Category Archives: USAWA Meet Results

Team Championships

by Al Myers

 

Group picture from the 2015 USAWA Team Championships.

Group picture from the 2015 USAWA Team Championships.

The USAWA weekend of the “Kansas Double Header” concluded Sunday at the Dino Gym with the USAWA Team Championships.  Many of the lifters that competed were at Rainbow Bend the day before for the Club Championships.  This made for a very fun and exciting weekend with the opportunity for lifters to compete in TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS over the course of one weekend!

I was very excited to see 6 teams entered this year – the most there has ever been in the Team Championships.  Of these 6 teams 3 were Mixed Pair teams, consisting a man and woman lifting together.  Doug and Jera took the overall victory with great lifting in all the lifts. The effort they gave on the last lift (Continental to Belt) earned them the “effort award” in my book.  I’m sure those in attendance would agree!  It was a joy to see Mary Mac and her lifters show up right at the last minute (as the rules meeting was just starting!).  Mary and her Heartland club are back busy with the USAWA again, and I’m so glad to see it.  They bring enthusiam to every competition! Plus our Prez Denny was without a lifting partner as well as Mary so they teamed up.  For never lifting before together in team lifting they did outstanding.

Two Junior lifters (Draven Kressly and Austin Brewer) made quite a good showing for their first try at team lifting.  These two young men have outstanding lifting talent, and performed these difficult team lifts very well.  LaVerne and Dean again “joined forces” in the Team Champs and put up great lifts.  I know both of these guys had to be a little sore from lifting the day before at the Club Champs, but they gave it their all and finished the meet as strong as they started.

I want to thank everyone who participated in these USAWA weekend events – as this will be one of the highlight weekends of the year in the USAWA.

MEET RESULTS:

2015 USAWA Team Championships
Dino Gym
Abilene, KS
August 30th, 2015

Meet Director: Al Myers

Officials (1-official system used): Al Myers, Denny Habecker, Chad Ullom

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Lifts: Curl-Cheat, Clean and Press-Fulton Bar, Deadlift-Ciavattone Grip, Continental to Belt

MIXED PAIR

 Team AGE BWT Curl C&P DL-CG Con Total Points

Jera Kressly

Doug Kressly

30

35

220

249

105

(115)

 130 295

230

(250)

 760 604.1

Tressa Brooner

Christian Schimpf

54

16

130

153

 75 75

160

(175)

 120 430 452.4

Mary McConnaughey

Denny Habecker

55

72

301

191

 85

65

(75)

190

(210)

 160 500 420.3

2-MAN

 Team  AGE  BWT Curl C&P  DL-CG  Con  Total Points

Al Myers

Chad Ullom

49

43

229

252

  155  130  375 250  910 747.7

Draven Kressly

Austin Brewer

14

15

137

131

 90

(100)

 75

(85)

  230

 140

(150)

  535  697.6

LaVerne Myers

Dean Ross

71

72

238

255

  105  80  250  175 610 632.5

NOTES:  Age is age in years. BWT is bodyweight in pounds. All lifts recorded in kilograms. Total is total kilograms lifted. Points are adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight. Successful extra record attempts in parenthesis.

RECORD DAY ATTEMPTS:

Christian Schimpf: Bear Hug 200#
Austin Brewer: Bench Press – Feet in Air 150#
Draven Kressly: Bench Press – Feet in Air 150#

 

Presidential Cup

by Al Myers

MEET REPORT & RESULTS
2015 PRESIDENTIAL CUP

Group picture from the 2015 Presidential Cup (left to right): Art Montini, Al Myers, Dean Ross, and Denny Habecker

Group picture from the 2015 Presidential Cup (left to right): Art Montini, Al Myers, Dean Ross, and Denny Habecker

For the fourth year annually, our USAWA President Denny Habecker has held the USAWA Presidential Cup.  This Championship Event recognizes the “best of the best” amongst record days.  It IS the championship record day in the USAWA – much like the Gold Cup is the Championship Record Day in the IAWA. Every year our Prez picks a lift and lifter for the winner of the Presidential Cup.  This is based on what impresses him the most – that is the criteria for being awarded the Presidential Cup.

This year 4 experienced USAWA members took on the challenge.  It was interesting to me that these four lifters (Denny, Art, Dean, and myself) are also TOP TEN members of the Century Club, which shows that all of us have competed in the USAWA quite some time now!  Each of us took turns with our lifts on the platform. Art continues to amaze me.  He did a 26# Abdominal Raise – which would be a very difficult lift for anyone.  I thought that could be the Presidential Cup Lift that might win.  As it turns out that was the only record lift Art did.  When we had time for additional record lifts Art couldn’t decide on another lift to do as he has ALL the records in his age/bodyweight class in the record list and Art doesn’t like to break his own records!

