By Gary Abbott
USA Wrestling

The U.S. will send a delegation of five wrestlers, three men and two women, to compete in the Beach World Series Porec at the Zelena Laguna Resort in Porec, Croatia, May 30-31. This is the second stop of the five-event Senior Beach World Series for 2026.

Three-time World champion Eliana Bommarito, who was the Michigan winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award in 2022, will be competing in Porec in the Over 70 kg division. She scored the most points in the Beach World Series standings at her weight class each of those three seasons. This will be her first Beach World Series event of the 2026 season.

During the last three years, Bommarito has won eight gold medals at individual Beach World Series events, two in 2025, four in 2024 and two in 2023. She has also won two age-group Beach World Championships medals, a U20 World gold in 2023 and a U20 World silver in 2024. Last year, Bommarito won a bronze medal in a Beach World Series event in Porec.

Competing at 70 kg in men’s Beach wrestling is Justin Benjamin, who became the first U.S. man to win an individual Beach World Series event, when he won gold at Beach World Series Acapulco in Mexico in 2024. He also added a silver medal at Beach World Series Monterrey in Mexico in 2025. Benjamin barely missed winning a Beach World medal in 2024, when he placed fourth in the final standings at 70 kg.

Two other athletes on the tour have previous Senior Beach World Series experience: Rodrick Love at men’s 80 kg and Sadie Evans at women’s 70 kg. The final athlete on the trip is Keenan Graef at men’s 80 kg, who will be competing on his first Senior Beach World Series team.

Love was fourth in Beach World Series Porec in 2025 and was also seventh in Beach World Series Monterrey last year. Evans was sixth in Beach World Series Porec in 2025 and 11th at Beach World Series Katerini in Greece last season. Evans was a U17 Beach World bronze medalist in 2024.

In the recently completed Carolina Beach Nationals in Carolina Beach, N.C., earlier this month, Benjamin won a gold medal at 70 kg and Graef won a bronze medal at 80 kg.

Beach World Series Porec will be broadcast live by FloWrestling. Session times each day are 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. local time. Porec is six hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone.

There will be two rounds of Group competition on Saturday. Sunday morning will feature the final round of Group competition, with the elimination rounds and finals in the afternoon session.

The first Beach World Series stop in 2026 was in Da Nang, Vietnam, May 9-10, and only one U.S. athlete competed, Stanford student-athlete Lain Yapoujian. After Porec, the final three stops on the 2026 Beach World Series will be in Batumi, Georgia (June 20-21), Baku, Azerbaijan (August 28-29) and the Beach World Series Final in Katerini, Greece (September 26-27).

Beach World Series Porec 

At Porec, Croatia, May 30-31 

U.S. Men’s Roster  

70 kg – Justin Benjamin, St. Charles, Ill.

80 kg – Keenan Graef, Overland Park, Kansas

80 kg – Rodrick Love, Springfield, Ill.

U.S. Women’s Roster  

70 kg – Sadie Evans, Belfair, Wash.

+70 kg: Elianna Bommarito, Brighton, Mich.   

Referee: Tod Blank, Brentwood, Calif.

U.S. Team Coach: Tim Box, Oceanside, Calif.  

Event Schedule 

Saturday, May 30 

10:00 a.m. – Group Rounds

5:00 p.m. – Group Rounds

Sunday, May 31 

10:00 a.m. – Group Rounds

5:00 p.m. – Elimination Rounds and Finals

8:00 p.m. – Closing Celebration

*Porec, Croatia is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.