By Gary Abbott

BATUMI, Georgia – Three-time World champion Eliana Bommarito of Michigan continued to add to her historic legacy in international Beach Wrestling by winning the gold medal at the Over 70 kg weight class at the Beach World Series Batumi in the Batumi Seaside Park in Batumi, Georgia, on Sunday.

This was her U.S. record 10th career gold medal at an individual Beach World Series event. In contrast, only one other U.S. wrestler has won an individual Beach World Series gold medal, Justin Benjamin of Illinois, who claimed gold at 70 kg at Acapulco, Mexico, in 2024.

It was Bommarito’s 12th career Beach World Series individual event medal, with a pair of bronze medals in 2025 to go with her 10 golds. Benjamin is next among U.S. Beach wrestlers with two career Beach World Series medals.

Bommarito went 3-0 in a four-athlete round robin. She won her only match on Sunday, a 3-0 decision over Mariia Zenkina of Ukraine in the final session. On Saturday, she scored a pair of 3-0 wins over regular rivals Stefania Zacheila of Greece and Angelique Gonzalez of France.

To reach her 10 individual event gold medals, Bommarito has won two golds in 2026, two in 2025, four in 2024 and two in 2023. She has won overall Beach World Series gold medals in 2023, 2024 and 2025 by scoring the most points in her weight class during each season. Right now, she is ranked No. 1 in her weight class for the 2026 season after three of the five events.  

Just missing a medal was Daniel Cardenas of Colorado, who placed fourth in the men’s 70 kg weight class. Cardenas had a strong day on Saturday, winning all four of his matches. He won both of his knockout matches against Rodrick Love of the USA to advance to Group A, where he won his first two matches over Diego Makharadze of Georgia and Miljan Rajic of Serbia.

On Sunday, Cardenas was beaten in his final Group A match by Vusal Aliyev of Azerbaijan, 3-0. This placed Cardenas second in Group A, and qualified him for the semifinals, where he lost 4-0 to Ali Mohammed Gholami of Iran, 4-0. In the bronze-medal match, he drew Aliyev once again and lost to the Azerbaijani 4-0 in that match.

Cardenas, who was a college star at Stanford, won a bronze medal at the 2024 Beach World Series Timisoara in Romania at 80 kg. 

Placing fifth at the men’s Over 90 kg weight class was 2024 Beach World bronze medal Kyle Ferriter of Colorado, who finished with a 2-1 record in Group A. Ferritter went 1-1 on Saturday, including a win over Giorgi Chikhradze of Georgia by pin. On Sunday, Ferriter lost to Sayedamirreza Sahraeimahali of Iran, 3-0. Ferriter did not qualify for the semifinals. His only losses were to eventual champion Sahraeimahali and eventual bronze medalist Mamuka Kordzaia of Georgia.

The other U.S. wrestler who placed in the top 10 of his weight class was Rodrick Love of Illinois, who was ninth in men’s 90 kg.

The final two stops on the 2026 Beach World Series will be in Baku, Azerbaijan (August 28-29) and the Beach World Series Final in Katerini, Greece (September 26-27).

Beach World Series Batumi 

At Batumi, Georgia, June 20 

Men’s Medalists 

70 kg 

Gold – Aliakbar Zaroudi (Iran)

Silver – Oleksii Boruta (Ukraine)

Bronze – Davit Partenadze (Georgia)

80 kg 

Gold – Luka Chkhitunidze (Georgia)

Silver – Ali Mohammad Gholami (Iran)

Bronze – Vusal Aliyev (Azerbaijan)  

90 kg 

Gold – Ashraf Ashirov (Azerbaijan)

Silver – Amirhossein Kavousi (Iran)

Bronze – Evsem Shvelidze (Georgia)

Over 90 kg 

Gold – Sayedamirreza Sahraeimahali (Iran)

Silver – Vazha Daiauri (Ukraine)

Bronze – Mamuka Kordzaia (Georgia)

Women’s Medalists 

50 kg 

Gold – Viktoriia Slobodeniuk (Ukraine)

Silver – Ana Maria Rotaru (Romania)

Bronze – Diana Rysova (Ukraine)

60 kg 

Gold – Sofiia Kushnir (Ukraine)

Silver – Lydia Perez Tourino (Spain)

Bronze – Oksana Moskalova (Ukraine)

70 kg 

Gold – Olena Nikitinska (Ukraine)

Silver – Halyna Olekshvska (Ukraine)

Bronze – Masa Perovic (Serbia)

Over 70 kg 

Gold – Eliana Bommarito (USA)

Silver – Mariia Zenkina (Ukraine)

Bronze – Angelique Gonzalez (France) 

U.S. Men’s Results 

80 kg – Daniel Cardenas, Westminster, Colo., 4th place

Knockout – WIN Rodrick Love (USA), pin

Knockout – WIN Rodrick Love (USA), 2-2, 3:00

WIN Diego Makharadze (Georgia), pin

WIN Miljan Rajic (Serbia), 3-1

LOSS Vusal Aliyev (Azerbaijan), 3-0

LOSS Ali Mohammed Gholami (Iran), 4-0

LOSS Vusal Aliyev (Azerbaijan), 4-0

80 kg – Rodrick Love, Springfield, Ill., 9th place

Knockout – LOSS Daniel Cardenas (USA), pin

Knockout – LOSS Daniel Cardenas (USA), 2-2, 3:00

90 kg – Terrence Zaleski, Okatie, S.C., 13th place

Knockout – LOSS Abraham Wojcikewicz (USA), 1-0, 3:00

Knockout – WIN Abraham Wojcikewicz (USA), 3-0

Knockout – LOSS Abraham Wojcikewicz (USA), 2-1, 3:00

90 kg – Abraham Wojcikewicz, Bethalto, Ill., dnp 

Knockout – WIN Terrence Zaleski (USA), 1-0, 3:00

Knockout – LOSS Terrence Zaleski (USA), 3-0

Knockout – WIN Terrence Zaleski (USA), 2-1, 3:00

LOSS Iuza Tsertsvadze (Georgia), 3-1

LOSS Amirhossein Kavousi (Iran), 3-0

LOSS Oleksii Yakovchuk (Ukraine), forfeit

Over 90 kg - Kyle Ferriter, Colorado Springs, Colo., 5th place   

LOSS Mamuka Kordzaia (Georgia), 3-0

WIN Giorgi Chikhradze (Georgia), pin

LOSS Sayedamirreza Sahraeimahali (Iran), 3-0

U.S. Women’s Results  

+70 kg: Eliana Bommarito, East Lansing, Mich., Gold Medal   

WIN Stefania Zacheila (Greece), 3-0

WIN Angelique Gonzalez (France), 3-0

WIN Mariia Zenkina (Ukraine), 3-0