Dean Ross made the trip to Pennsylvania again this summer (Nationals in York was the other).  Dean picked the One Arm Zercher, which is a very difficult lift to perform. He lifted an impressive 160 pounds!  As it turns out – THAT was the lift to win him the Presidential Cup!  Well deserving I must say.

This was a great competition.  I want to thank Denny and Judy for being such great hosts.  We are very fortunate to have Denny as our President and Judy as the “first lady” in the USAWA. They work tirelessly to keep things going, and give back SO MUCH to the organization.

(Tomorrow I’ll give a report on the history of the Presidential Cup and a listing of all past winners. )

Meet Results:

Presidential Cup
Habecker’s Gym
Lebanon, PA
August 22nd, 2015

Meet Director: Denny Habecker

Official’s (3-official System Used): Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Art Montini

Al Myers – 48 years old, 228# BWT
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 2″, 1 Bar, Right Hand: 193#
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 2″, 1 Bar, Left Hand: 193#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Right Arm: 171#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Left Arm: 171#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip: 303#
Deadlift – One Leg, Right: 242#

Dean Ross – 72 years old, 253# BWT
Zercher – One Arm, Left: 143#
Zercher – One Arm, Right: 160#
Ziegler Clean: 93#
Swing – One Arm, Right: 55#
Swing – One Arm, Left: 45#

Denny Habecker – 72 years old, 189# BWT
Pullover – Straight Arm: 60#

Art Montini – 87 years old, 173# BWT
Abdominal Raise: 26#

2nd Quarter Postal Meet

by Al Myers

2015 USAWA 2nd Quarter Postal Meet

The results of the USAWA 2nd Quarter Postal Meet are IN!  It appeared to have very good participation considering this is usually are “down postal meet” because of the Nationals being at the same time. I noticed a couple of newcomers to our postal meets – Daryl Jackson and Aidan Habecker. That’s always great to see. Welcome to the USAWA Postal Series.

Congrats goes to Women’s Overall Champ Ruth Jackson and Men’s Overall Champ Barry Bryan.  I noticed Barry edged out fellow Habecker’s Gym training mate Denny Habecker. These two have quite the competition rivalry going as Denny edged Barry out by a very narrow point margin at Nationals.

MEET RESULTS:

2nd Quarter USAWA Postal Meet
June 1-30, 2015

Meet Director: Denny Habecker

Lifts: Clean and Seated Press – 2 Dumbbells, Bentover Row, Rectangular Fix

Lifters with one certified USAWA Official:
Barry Bryan – Official Denny Habecker
Denny Habecker – Official Barry Bryan
Dean Ross – Official Al Myers
Daryl Jackson – Official Ruth Jackson
Ruth Jackson – Official Jarrod Fobes
Aidan Habecker – Officials Denny Habecker & Barry Bryan
Crystal Diggs – Official Jackson

* The other participants used judges that were not USAWA Certified Officials

WOMEN’S DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE  BWT  PRESS  ROW  FIX TOT PTS
Ruth Jackson 53 106 60 105 40 205 324.2
Tressa Brooner 53 130 60 90 50 200 267.9
Mary McConnaughey 53 304 55 145 60 255 213.5
Crystal Diggs 28 154 40 90 50 180 188.1

MEN’S DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE  BWT PRESS ROW FIX  TOT PTS
Barry Bryan 57 196 120 220 88 428 456.5
Denny Habecker 72 187 90 198 72 360 444.7
Chad Ullom 43 258 60 315 105 480 389.9
Dean Ross 72 253 80 185 75 340 356.8
Daryl Jackson 25 143 100 127 75 302 332.4
Aidan Habecker 11 111 30 72 25 127 225.5
Christian Schimpf 16 150 90 — 60 150 175.2

 NOTES: BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are adjusted points for bodyweight and age correction.

National Championships

by John McKean

Ringing in Summer with the USAWA Nationals in York, PA

York Barbell - Location of the 2015 USAWA National Championships

York Barbell – Location of the 2015 USAWA National Championships

What can one say on travel day when you wake up feverish, your longtime driving partner gets lost in the morning and can’t locate the same old shopping mall where he’s met you for the past 20 years, and then locks his car keys inside his car?? Well, ya just know it’s going to be an absolutely OUTSTANDING meet, because the memories are already being made!! And, indeed, this year’s USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS at the famous York Barbell Club was fantastic!

