After bouncing back with a pin, my confidence started coming back and I knew I could work my way onto the podium."

Nine more BTS student-athletes earned at least one victory at the tournament: Tristan Levin and Kimoni Giles (sophomore); Amin Ibrahim (junior); Amir Avazov, Dean Gray, Dwayne Harris and Timur Beksultan (senior); Carolina Lockard and Leona Gao (girls).

Gursoy (Midwood), Lorenzana (Francis Lewis), Levin (Tottenville), Avazov and Ibrahim (James Madison), Gray and Harris (Grand Street Campus) and Beksultan, Lockard and Gao (Brooklyn Tech) all compete for Public School Athletic League (PSAL) schools in New York City. Giles previously wrestled for PSAL school Eagle Academy before moving to Green Farms Academy. Fellow PSAL student-athletes Nanyeli Encinas (Tottenville) and Jordan Lee (James Madison) also earned at least one win.

Fifteen more BTS/PSAL student-athletes also competed and represented the NYC wrestling community in the tournament.

About Beat the Streets 

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

Beat the Streets works to develop the full human and athletic potential of New York City urban youth and strengthen the city's wrestling culture. Beat the Streets aims 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. For more information about Beat the Streets, visit btsny.org and follow Beat the Streets on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.