Double gold for Bommarito, who wins women’s U20 Beach World title; U.S. women place third in Romania
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
CONSTANTA, Romania - The historic week for Eliana Bommarito of Michigan continued on Sunday, as she became the first U.S. wrestler to win a U20 Beach World Championships gold medal, with a dominant performance at Over 70 kg on Neversea Beach.
On Friday, Bommarito won a gold medal at the Senior-level Beach World Series Constanta, becoming the first Senior-level U.S. athlete to win a UWW major international beach event. And with her title today, she is the now first U.S. wrestler to own two UWW Beach gold medals. She is also the only U20 Beach wrestler to win a gold medal, with just the third U20 medal ever won by the USA.
Oh, by the way, she won her U20 Beach World gold medal bout by pin in six seconds.
Bommarito won all three of her Group B matches, with 3-0 wins over Katelyn Lewis of the USA and Ionela Cojacaru of Romania, and an injury default over Ambre Cheveau of France. In the semifinals, she beat Taisila Heha of Ukraine, 3-0 in 19 seconds. Her finals win was a rematch with Cojacaru, the six second pin. None of Bommarito’s five matches lasted longer than 22 seconds.
Bommarito won 10 matches without a loss during the week, five in each tournament.
It was the third gold medal of the week for the United States, as Kennedie Snow won a U17 World gold medal at 60 kg.
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.
Earning a spot in a medal match was Maura White of Jefferson, N.J., who was fourth at 70 kg. White was defeated by Paula Rotaru of Romania, 3-0 in the bronze-medal bout. White had a 1-2 record in Group A, but her pin over Valeriia Molodetska of Ukraine in the opening round gave her enough classification points to place second in Group A and advance to the semifinals. She fell to Luciana Beda of Moldova, 3-0 in the semifinals.
The seven-athlete U.S. team placed third in the team standings with 55 points, behind only champion Romania with 85 points and runner-up Ukraine with 62 points. All seven U.S. athletes placed at least in the top eight of their weight class. Overall, the U.S. U20 women secured nine wins during the day.
On the boys’ side, three U.S. athletes competed, with Kane Foley placing sixth at 70 kg, Connor Reese taking eighth at 80 kg and Alejandro Alston finishing ninth at 70 kg. Foley won two of his three Group B matches and placed second in the group, but did not have enough classification points to advance to the semifinals. Alston also scored a victory during the day.
U20 BEACH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Constanta, Romania, September 10
Women's medalists
50 kg
Gold - Nicoleta Bajan (Romania)
Silver - Alexandra Voiculescu (Romania)
Bronze - Yuliia Zasulska (Ukraine)
60 kg
Gold - Sofiia Kushnir (Ukraine)
Silver - Gabriela Cuc (Romania)
Bronze - Sofiia Marchenko (Ukraine)
70 kg
Gold - Luciana Beda (Moldova)
Silver - Viorica Tania Adam (Romania)
Bronze - Paula Rotaru (Romania)
Over 70 kg
Gold - Eliana Bommarito (USA)
Silver - Ionela Cojocaru (Romania)
Bronze - Georgiana Andriessss (Romania)
Men's medalists
70 kg
Gold - Pavel Graur (Moldova)
Silver - Ion Berghi (Moldova)
Bronze - Eusebiu Tiba (Romania)
80 kg
Gold - Nikita Kanevskyi (Ukraine)
Silver - Ion Marcu (Moldova)
Bronze - Ion Laurentiu Marcu (Moldova)
90 kg
Gold - Eugeniu Mihalcean (Moldova)
Silver - Kostiantyn Zadoianchuk (Ukraine)
Bronze - Alexandru Bors (Moldova)
Over 90 kg
Gold - Nicolae Stratulat (Moldova)
Silver - Achilleas Chrysidis (Greece)
Bronze - Rafail Gkirnis (Greece)
United States performances
U20 Women
50kg: Halley Wheeler, Bakersville, N.C., 6th place
LOSS Mirela Racu (Moldova), 3-1, 1:15
LOSS Alexandra Voiculescu (Romania), 3-0, 0:16
60kg: Josephine Wearmouth, Saint Charles, Iowa, 6th place
WIN Sofia Perdiki (Greece), pin, 0:52
LOSS Lilou Dupinay (France), pin, 0:18
LOSS Taylor Colangelo (USA), 2-1, 3:00
60kg: Taylor Colangelo, Peoria, Ariz, 7th place.
LOSS Gabriela Cuc (Romania), 2-1, 3:00
WIN Josephine Wearmouth (USA), 2-1, 3:00
70kg: Kaylee Anderson, Berryville, Va., 8th place
LOSS Paula Rotaru (Romania), 4-2, 0:40
LOSS Luciana Beda (Moldova), 3-1, 0:52
LOSS Teodora Sirbu (Romania), 3-0, 0:28
70kg: Maura White, Jefferson, N.J., 4th place
WIN Valeriia Molodetska (Ukraine), pin, 1:22
LOSS Mathilde Guedon (France), 3-2, 2:28
LOSS Viorica Adam (Romania), 3-0, 0:23
LOSS Luciana Beda (Moldova), 3-0, 0:38
LOSS Paula Rotaru (Romania), 3-0, 0:59
+70kg: Katelyn Lewis, Great Falls, Montana, 6th place
LOSS Eliana Bommarito (USA), 3-0, 0:22
WIN Abre Chevreau (France), pin, 2:06
LOSS Ionela Cojocaru (Romania), 3-1, 2:05
+70kg: Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich., GOLD MEDAL
WIN Katelyn Lewis (USA), 3-0, 0:22
WIN Ionela Cojocaru (Romania), 3-0, 0:18
WIN Ambre Cheveau (France), inj. dft.
WIN Taisila Heha (Ukraine), 3-0, 0:19
WIN Ionela Cojocaru (Romania), pin 0:06
U20 Men
70kg: Kane Foley, New Bern, N.C., 6th place
WIN Alejandro Alston (USA), pin 0:42
LOSS Eusebiu Tiba (Romania), 4-1, 0:55
WIN Artur Velinski (Ukraine), inj. dft
70kg: Alejandro Alston, Raleigh, N.C., 9th place
LOSS Kane Foley (USA), pin 0:42
WIN Artur Velinski (Ukraine), inj. dft, 0:01
LOSS Eusebiu Tiba (Romania), 3-0, 1:06
80kg: Connor Reese, Asheville, N.C., 8th place
LOSS Lyudvig Gunheim Hatland (Norway), 3-2, 2:46
LOSS Ion Marcu (Moldova), 3-0, 0:45
LOSS Constantin Morar (Romania), 3-0, 2:13
Women's Team Standings
1. Romania, 85
2. Ukraine, 62
3. United States, 55
4. Moldova, 41
5. France 38
6. Greece, 6
Men's Team Standings
1. Moldova, 95
2. Ukraione, 57
3. Romania, 43
4. Greece, 36
5. United States, 15
(of seven nations)
UWW U20 Beach World Medals from the USA
(Age-Group World Championships held, 2019-present)
Women
Eliana Bommarito, Brighton, Mich. (2023 U20 Gold at Over 70 kg)
Kristal Betanzo, Hillsborough, Calif. (2019 U20 Bronze at 50 kg)
Men
Thor Michaelson, Bremerton, Wash. (2022 U20 Bronze, 80 kg)