Eliana Bommarito is named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Eliana Bommarito (Brighton, Mich./Michigan Revolution) has been named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week on October 18, 2023.
Bommarito won a gold medal at Over 70 kg at the Beach World Series Mugla in Turkey. It was the second straight Beach World Series gold medal won by Bommarito, who was also the champion at the Beach World Series Constanta in Romania last month.
She won five straight matches on the way to her victory. In her pool competition, Bommarito defeated Isabeau Shalack of the USA by pin in 51 seconds, then stopped Liudmyla Pavlovets Tychyna of Ukraine, 3-0 and Stefania Zacheila of Greece, 3-1. In the semifinals, Bommarito pinned Aikaterini Pitsiava of Greece in nine seconds. In the finals, in a rematch with Liudmyla Pavlovets Tychyna of Ukraine, Bommarito scored a 3-2 decision.
Bommarito became the first American athlete to be declared a Senior Beach World champion, after a powerful performance in the entire 2023 Beach World Series season.
Each year, United World Wrestling declares a Beach World Champion in each of the eight Senior weight classes, based upon points scored during the five-event World Series. At Over 70 kg, Bommarito scored 55,800 points during the World Series, edging silver medalist Liudmyla Pavlovets Tychyna of Ukraine with 54,500 points and bronze medalist Catalina Axente of Romania with 49,000 points. In addition to her two World Series gold medals, Bommarito placed fourth at the Beach World Series in Buenos Aires, Argentina in May.
A native of Brighton, Mich., Bommarito was a 2023 U.S. Senior Beach Nationals champion. She was an NJCAA national champion for Indian Hills CC last year. Bommarito won two Junior National freestyle titles while in high school.
To nominate a wrestler for this honor please email the athlete's name, wrestling program, weekly accomplishments, and career accolades to communications@usawrestling.org.