A homeschooled wrestler training out of a Miami club just gave Colombia something it hadn't had in 43 years: a U17 world wrestling champion. Jovanni Tovar, who competes for Miami Southridge High School under Florida's home-education athletics law, won the 55 kg freestyle gold medal at the 2026 U17 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, capping a run in which he outscored five opponents by a combined 37-1.
Tovar's path to Baku started with a rejection. According to WSVN 7News, Tovar tried out for the USA team but was not selected, and he has said he chose to pursue his path with Colombia after being turned down. Colombia went on to select him for its national wrestling team, and the decision paid off in the biggest way possible: per United World Wrestling, Tovar became just the second Colombian wrestler in history to win a U17 world gold medal, following Luis Palomino's 62 kg title in 1983.
The international wrestling body's transfer rules make that kind of shift possible for athletes with dual eligibility. Regulations allow dual-national wrestlers to change their sporting nationality to represent a new country, though federations are restricted to one nationality transfer per age category per year, according to research published by Cambridge University Press.
A Dominant Run Through the Bracket in Baku
Tovar's five-match sweep in Baku wasn't close. He capped the tournament on August 1 by beating Uzbekistan's Jakhongir Tulkunov 11-0 by technical superiority in the gold-medal match, the world wrestling governing body's report shows. A day earlier, in the semifinals, he shut out USA Wrestling's own Chase Karenbauer 10-0, a result detailed by USA Wrestling, which noted Karenbauer had advanced through three matches before running into Tovar.
The gold came a year after disappointment at the same tournament. Tovar finished fifth in the same 55 kg weight class at the 2025 U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece, losing in the quarterfinals and the bronze-medal bout, the world wrestling body's report states. He has said every practice must be 100 percent to achieve his goals, per WSVN, and he credits self-belief along with high-level training for the eventual victory. He prepared for the 2026 world championships for six months, according to the outlet.
Elite Numbers Back in Miami
Back home, Tovar's high school résumé backs up the international hardware. Competing for Miami Southridge High School during the 2025-2026 season, he compiled a 60-4 overall record with an 87% bonus-point win percentage and a #6 national ranking in his weight class, according to the Li'l Abner Foundation. The same organization notes Tovar had already banked a silver medal at the U17 Pan-American Wrestling Championships while representing Colombia, building his international résumé before Baku.
Tovar trains at a Miami wrestling club affiliated with the Li'l Abner Foundation, per WSVN, which reports many of the club's athletes are homeschooled and compete across the United States and around the world year-round. Founded in 2009 by Raul F. Rodriguez in Sweetwater, Florida, the nonprofit provides educational, tutoring, and athletic programs to more than 20,000 local residents, including support for the Miami Wrestling Club.
How Homeschoolers Land on Public School Rosters
Tovar's ability to wrestle for Miami Southridge while being homeschooled traces back to Florida Statute § 1006.15, widely known as the Tim Tebow Law. Under that statute, home-educated students may participate in interscholastic sports at public schools in their district by registering intent through FHSAA Form EL7 while maintaining academic standards, according to the Florida Senate.
Tovar isn't the only South Florida wrestler finding gold under a foreign flag this summer. Florida wrestler Jovani Solis also earned a bronze medal in the 65 kg freestyle category at the same Baku tournament while competing for Puerto Rico, according to FloWrestling, which places both results within a broader trend of South Florida high schoolers training locally while representing Latin American delegations internationally.
Family and Future Plans
Tovar's father, who is part of his coaching team, has said wrestling rewards the effort athletes put into it and that he helps children work toward their goals and dreams, according to WSVN. Tovar himself has said he hopes his championship motivates younger athletes to train hard every day, and he values experiencing different cultures and food while traveling to tournaments with his teammates around the world.
Looking ahead, Tovar plans to remain undefeated this season, win another state championship, and compete in national tournaments and other major upcoming events, per the outlet's reporting. For a wrestler who was left off one national team only to become a world champion for another, the next stretch of his season will be watched closely both in Miami and internationally.
