Bommarito wins gold, Ferriter takes fourth at Beach World Series in Greece

KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece – Eliana Bommarito, the greatest Beach wrestler in USA Wrestling history, added to her legacy with a gold medal at the Beach World Series Katerini-Pierria on Sunday. This was the fourth stop of the five-event UWW Senior Beach World Series in 2024.

Bommarito, a 2023 Beach World champion based upon her results in the Beach World Series events last season, has dominated her opposition over the last year but had to overcome adversity and avenge two losses from this weekend in order to reach the top of the podium.

On Saturday, Bommarito lost her first Group A match, falling to 2024 Olympian Catalina Axente of Romania by pin in 18 seconds. Bommarito has a number of previous wins over Axente on the Beach tour. In the second group match, she stopped Stefania Zacheila of Greece, 3-0.

Sunday morning, in her final group match, Bommarito faced Daria Konstantynova of Ukraine, who defeated Bommarito in the semifinals of the U20 Beach World Championships on Friday. Bommarito avenged that loss with a pin in 33 seconds, which qualified her for the semifinals. She continued on a roll in the second session, beating Iryna Pasichnyk of Ukraine, 3-1 in the semifinals, to earn a rematch with Axente in the gold-medal bout.

In the finals, the match went back and forth with step outs, with each of the wrestlers scoring a pair of one point moves to tie the bout at 2-2. Bommarito locked up double overhooks to press the action, and Axente went for an attack. Bommarito hit a hip toss from the double overs to toss Axente to her back for the victory by fall in 1:38.

Bommarito has won five career Beach World Series gold medals, with 2023 victories in Turkey and Romania, and 2024 wins in France, Romania and now in Greece

Bommarito looks to be in excellent shape to repeat as Beach World champion, as she entered the event in Greece ranked No. 1 at her weight class, and added more points to her total with her gold medal in Greece. There is one Beach World Series event remaining in Porec, Croatia, the Beach World Series Final, set for October 12-13. Bommarito is scheduled to compete in Croatia.

The U.S. women’s team  won the third-place team trophy with 39 points, behind champion Ukraine with 85 points and runner-up Romania with 57 points. The USA picked up team points with Mia Macaluso placing seventh at 60 kg and Kaylee Anderson’s eighth place at 70 kg,

The other U.S. athlete who advanced from the group competition and qualified for a medal match was Kyle Ferriter of Colorado, who placed fourth in the men’s Over 90 kg weight class.

Ferriter went 2-0 on Saturday in Group C. On Sunday morning, he won Group C with a 2-1 victory over Masayuki Amano of Japan. In the semifinals, he dropped a 3-0 decision to Vazha Daiauri of Ukraine. In the gold-medal finals, Ferriter was unable to get a consistent attack going against Oleksandr Veresiuk of Ukraine, who scored three different times to defeat Ferriter, 3-1.

Ferriter is one of only eight U.S. men to win a medal at a Beach World Series, taking a bronze earlier this season in the tour stop in Saint Laurent du Var, France.

The United States men, which had three other athletes placing in the top 10 of their weight class, finished eighth in the men’s team standing. Winning trophies were champion Ukraine, runner-up Turkiye and third-place Azerbaijan.

BEACH WORLD SERIES KATERINI-PIERRIA

At Katerini-Pierria, Greece, September 21-22

Women’s Beach medalists

50 kg

Gold - Ana Maria Pirvu (Romania)

Silver - Viktoriia Slobodeniuk (Ukraine)

Bronze - Justine Fanny Vigouroux (France)

60 kg

Gold - Sofiia Kushnir (Ukraine)

Silver - Sofiia Bordinskykh (Ukraine)

Bronze - Anastasiya Kravchenko (Ukraine)

70 kg

Gold - Oksana Herhel (Ukraine)

Silver - Olena Nikitinska (Ukraine)

Bronze - Dimitra Androutsou (Greece)

Over 70 kg

Gold - Eliana Bommarito (USA)

Silver - Catalina Axente (Romania)

Bronze - Liudmyla Pavolets Tychyna (Ukraine)

U.S. Senior Women Beach World Series roster

60 kg: Mia Macaluso, Otisville, N.Y., 7^th place

WIN Christina Papadopoulous (Greece), 3-0, 0:53

WIN Lilou Louis Dupinay (France), 2-1, 3:00

LOSS Francesca Indelicato (Italy), 3-0, 1:41

LOSS Sofiia Kushnir (Ukraine), 3-0, 1:17

60 kg: Rebecca Mathewson, Hillsborough, N.C., 9^th place

WIN Evangelia Kazala (Greece), 3-1, 1:06

LOSS Gabriela Cuc (Romania), pin, 0:15

LOSS Elena Ionescu (Romania), 3-0, 1:09

LOSS Anastasiya Kravchenko (Ukraine), pin, 0:16

60 kg: Maura White, Jefferson, N.J., 10^th place

WIN Lydia Kanellopoulou (Greece), inj.

