Thursday, 29 February, 2024… Here we are, entering the collegiate post-season, with important events scattered throughout American cold-weather venues. Yet, I find myself headed to the beach in Acapulco. Tough life !

United World Wrestling’s fifth World Series of Beach Wrestling begins early in 2024. Mexico, the host nation for this kick-off event, bundled the World Series opener with their Pan American Championship and Olympic Qualifiers.

There’s a huge upside to this. And… yeah… there’s a bit of a downside. The upside is that our hemisphere is hosting another World Series event, and we’re inching ever northward. Buenos Aires hosted the 2023 kick off, last May. Brazil hosted one in 2019.

UWW keeps hoping we will host a Beach World Series event in the United States, and we were close this year. With all the media rights involved, this is a very expensive proposition. Attention, all ‘Sugar Daddies / Mama’s’ out there: Beach Wrestling is a reasonably secure mid-range investment!

Mexico is clever to attach this World Series event to the tail end of their indoor Championship. They already have all the infrastructure activated and are able to provide more opportunity to attract and develop their next generation of wrestlers. They also tap into the ‘Almost Spring Break’ tourist population, offering the excitement of Wrestling on the beauty of their beach.

That tiny downside I made reference to is innate to the global view of the term “Wrestling.” The majority of wrestling nations see us as a Summer sport. Most developing wrestlers train in clubs, as sport is generally not combined with school. Therefore, it makes sense to kick off our seasons this time of year.

Many of our international counterparts simply cannot fathom the magnitude, nor the significance, of the American scholastic season. In Acapulco, there will be lots of questions, “Why”, regarding the absence of many American Beach stars.

The face of American Beach Wrestling 2023 is Eliana Bommarito, our first World Series champion. We’ll have to explain to them that Eliana’s Junior College National Championship is this weekend !

Bommarito is just one face missing from the beach, because they are competing with collegiate teams (or just finished their high school season). As we progress toward Summer World Series events (France, Greece, Romania) you’ll see many age-group Americans make a splash (Yes… pun intended !)

Credit to the four American men who are making the trip south. Mike Clark (70kg) has been a mainstay, both domestically and abroad, for nearly a decade. Our big guy, Kyle Ferriter, kicked up some sand at the 2023 Beach Nationals. (There’s that pun, again !)

Justin Benjamin made a strong impression at 70kg, during our 2023 campaign. Ty Loethen scrapped his way to a 2023 World Series Bronze paycheck at 80kg. Look for Team USA to open the season with some big points (accumulated through the summer, towards the finale).

I also want to credit the two American referees traveling to Acapulco. Tod Blank is from the wrestling rich area around Concord, Walnut Creek, California. Tod has really pushed the pace, developing local, state and national Beach Wrestling events in the Golden State. It’s a treat to see Tod get his due.

Paul Krugel is from Ohio. A successful, long-time referee, on the mat, Paul tried Beach Wrestling in Buenos Aires last year. It’s really validating to see another veteran official find the value in our sport’s outdoor offering.

Team Leader Timmy Box, head coach at Palomar in southern California is the next generation of life-blood in American Beach Wrestling. Himself a Beach World Silver Medalist, not to mention successful at the D1 level (Northern Colorado), Coach Box utilizes this outdoor component in new paradigm thinking, as he recruits and develops Junior College talent.

OK… it’s Thursday afternoon. After I find a place o sleep in the Mexico City Airport, I’ll catch a Friday morning flight into Acapulco. We’ll get together to cheer our American Freestylers toward Olympic qualification, and I’ll get you a heads up what to expect from us on Saturday.

Ciao

Beach World Series Blog: Justin Benjamin’s gold makes us say WOW!

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