Bommarito, Shalack, Martinez lead U.S. with wins on day one of Beach World Series finale

MUGLA, Turkey – The U.S. saw a tough start to the Beach World Series Final on Sarigerme Beach in Mugla, Turkey, Saturday as Martinez, Bommarito and Shalack were the only wrestlers to pick up wins in the first rounds of the event.

All four men’s Beach wrestlers fell in rounds one and two on the first day of action. Justin Benjamin of Illinois (70 kg) faced Iran’s Gholamreza Abdollahpour in the knock out round on day one. Benjamin was forced out of the ring, giving Abdollahpour a 1-0 lead with 1:33 left in the match which proved to be the decider.

Mitch Cook of Illinois (No. 9 at 70 kg men) faced Iran’s Abdollahpour, dropping a 2-0 match in the first round. Cook faced Georgia’s Levan Keleksashvili in round two, falling 2-1.

Ty Loethen of Missouri (No. 5 at 80 kg men) faced Turkey’s Muhammed Akden in round one, with Adken claiming the 2-0 win. In round two, Loethen dropped the match to Turkey’s Mehmet Dasdemir 4-0 after a hard fought bout.

Wayne Lamont of New York dropped his first round match to Iran’s Hossein Abbaspourreikandeh, 3-0. In the second round, Lamont was defeated by France’s Hugo Cuenot in a 3-0 bout.

Gabriel Rangel (Over 90 kg men) wrestled in his Senior Beach World series event. Rangel fell to Turkey’s Efe Al in round one and Azerbaijan’s Oyan Nazariani.

Jennesis Martinez (50 kg women) won her round one bout at her first Senior Beach World series event. The match saw an even 1-1 score throughout, but a one-point move by Martinez that put Argentina’s Claudia Cabrera on her back gave her the 2-1 lead with three seconds remaining for the win. In round two, Martinez was bested by Argentina’s Maia Cabrera, 3-0.

Isabeau Shalack (No. 7 at Over 70kg women) and Eliana Bommarito (No. 11 at Over 70kg women) faced each other in round one, with Bommarito capturing the win. In round two, both women won their bouts as Shalack defeated Greece’s Stefania Zacheila and Bommarito bested Ukraine’s Liudmyla Tychyna.

The action resumes Sunday with the continuation of group rounds, beginning at 10 a.m. local time in Mugla. Elimination rounds and finals will follow and are slated to begin at 3 p.m.

This is the final event of the Beach World Series season, and athletes who compete in the final will score four-times the number of points in the final Beach World Series rankings. Based upon points scored throughout the season, World Champions will be determined in each of the eight Beach wrestling weights (four for women and four for men). United World Wrestling provides prize money at the end of the season based upon the Beach World Series rankings.

Mugla is seven hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone. The event will be broadcast live by FloWrestling.

BEACH WORLD SERIES FINAL

At Mugla, Turkey, October 14-15

Event Schedule

(Seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone)

Saturday, October 14

10:00 a.m. – Group Rounds

3:00 p.m. – Group Rounds

Sunday, October 15

10:00 a.m. – Group Rounds

3:00 p.m. – Elimination rounds and finals