Leila Rosas wrestles at Egypt’s World Series of Beach Wrestling
NOC wrestler Leila Rosas recently competed in the 2025 UWW World Beach Wrestling World Series October 18-19, in Alexandria, Egypt.
Rosas, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, competed in the 50 kg (110.2 pounds) division while weighing 44kg (97 pounds).
“It was an awesome trip,” she said. “I had never been on a plane before and then to fly overseas was quite an experience. I was worried about the long flight but the time passed really quickly and the food and service were really good. Just to see the mountains and oceans from the plane was really nice.”
“Egypt was also a big change,” she said. “It’s a different culture so that was fun to just watch the people and how they live. The food there was different but it was good, a lot of natural fruits that we don’t have here. I really enjoyed the people, they were so nice to us during our trip.
Rosas wrestled three matches against athletes from Egypt, United States, and Argentina. The Argentinian was 46-years old.
“All my opponents were so nice,” Rosas said. “It was competitive and tough but all the athletes respected each other.”
She qualified by placing in the USA Beach Wrestling Championships in North Carolina this past summer, her first experience at beach wrestling.
“Beach wrestling is so different than what we do here,” she said. ‘The rules are different and the techniques and styles are different so it took some time to adjust but I learned so much at nationals and then the world championships. I feel that I adapted pretty well. I’d really like to continue beach wrestling if I can.”
“It was awesome to wear the USA logo,” she said. “Just to see all the athletes with in their countries uniforms was pretty amazing. People see you as representing your country, part of a way bigger team.”
Rosas will compete for NOC at 103 pounds in 2025-26. She was ranked 7th in the nation as a freshman for the Lady Mavs in 2024-25.
She is excited about the upcoming season.
“I feel I have gained some muscle since last year and that will make a difference this year,” she said. “Plus, with the coaching and being around the other athletes, I feel I have gotten better. I want to be more aggressive on offense this year. I am more comfortable with freestyle wrestling and I think that will help me this year.”
Coach Jayden Miller attended the beach world series with Rosas.
“It was super cool,” Miller said. “The Beach USA team really welcomed us with open arms and helped us a lot. The beach community is really amazing and it was fun to experience it all.”
“One thing that was cool was the Georgia coach was trying to coach Leila against the wrestler from Argentina,” Miller joked. “So, we definitely made some long-standing relationships. It was an amazing experience. We saw some cultural things in Alexandria that were really interesting.”
Miller said he would like to bring beach wrestling to NOC during the summer and make it a training hub for beach wrestling in the United States.
“I’m excited for Leila this year,” Miller said. “She has gained some weight and gotten stronger where she won’t be at such a disadvantage in her matches.”
She is way stronger at 100 pounds than last year at 90,” Miller added.