LOSS Mihaela Ciric (Slovenia), 2-1, 2:58

LOSS Sofiia Bordinskykh (Ukraine), 3-0, 1:12

70 kg: Kaylee Anderson, Berryville, Va., 8^th place

LOSS Dimitra Androutsou (Greece), 3-2, 2:01

LOSS Viktoriia Hrytsenko (Ukraine), 4-0, 0:27

LOSS Oksana Herhel (Ukraine), pin 0:24

Over 70 kg: Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich., gold medal

LOSS Catalina Axente (Romania), pin 0:18

WIN Stefania Zacheila (Greece), 3-0, 0:50

WIN Daria Konstantynova (Ukraine), pin, 0:33

WIN Iryna Pasichnyk (Ukraine), 3-1, 0:52

WIN Catalina Axente (Romania), pin 1:38

Women’s Beach Standings

1. Ukraine, 85

2. Romania, 57

3. United States, 39

4. France, 36

5. Greece, 32

6. Slovenia, 18

7. Germany, 10

7. Italy, 10

8. Argentina, 6

Men’s Beach medalists

70 kg

Gold - Yunus Coskun (Turkey)

Silver - Valentin Seimetz (Germany)

Bronze - Oleksii Boruta (Ukraine)

80 kg

Gold - Vasile Diacon (Moldova)

Silver - Gigi Subtirica (Romania)

Bronze - Ramiz Hasanov (Azerbaijan)

90 kg

Gold - Ibrahim Yusubov (Azerbaijan)

Silver - Mahmut Ozkaya (Turkey)

Bronze - Alexandru Bors (Moldova)

U.S. Senior Men’s Beach World Series results

70 kg: Justin Benjamin, St. Charles, Ill., 8^th place

LOSS Oleksii Boruta (Ukraine), pin 2:58

LOSS Daniel Sandu (Romania), pin 1:31

LOSS Valentin Seimetz (Germany), 3-0, 1:56

80 kg: Ty Loethen, Columbia, Mo., 8^th place

LOSS Ramiz Hasanov (Azerbaijan), 3-0, 0:49

LOSS Maksym Bres (Ukraine), pin, 0:47

WIN Alexandros Spiliotis (Greece), 3-0, 0:52

80 kg: Mike Clark, Louisville, Ky., 11^th place

LOSS Georgios Kapoglu (Greece), 3-1, 1:13

LOSS Vasile Diacon (Moldova), 3-0, 1:04

LOSS Christos Christoforidis (Greece), 3-1, 1:24

80 kg: Rodrick Love, Springfield, Ill., 14^th place

LOSS Alexandros Spiliotis (Greece), 1-0, 3:00

90 kg: Jamal Morris, Miami, Fla., 10^th place

LOSS Christos Samartsidis (Greece), 3-0, 1:55

LOSS Mahumt Seyfi Ozkaya (Turkiye), 3-1, 2:41

LOSS Traian Capatina (Moldova), 3-1, 2:02

Over 90 kg: Kyle Ferriter, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4^th place

WIN Gabriel Rangel (USA), 3-1, 1:39

WIN Dominic Porter (USA), 3-0, 0:48

WIN Masayuki Amano (Japan), 2-1, 3:00

LOSS Vazha Daiauri (Ukraine), 3-0, 2:46

WIN Oleksandr Veresiuk (Ukraine), 3-1

Over 90 kg: Gabriel Rangel, Moline, Ill., 10^th place

LOSS Kyle Ferriter (USA), 3-1, 1:39

LOSS Masayuki Amano (Japan), 3-0, 1:10

LOSS Dominic Porter (USA), 3-1, 0:43

Over 90 kg: Dominic Porter, Carson City, Nev. , 8^th place

LOSS Masayuki Amano (Japan), 3-0, 2:01

LOSS Kyle Ferriter (USA), 3-0, 0:48

WIN Gabriel Rangel (USA),3-1, 0:43

Men’s Beach Standings

1. Ukraine, 57

2. Turkiye, 55

3. Azerbaijan, 40

3. Moldova, 40

5. Georgia, 39

6. Romania, 30

7. Greece, 28

8. United States, 26

9. Germany, 24

10. France, 24

11. Japan, 9

12. Italy, 0

12. Serbia, 0

UWW Senior Beach World Series Medals from the USA

(Beach World Series held 2019-present)

Men

Justin Benjamin, St. Charles, Ill. (2024 Gold at 70 kg, Acapulco, Mexico)

Tim Box, Oceanside, Calif. (2019 Silver at 70 kg, Odessa, Ukraine)

Daniel Cardenas, Arvada, Colo (2024 Silver at 80 kg, Timisoara, Romania)

Reece Humphrey, Princeton, N.J. (2019 Bronze at 70 kg, Rio de Janiero, Brazil)

Michael Peters, Quincy, Ill. (2019 Bronze at 70 kg, Zagreb, Croatia)

Tyson Beauperthuy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2023 Bronze at 90 kg, Constanta, Romania)

Kyle Ferriter, Colorado Springs, Colo. (2024 Bronze at Over 90 kg, Saint Laurent du Var, France)

Nikolas Stemmet, Yorkville, Ill. (2024 Bronze at Over 90 kg, Timisoara, Romania)

Women

Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich. (2023 Gold at Over 70 kg, Mugla, Turkey)

Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich. (2023 Gold at Over 70 kg, Constanta, Romania)

Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich.(2024 Gold at Over 70 kg, Saint Laurent du Var, France)

Eliana Bommarito, Brighton Mich. (2024 Gold at Over 70 kg, Timisoara, Romania)

Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich. (2024 Gold at Over 70 kg, Katerini-Pierria, Greece)

Laura White, Duanesburg, N.Y. (2022 Bronze at 50 kg, Saint Laurent du Var, France)

Kristal Betanzo, Hillsborough, Calif. (2019 Silver at 50 kg, Zagreb, Croatia)

Diana Betanzo, Hillsborough, Calif. (2019 Silver at 70 kg, Zagreb, Croatia)

Mariah Anderson, Houston, Texas (2024 Silver at 50 kg, Saint Laurent du Var, France)