Beach Wrestling Begins Tomorrow in Dakar, Senegal’s Youth Olympic Games
Saly Beach, Senegal- Beach wrestling makes its official Olympic debut tomorrow as the chosen style of wrestling for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and Team USA is ready to go.
Three female wrestlers from the US will be in the field for this weekend’s competition:
Matilda “Tilly” Hruby (75kg)- Tilly hails from Colorado and has been on fire this year both on the mat and in the sand. She won the U17 Pan Am Championships in Freestyle and Beach wrestling, and was runner up at the U17 World Team Trials in Spokane this spring. In the sand Tilly also won the 2026 U17 World Beach Wrestling Championships with a dominating performance in Katerini, Greece. She will kick off the competition for Team USA as the 75kg women’s competition takes place on Saturday.
Piper Fry (45kg)- Piper hails from Michigan where she’s competed in some of the toughest tournaments in the country. She was a 2026 USA Beach National Champion and also finished 7th in the U17 Beach Wrestling World Championships earlier this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Aleia Apostol (65kg)– Aleia has roots in Hawaii and California. She was third at Junior Nationals in Fargo, ND, and won a U17 Pan Am Gold medal for Team USA in Panama City, Panama earlier this year. Her beach wrestling accolades include 2026 Pan Am Champion, and National Champ in Carolina Beach last spring, where she only allowed one point in the entire competition. Both Aleia and Piper will compete on Sunday to wrap up the beach wrestling program.
Team USA will also have strong leadership as Tim Box will serve as the team leader and coach along with Eliana Bommarito, who will make her USA coaching debut in Dakar.
Tim Box has led Team USA Beach Wrestling to unprecedented success over the past several years, including a U20 Team Title earlier this fall. He has an amazing resume as a beach wrestler himself, including a world silver medal. He currently serves as the head coach at Palomar College in San Marcos, California where he was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Head Coach of the Year in 2024.
Eliana Bommarito of Michigan is the reigning four time world champion in women’s beach wrestling, and is arguably one of the greatest beach wrestlers in history. From the outset, Bommarito has dominated her competition both domestically and internationally, making her one of the most well known stars of the sport. On the mat she is currently competing in her senior season for King University. She was 2-time NJCAA 235lb national champion. Prior to that she was a two time national champion in Fargo, ND and won multiple state titles in Michigan.
The entire Beach Wrestling competition can be seen live and for free on Olympics.com, the official Olympics App, or the official Olympic Channel YouTube page. Wrestling gets underway at 10:30 local Senegalese time, which is 5:30 am here in the US. These platforms are broadcasting the events globally with English commentary and no geographic blackouts.
Learn more about beach wrestling:
https://www.olympics.com/en/dakar-2026/sports/beach-wrestling
