Beat the Streets New York Wrestling alums Sulayman Bah, Alex Semenenko to compete at NCAA Division 1 Championships

The New York City natives will each make their first national tournament appearance.

Beat the Streets New York alums Sulayman Bah and Alex Semenenko will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships for the first time in their respective careers.

Semenenko, a Brown University senior, punched his ticket to nationals with a last-second takedown for a 4-1 semifinal win against Pennsylvania's John Pardo at the Ivy League Wrestling Tournament on Sunday at Levien Gymnasium. In the final, Semenenko fell 8-1 to Columbia's Vincent Mueller to take second place at 285 pounds.

Bah earned an at-large selection at 125 pounds by the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Committee on Tuesday. The Columbia University junior took third place at the Ivy League Wrestling Tournament, one spot short of earning automatic qualification for the national tournament, which will take place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Semenenko started wrestling in the Beat the Streets Junior League program, New York City's only elementary and middle school wrestling league, at David A. Boody Jr. High School in Brooklyn. In high school, he won a Greco-Roman junior national championship, placed third for Poly Prep at the National Prep Wrestling Championships and took second place for Staten Island Tech at the New York Public High School Athletic Association Individual Championship.

Semenenko is also an accomplished judoka as a two-time U.S. Junior World Team member and 2019 Cadet World Team member. He is now competing on the Senior-level, winning two Pan American open titles in 2025.

Bah's wrestling journey also started in the BTS Junior League at M.S. 129 in The Bronx. He continued to participate in BTS programs throughout high school, including in the life-changing BTS Academy program. In high school at The Kiski School, he was two National Prep All-American honors and three-time PAISAA State place winner.

More BTS and NYC success

Semenenko and Bah are two of six BTS and New York City natives competing in the Ivy League this season: Evin Gursoy and Kingston Daniells Silva (both of Columbia), Xavier Giles (Princeton) and Denzel Perez (Pennsylvania).

Gursoy and Giles also competed at the Ivy League conference tournament. Gursoy claimed third place 133 pounds and Giles took fifth at 184 pounds.

(Photos courtesy of Columbia Athletics & Geoff Riccio/Riccio Productions)

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About Beat the Streets New York 

Beat the Streets Wrestling is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the full human and athletic potential of New York City’s urban youth through the sport of wrestling. Beat the Streets has pioneered a movement that now includes 110 individual wrestling programs, a youth league and the first girls high school league. Through wrestling, Beat the Streets instills discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility, and a strong work ethic, creating lifelong impact for more than 4,000 student-athletes while strengthening NYC’s wrestling culture. To learn more and support the mission, visit btsny.org/donate and follow Beat the Streets on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.