Saturday, 20 July, 2024… Day One of this third stop in UWW’s Beach Wrestling World Series in in the books. Team USA had a great day !

That doesn’t mean everything was perfect or easy. Any great day, in wrestling, has some of this and some of that.

Gary Abbott and Richard Immel are going to publish detailed results. Mine is to offer the onsite color commentary.

On the day, we went 11 and five. Our five losses include two, in matches versus another American. We’ve got three guys in the Men’s 90+ category. Their points earnings, over the last two years of series events, forced all three into the same pool. This proverbial “Luck of the Draw” sort of bit us.

Nick Stemmet, one of our Trio of Cardinals, looks like he’s on his way to the elimination rounds. He will face the first-ever Syrian representative tomorrow morning.

One highlight for Team USA came at 80kg in tonight’s second round. Daniel Cardenas launched his Romanian opponent in what we all now as “The Logo Throw.” Take a look at USA Wrestling’s time honored centerpiece. Yup… THAT THROW !

You can vote for the event’s BEST TECHNIQUE. This award is chosen, based on quantity of ‘Like’ on Instagram.

Voting will open Sunday, at 3:00am Central Time and close at 8:00am. I’m hustling you to set an alarm and vote ! This award comes with a pretty healthy paycheck !

In other news… I’m taking the chance to brag a little about Mitch Brown. This young man is a perfect addition to the program USA Wrestling’s Beach contingent has built.

Mitch is a Utah boy, steeped in the Greco tradition the state has built. After a year with Coach Barber at Air Force, Mitch finished his collegiate career at Utah Valley.

He has since become active in the United States Air Force, where he is a member of their WCAP program. A successful Greco-Roman team member, Mitch has chosen to broaden his scope to include Beach Wrestling.

Mitch had his first international Beach Wrestling experience last month in France. It was an experience he described to me as, “Less than spectacular”.

From what I saw today, Airman First Class Brown went back to the States to study. Mitch wrestled well, against solid opponents, and split in today’s first two rounds.

Congrats to Mitch’s chain of command, for granting him the ability to pay his own way to these events. Congrats to him for asking !

Friday, 19 July, 2024… I want to continue my theme of wrestling’s contribution to human potential and human contribution to wrestling’s potential. The United States has watched some great humans develop, with Beach Wrestling in their toolboxes.

Folks like Ike Okoli, Michael Peters, Shauna Kemp, Gabe Beauperthuy, Timmy Box… just to name a few… have leveraged their success in the sand into successful careers that include service to community and sport. All of these life-champions added their Beach Wrestling Adventures to shape their views of what success really offers and demands.

Eliana Bommarito, America’s newest Beach hero, is currently on that rocket ride. Eliana won her first World Title (U20), just under a year ago. That event, also in Romania, was about a ten-hour drive from Timisoara, in Constanta.

The way Eli reacted to her success won the hearts of Romanians and wrestling fans everywhere. Barely 19 years old, at the time, she showed a grace and dignity all of us should envy.

I watched Eliana take the time to pose for pictures with admirers, long after other champions of the day were deep into the post event meal and celebration. She signed autographs for children, parents, grandparents and then danced to Romanian folksongs until the DJ finally had to pack up to leave.

Eliana Bommarito is a champion’s Champion. She’s got an easy sense of “Class” about her. We’ve already been swarmed with athletes, team leaders, and fans asking when “The Big Girl” will arrive.

Good news… “The Big Girl” is here! As a matter of fact, we’ve got all but two Americans in. One of our Heavyweights, Gabe Rangel, got caught in the global IT glitch. Gabe’s afternoon flight to Timisoara was cancelled.

After some heavy anxiety and creative negotiation, Gabe did get on a late-night flight. Team Leader, Ed Duncan was also delayed in Munich, so he will be in late tonight, as well.

I’m pretty picky about my list of heroes. But, all our American Beach Wrestling pioneers… past, present, future… are automatic entries on my list. They magically blend intensity, adventure, and plain old fun into the sauce that flavors mankind’s oldest sport. For that, I am forever grateful.

Ciao

Beach World Series Romania blog: Let’s celebrate! U.S. Beach Wrestling has truly arrived

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