Art Montini and I arrived at Denny Habecker’s home in Lebanon, PA late that evening, and immediately got into terrific lifting discussions with Al Myers, Eric Todd, James Fuller, and Denny, all of us fueled by the wonderful lasagna that Judy had prepared! We were all pumped up over the evening’s many, many lifting stories to such degree that no one slept much, and then a 6 AM start to drive the hour to York.

We were rather impressed that the York barbell company had set us up with a large canopy, underneath being a nifty insignia lifting platform. Chances of a light rain looked to be 50-50, but it held off all day and temps were just right at 76 degrees! Even the grumpiest among us couldn’t complain about the cooling light morning breeze, or periods of sun during early afternoon underneath the big tent. Heck, we were lifting right under the statue of Bob Hoffman, and anytime we’d get the urge could enter the building to wander and view all the museum’s rich history in the form of photos, statues, and fabled equipment! Even truckers on the overlooking freeway just beyond would honk their well wishes to the lifters throughout the day!

One problem did surface as our opening event, the one arm snatch, showed us that a lifting platform should NOT be placed on a slightly declined ramp! Believe me, it felt strange, and became a bit tricky to lock at a normal top position. Yet Aidan Habecker (Denny’s 12-year-old grandson) figured it out and started the contest in fine form. Others in the first (of two) sessions accepted the challenge, to the point that by later afternoon that superb technician, James Fuller, was able to do quick full squat snatches with big poundages!

Since there was a large powerlifting meet going on inside the building at the same time as our outdoor meet, we had a steady volume of interested spectators, many who hung around to ask questions about all-round lifting and to yell out encouragement on big lifts. Most of these outsiders were impressed by the sheer guts & skills of our most senior USAWA competitors – the great Dean Ross, Dennis Mitchell (in his record 26th Nationals!), almost 88-year-old Art Montini, and even hard working meet director Denny Habecker is starting to get up there!

Big Frank Ciavattone was on hand to treat us to one more huge one arm deadlift, although his docs tell him this is to be his final meet due to some internal potential problems. At 60+ Frank still makes a heavy one hander look easy, and we’ll be posting a series of stories on his lifetime training within a short time. Frank also brought son Frankie to lift and their young friend Matt, a strong young high school wrestler who astounded us with his skill and power, and the potential to go far within this organization. Matt actually set several teen world records in this first big contest.

Eric Todd was impressive in all lifting, but particularly mind-blowing in the ease that he manhandled huge poundages in the pullover and push. And, tho of the quiet easygoing style, a very knowledgeable lifter who is an absolute joy to talk strength training with. His ole midwest pal, our very own website editor, Al Myers, provided a great educational effort in proving to all of us how easy it is to rip a hamstring while doing a “mere” curl!! While Al was down and out lifting wise, he just redoubled his usual frenetic meet schedule of announcing, tabulating results, running the annual meeting, talking up the sport to onlookers, etc., etc. I think Al tends to quickly become EVERYONE’S favorite personality!

OF course it’s ALWAYS wonderful to lift with the ever smiling Bob Geib and Susan from Vermilion, Ohio. They just GLOW with their happiness over lifting, and may be our best ambassadors to the sport for everyone lucky enough to meet them! I about had a heart attack when they acquired the 2017 National meet for their hometown of Vermilion – a beautiful little old fashioned vacation town right on the shores of Lake Erie, and one of my favorite places on the planet!

I can’t say enough (tho he thinks I do with my constant teasing!) about my old lifting pal, Randy Smith from Michigan. He’s always placed toward the top overall standing in most national level meets, but this year with controlled, balanced lifting finally did take the top overall spot! Everybody was excited for this very pleasant, always happy, excellent all-rounder!

First day of summer greeted a well rested group with a bright, sunny morning, and Judy Habecker went all out for that noon picnic! That SUPER lady always does the most fantastic job in preparing for and pampering us grubby old lifters! Hey, this year even us little guys had a shot at the smorgasbord with big Al confined to limping to the table and not running us pipsqueaks down (maybe it helped also that chowhound Chad was still traveling and not able to attend this year’s meet! Naw, we missed ya,Chad!).

Overall, so many unique experiences just restore the fact that nobody has as much fun as all-rounders do! I know I’ve missed a bunch of things – there was so much going on those 3 days! – and my apologies to anyone I’ve missed in this quick report. But, hey, guys & gals, summer’s now here and time to set up for some enjoyable warm months training – our home gym will certainly rock with the new Dinnie lift RINGS that Al claimed to have “hand-bent” over his knee just for me! (No wonder his leg gave out at the meet!) I was on such a personal “high” on the drive home that I even resisted calling Marilyn to have her lock Art’s keys back in his car in our driveway, just for old time’s sake!!

