By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling
CONSTANTA, Romania – It was another good day for the United States on Neversea Beach on Saturday.

Kennedie Snow of North Carolina won a gold medal at 60 kg and the three-athlete U.S. girls team won the third-place trophy at the U17 Beach World Championships.

Snow bounced back from a loss in her first Group A match to win three straight matches and capture the gold-medal.

Her opening loss came to Florentina Mantog of Romania, 3-1, but Snow rallied and earned a rematch with Mantog in the gold-medal finals. Snow’s clutch 3-2 finals victory gave her revenge for the earlier loss and placed her on the top of the podium.

After the loss to Mantog, Snow pinned Mariia Tit of Ukraine to place second in Group A and advance to the semifinals. Her 4-0 victory over Diana Kotvytska of Ukraine in the semifinals powered her into the gold-medal round.

Snow became the second gold medalist and sixth overall medalist for the United States at the U17 Beach World Championships. The first gold medalist was Amit Elor of California, who won the 2019 U17 World Beach Championships in the Over 50 kg weight class.

Snow was the second U.S. gold medalist of the weekend, as Eliana Bommarito won a Senior gold medal at Over 70 kg in the Beach World Series on Friday. Bommarito was the first U.S. Senior athlete to win a gold at the UWW World-level Beach event.

Isla June Pyles-Treser of Ohio placed fourth at 50 kg. She also opened with a Group B loss to Diana Voiculescu of Romania by pin, but came back with a pin over Daria Maslova of Ukraine to place second in the group and advance to the semifinals. After losing to Roxana Ungureanu of Romania in the semifinals, Pyles-Treser was beaten by Andreea Chiriac of Romania, 3-0 in the bronze-medal match.

Placing sixth for the USA women was Lilly Reese of North Carolina at 70 kg.

In the girls team standings, Romania won the title with 85 points, followed by Ukraine with 50 points. The United States scored 46 points, which was good for the third-place trophy.

The USA had one entry in the men’s draw, as Kane Foley of North Carolina finished 11th at 70 kg.

The final day of UWW Beach action is on Sunday, with the U20 World Championships. The USA will enter 10 athletes, including seven women and three men in the tournament.

U17 BEACH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Constanta, Romania, Sept. 9-10

Women's medalists

40 kg

Gold - Khrystyna Lytka (Ukraine)

Silver - Andreea Girescu (Romania)

50 kg

Gold - Diana Voiculescu (Romania)

Silver - Roxana Ungureanu (Romania)

Bronze - Andreea Chiriac (Romania)

60 kg

Gold - Kennedie Snow (United States)

Silver - Florentina Mantog (Romania)

Bronze - Diana Kotvytska (Ukraine)

70 kg

Gold - Lise Landouzy (France)

Silver - Ionela Iordan (Romania)

Bronze - Ana Nicoleta Mariorara (Romania)

Men's medalists

50 kg

Gold - Marian Rusu (Romania)

Silver - Alexandru Minea (Romania)

Bronze - Iordan Apostolache (Romania)

60 kg

Gold - Bernardo Szilagyi (Romania)

Silver - Artem Martiushev (Ukraine)

Bronze - Gabriel Florin Mihalcea (Romania)

70 kg

Gold - Denis Gil (Spani)

Silver - Maksym Rudenko (Ukraine)

Bronze - Vlad Erhan (Moldova)

80 kg

Gold - Alexandru Bors (Moldova)

Silver - Ion Tofan (Moldova)

Bronze - Haik Michel Sargsyan (France)

United States performances

USA U17 Women

50kg: Isla June Pyles-Treser, Dayton, Ohio, 4rh place

LOSS Diana Voiculescu (Romania), pin 0:04

WIN Daria Maslova (Ukraine), pin 0:41

LOSS Roxana Ungureanu (Romania), pin 9:48

LOSS Andreea Chiriac (Romania), 3-0, 0:26

60kg: Kennedie Snow, Havelock, N.C, GOLD MEDAL

LOSS Florentina Mantog (Romania), 3-1, 2:53

WIN Mariia Tit (Ukraine), pin 1:35

WIN Diana Kotvytska (Ukraine), 4-0, 1:07

WIN Florentina Mantog (Romania), 3-2, 1:09

70kg: Lilly Reese, Asheville, N.C., 6th place

LOSS Nusa Majer (Slovenia), 3-0, 0:47

LOSS Lise Landouzy (France), 3-0, 0:30

USA U17 Men

70kg: Kane Foley, New Bern, N.C., 11th place

LOSS Denis Gil (Spain), 3-1, 0:58

LOSS Ionut Triboii (Moldova), 3-1, 1:13

LOSS Stefanos Georgoulis (Greece), pin 0:25

Women’s Team Standings

1. Romania, 85

2. Ukraine, 50

3. United States, 46

4. France, 25

5. Slovenia, 12

Men’s Team Standings

1. Romania, 72

2. Ukraine, 52

3. Moldova, 44

4. France, 39

5. Spain, 25

Note: USA placed eighth with 0 points.

UWW U17 Beach World Medals from the USA

(Age-Group World Championships held, 2019-present)

Women

Amit Elor, Walnut Creek, Calif. (2019 U17 Gold at Over 50 kg)

Kennedy Snow, Havelock, N.C. (2023 U17 Gold, 60 kg

Alessandra Elliott, Staten Island, N.Y. (2022 U17 Silver, 60 kg)

Ciara Riner, Huntington, W.Va. (2022 U17 Bronze, 60 kg)

Men

Caspian Grabowski, Pacifica, Calif. (2019 U17 Worlds, Bronze at Over 70 kg)

Lars Michaelson, Bremerton, Wash. (2022 U17 Bronze, 80 kg)