The highlight of USA Wrestling's summer Beach Wrestling schedule comes this weekend, with the U.S. Beach National Championships set for the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront Resort in Riviera Beach, Fla., August 19-20. Wrestlers from across the nation will travel to Florida to test their Beach Wrestling skills in a number of age divisions: Schoolboy, Cadet, Elite, Senior and Veterans. Weight classes will be determined after weigh-ins, using the block weight system On the Senior level, a World Team Trials will be held to determine the U.S. athletes in two weight divisions for the World Beach Wrestling Championships in Antalya, Turkey, Nov. 1-5. The top three placewinners from each weight division at the U.S. Nationals on the Senior level will be eligible to enter the World Team Trials portion of the event. Some of the competitors who will be wrestling this weekend in Riviera Beach will have past experience in Beach Wrestling from a number of events on the USA Wrestling Beach schedule held around the nation. Others will be trying the sport for the first time, testing themselves in a new style of the sport. The event will be held alongside the U.S. Sombo Nationals Championships at North Palm Beach, Fla., August 19-20. There is a new block of discounted hotel rooms available for $89/night at the Crowne Plaza Oceanfront Hotel, just a few hundred yards away from the Beach Wrestling competition. See the story about the new hotel rooms at: http://www.themat.com/index.php?page=showarticle&ArticleID=15021 For more information, please visit the U.S. Beach and Sombo Nationals website at: http://www.palmbeachsports.com/Events/USA%20Wrestling/Untitled-2.html This past weekend, the second annual ASICS East Coast National Beach Wrestling Championships were held at Long Beach, N.Y., August 12-13. A field of 250 participants attended the event, and champions were crowned in five divisions. Carlos Dolmo, the wrestling head coach at Yeshiva Univ., won the super heavyweight title in the Open division at the ASICS East Coast Beach Nationals for the second straight year. The Outstanding Wrestlers at the ASICS East Coast Beach Nationals this year were: Schoolboy: Julio Mirabal of Long Beach. N.Y. (115) Cadet: Jordan Spirou of Clarke High School, N.Y. (185) Elite: Grant Paswell of Katonah, Pa. (148) Open: Moise Sambun of the New York AC (195) Veterans: Ray Adams of Long Beach, N.Y. (170) The Outstanding Wrestler award in the Open division was determined in a wrestle-off match between two individual champions, Sambun and Lanre Alibisi at 220 pounds. Sambun, who is a native of Senegal, won the special showdown match, 2-1. For results, visit: http://www.themat.com/results.php?page=display_results_style&ResultID=100734 After the U.S. Nationals are held this weekend, there are still other opportunities for wrestlers to compete at Beach Wrestling events. the first Southern Sand National Beach Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, August 25 and Saturday, August 26. The tournament will be held on the Beach Volleyball Courts in Tulsa. There are numerous age groups, starting with Kids wrestling divisions and going all the way up to Senior and Veterans divisions. There will also be live music at the competition, and a variety of family activities. For more information, visit the Southern Sand National Beach Wrestling website at: http://www.okbeachwrestling.com/ A new Beach Wrestling event has been added to the schedule, the Neptune Festival Beach Brawl Wrestling Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., Sept. 30-Oct. 1. This is presented by the Virginia Challenge. This event will have two competitions, an individual tournament Saturday, September 30 and a team dual meet tournament, the "Beach Brawl Duals" on Sunday, October 1. In the dual meet portion, entire teams can be entered, or individuals can be placed on a team through a draft system. This successful format was used at the North American Beach Championships, also hosted by the Virginia Challenge and held in Virginia Beach in June. For information on the Neptune Festival Beach Brawl Championships, visit: http://www.virginiachallenge.org/ Beach Wrestling was added as a new style of international wrestling, starting in 2005. Athletes compete on sand, in a style that features takedowns within a ring. The sport is gaining in popularity as more people are trying the new style. For information on Beach Wrestling, contact Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181 or via e-mail at gabbott@usawrestling.org REMAINING BEACH WRESTLING SCHEDULE August 19 -20 - U.S. National Beach Wrestling Championships at the Singer Island Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Riviera Beach, Fla. The Senior division is the qualifying event for the World Beach Wrestling Championships in Turkey. Divisions: Schoolboy, Cadet, Elite, Senior, Veterans. Contact Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181. August 25-26 - Southern Sand Beach Wrestling Championships at the Beach Volleyball Courts in Tulsa, Okla. Divisions: Veterans, Senior, University, Junior, Cadet, Schoolboy/girl, Novice Midget, Bantam. Contact John Nix at 972-816-3876. September 30-October 1 - Neptune Festival Beach Brawl Wrestling Championships at the Oceanfront at Virginia Beach, Va. Divisions: Elementary 1-2, 3-4, Middle School 5-6, 7-8, HS 9-12, College, Military, Open. On Sept 30 will be the individual championships, with the Beach Brawl Duals on Oct. 1. For information, contact Frank Lipoli at 757-652-7861.