MEET RESULTS:

2015 USAWA National Championships
York Barbell
York, PA
June 20th, 2015

Meet Director:  Denny Habecker

Announcers: Al Myers & John McKean

Scorekeepers: Al Myers & Judy Habecker

Officials (3-official system used): Denny Habecker (head judge), Frank Ciavattone (head judge), Eric Todd, Scott Schmidt, Art Montini, Barry Bryan, Dennis Mitchell

Lifts: Snatch – One Arm, Curl – Cheat, Reverse Grip, Deadlift – One Arm, Pullover and Push, Ciavattone Grip Deadlift, Zercher Lift

WOMEN’S DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE  BWT  SN1 CURL DL1  P&P  DL  ZER TOT PTS
 Susan Sees  52  225  20R  40  50R  45  90  40 285 269.8

Extra Attempts For Record
Susan Sees: Ciavattone Grip Deadlift 95K

MEN’S DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE  BWT  SN1 CURL  DL1 P&P  DL ZER TOT  PTS
 Randy Smith  60  195  42.5R  80  135R 92.5  165  132.5  647.5  709.1
 James Fuller  43  239  67.5R  101 161R  120  185  192.5  827  698.0
 Matt Hancock  17  155  30L  55  147.5L  100  152.5  142.5  627.5  686.7
 Denny Habecker  72  185  25R  52.5 112.5R 87.5  135  85  497.5  617.9
 Barry Bryan  57  195  47.5R  55  100R  107.5  155  112.5 577.5 617.5
 Eric Todd  40  252  47.5R  85 135R  195  137.5  125 725  578.5
 John McKean  69  165  17.5R 40  115R  40  120  90  422.5  549.7
 Art Montini  87  172  12.5L 30 80L  52.5  100  70 345  498.0
 Dean Ross  72  249 30R 55 70R  75  125 100  455  481.0
Scott Schmidt 62 236 25L 65 92.5L 77.5 127.5 70 457.5 459.8
Aidan Habecker 11 112 15R 20 37.5R 30 52.5 35 190 334.5
Bob Geib 72 259 22.5R 40 70R 35 100 50 317.5 329.2
Frank Ciavattone 60 292 0 0 182.5R 0 187.5 0 370 329.1
Dennis Mitchell 83 152 10L 15 40L 22.5 40 30 157.5 239.5
Frankie Ciavattone 21 267 20R 45 75R 0 137.5 0 277.5 213.0
Al Myers 48 233 60R 70 0 0 0 0 130 116.6

Extra Attempts for Records:
Barry Bryan: Reverse Grip Cheat Curl 67.5K
Barry Bryan: Ciavattone Grip Deadlift 165K
Dean Ross: One Arm Deadlift 72.5K Right
Dean Ross: Pullover and Push 80K
Dean Ross: Ciavattone Grip Deadlift 127.5K
James Fuller: Reverse Grip Cheat Curl 105K
James Fuller: One Arm Deadlift 167.5K Right

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Men’s Best Junior  Matt Hancock
Men’s Best Senior Frankie Ciavattone
Men’s Best Master 40-44 James Fuller
Men’s Best Master 45-49 Al Myers
Men’s Best Master 55-59 Barry Bryan
Men’s Best Master 60-64 Randy Smith
Men’s Best Master 65-69 John McKean
Men’s Best Master 70-74 Denny Habecker
Men’s Best Master 80-84 Dennis Mitchell
Men’s Best Master 85-89 Art Montini
Men’s Best Master Overall Randy Smith
Men’s Best Lifter Overall Randy Smith
Women’s Best Master Overall Susan Sees
Women’s Best Lifter Overall Susan Sees
Best Club – Habecker’s Gym 1569.8 Points
(Denny Habecker, Barry Bryan, Aidan Habecker)
Best Club Runner Up – Frank’s Barbell Club 1228.8 Points
(Matt Hancock, Frank Ciavattone, Frankie Ciavattone)

 

 

Heavy Lift Championships

by Al Myers

Group picture from the 2015 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships.

Group picture from the 2015 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships.

Yesterday Eric Todd hosted the 2015 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships at his gym in Cameron, Missouri.  Actually ET lives outside of Cameron in the boondocks and his address is listed as Turney, MO which I’ve yet to identify.  I’m betting it is a collection of deer blinds. (the road leading into his place is Deer Creek!).

