The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced that Nebi Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Maryland is the 2024 national winner of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award (TSHSEA).

"I want to thank the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, my teachers and coaches, and my parents,” said Tsarni. “I am grateful and most honored to receive the award named after Tricia Saunders, a great wrestler, coach, and mother. She represents all that I want to be.

First presented in 2014, the TSHSEA is named for Tricia Saunders, a four-time World Champion and women’s wrestling pioneer. Saunders was the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.

The award recognizes and celebrates the nation’s most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.

The daughter of Ruslan and Zalina Tsarni, she will attend the United States Air Force Academy to pursue aerospace engineering and become a pilot.

Tsarni was a three-time Maryland state champion and varsity team captain for Watkins Mill High School. She received the Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Interscholastic Athletics and was named Outstanding Female Wrestler by MCPS.

She won the 144-pound title and was named Outstanding Wrestler at the 2023 Junior Nationals after finishing fourth in 2022 and eighth in 2021.

Tsarni was the 16U Fargo Nationals champion in 2021 and 2022 and a seven-time All-American. Tsarni won the Who’s #1 championship at 144 pounds in 2023 and was the top-ranked wrestler at 144 pounds.

She was a Principal Leadership Council member and founder and creative director of “The Mill,” a school spirt group. Tsarni designed t-shirts, posters, banners and other items pertaining to her school and events.

Tsarni received the Principal Leadership Council Award, the Principal’s Student Engagement Award, and the Principal’s 4.0 GPA Award with a 4.84 GPA. She was also a member of the National Art Honors Society and volunteered as a coach and instructor for girls wrestling across Maryland.

Tricia Saunders HS Excellence Award: Nebi Tsarni

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