US Beach Wrestling Newsletter: U17 Pan American Championships
I just got back from Panama at the U17 Beach Wrestling Pan American Championships. It was a great trip, and I’m proud of how our athletes and coaches represented us.
Aubree Gutierrez, U17 Pan American Beach and Freestyle Champion
How USA Beach Wrestling fared
If you want a full recap of how our athletes did, check out the official USA Wrestling recap.
Aubree Gutierrez (55 KG) and Matilda Hruby (75 KG) dominated for gold, and Ryder Schulte and Talon Worden took silver and bronze, both at 90 KG.
No official team scores were kept due to a system crash, but I’m pretty sure our girls’ team won the team title.
I was impressed by all of our young wrestlers who took a chance on the ancient style. It felt great to have our freestyle and Greco-Roman athletes out there on the sand, and even better to know that some traveled to Panama just for the beach event.
Well done, Team USA! The athletes and personal coaches did a fantastic job. There were so many personal coaches at this event that I ended up taking on more of a Team Leader role than anything else.
USA Beach Wrestling at 2026 U17 Pan American Championships
Inspiration and COVERAGE Matter
It's worth noting how important representation and inspiration always are in the world of sports, and how beach wrestling is no different.
One of the U17 athletes told me he began wrestling after seeing Justin Benjamin win gold in Acapulco, Mexico, in 2024. Justin was the first man to win a senior world-level gold, and I was lucky to be there in Justin's corner.
Justin Benjamin in Acapulco, Mexico, in 2024
This isn't the first time I've had an athlete tell me they were there from watching one of our senior beach athletes. Names like Eli Bommarito, Ty Loethen, Mitch Cook, Jamel Johnson, and many others have all roused the next group of athletes.
In fact, I only started beach wrestling after seeing Reece Humphrey do it in 2019. We were both World Series medalists that year. Ironically, I coached with Reece's older brother, Jordan, at this event.
My point: the next generation of beach athletes is out there, and the more legitimate news and social media coverage we have for our style, the easier it will be for them to find us!
I have to sincerely thank USA Wrestling for the awesome coverage and support at this event. The beach posts they have on Instagram are among the most engaged across all styles at the whole Pan Am event.
New Mantra: Stay flexible
Many "sayings" have become customary amongst our US international beach wrestling group. Most of them I'd attribute to Ed Duncan or Rusty Davidson.
"Pack before you party."
"Rule number one of beach wrestling: have fun."
After the bedlam we endured at this weekend's U17 Pan American Championships, I'm going to add one.
"Stay flexible."
This was by far the craziest event I've been a part of due to a UWW system failure that scattered the whole event.
Matilda Hruby, U17 Pan American Beach and Freestyle Champion
We started at 2 pm and had to have at least 3 hours of downtime and a complete bracket change. There were matches wrestled that didn't count, multiple bracket restructures, and no system visibility. On top of this, we were hit with some rain.
With that said, the organizers did the absolute best they could despite a total system failure beyond their control. I have to give major props to Arsen Julfalakyan and Luz Clara Vasquez for being the driving force for making the tournament happen and making the right decisions at the right time.
While beach tournaments are always run pretty well, there is always SOME form of chaos on international trips. Flight delays, weather, schedule changes, scale issues, less-than-ideal draws, etc., are all possible, and something you WILL run into the longer you do this.
Stay flexible. Find a way.
What's Next: Beach Olympic Trials
Beach World Team Trials and Olympic Qualifier in North Carolina on May 9th. There are still Youth Olympic spots up for grabs!!