But on to the big meet! I’m writing this report because Eric deserves high praise for his efforts yesterday, and I know he is too modest to truly report the day’s events as they unfolded.  ET has one of those unique gyms that only hardcore lifters would appreciate.  It is a big Quonset shed which he refers to as his “big tin can”.  Inside the gym really reflects ET’s personality – all serious heavy duty equipment with loads of strongman stuff, rusty bars and plates, concrete platforms, and a big American Flag hanging on one end.  No frills here. It’s a serious place. It provides the perfect training environment for someone who wants to get strong.

I consider the Heavy Lift Championships as one of the premier championships the USAWA hosts every year.  It has a rich history, and it’s longevity rivals our USAWA Nationals.   We have tried to make this meet a rotational annual event to provide opportunities around the country for participation. This was Eric’s first promotion of the Championships, and he did a superb job!  Very few places have the adequate equipment to put on the Heavy Lift Championships, but ET has all the iron anyone needs (I counted 24 100 pound plates laying around!).

A great turnout made the day a great meet. I didn’t lift as I figured I was more needed officiating and scorekeeping.  It was great seeing Mary Mac there as well as young Christian.  He’s a junior lifter just getting involved in the USAWA and he shows A LOT OF PROMISE!  This was his first experience with the chain lifts, and with a little more seasoning will only increase his poundages.  Mary has been involved with the USAWA for many years off and on.  It is so nice to see her back getting involved this year.

I was so glad to see our Prez Denny back in action.  Actually I was  a little surprised to see that he was lifting in this meet!  It’s so obvious that Denny loves the USAWA!  Art made the trip with him and put up great lifts.  Sometimes I forget Art’s age – because it’s hard to believe that someone who is 87 would actually being doing a hardcore meet like this!

Of course Dean Ross was here.  These past few years there has not been a more active lifter than Dean.   Dean lifted great – and even had the energy to do some records afterwards.  KCSTRONGMAN gym member Lance Foster made another solid performance.

The big showdown was between ET, Chad, and Joe.  I knew this would be an interesting day.  All three of these guys looked in great shape, and all three of them are past Heavy Lift Overall Champions.  Chad came out of the gate hard (ok….I had to get that horse race joke in there somewhere since the Kentucky Derby was going on at the same time as this meet) with a HUGE personal record Neck Lift of 1020# to put him in the early lead.   Then after the Hand and Thigh Lift Joe took over first for a while, even though ET lifted his best H&T ever with a 1510# lift (breaking my record of 1505#).  For those of you that have been around a while know that when ET started the USAWA over 10 years ago he put up a 1475# hand and thigh the FIRST TIME he ever tried it.   I knew this day was coming that he would break 1500, and I predict that he will go well over 1600 before long.

The last lift of the Heavy Lift Championships is the Hip Lift.  I knew this was going to decide who the Overall Champ would be.  Chad was conservative with his opener, which gave the advantage to Joe and Eric.  I kept waiting for ET to declare his opener and he kept putting it off.  Joe came in at 1670#, and then ET declared 1870 to start which put the pressure on Joe.  Joe made the big jump with him, but just came up a hair short.  Looking back Joe should have jumped to only 1800 which was all he really needed in the end.  ET then went on to break the overall record in the 115K class with a 2270# lift and the overall title.

This was one of the best Heavy Lift Championships I have been part of.  Lots of great lifters and lots of great lifts.  I’ve always been a big fan of the history of the heavy lifts, and in my book this meet put Eric Todd into the group as one of the best heavy lifters in the history of the USAWA.

MEET RESULTS:

2015 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships
May 2nd, 2015
Cameron, Missouri

Meet Director:  Eric Todd

Meet Scorekeeper:  Al Myers

Meet Officials ( 3 official system used): Al Myers (head), Denny Habecker, Art Montini, Eric Todd, Joe Garcia, Lance Foster, Chad Ullom

Lifts:  Neck Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Hip Lift

WOMENS DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE  BWT  NECK H&T  HIP  TOT  PTS
 Mary McConnaughey  55  311  180  400  810  1390  1152.1

Extra for Records:

Mary McConnaughey – Hand and Thigh Lift 500#

MENS DIVISION

 LIFTER  AGE BWT  NECK H&T HIP TOT PTS
 Eric Todd 40  252  900  1510  2270  4680  3734.2
 Joe Garcia 61  209  550 1270  1670  3490  3710.7
 Chad Ullom 43  261  1020 1270  1850  4140  3343.3
 Denny Habecker 72  195  0 620  900  1520  1831.8
 Art Montini 87  175  180 400  700  1280  1829.2
 Dean Ross 72  252  240 700  760  1700  1786.2
 Christian Schimpf 16  151  200 500  760  1460  1704.1
 Lance Foster 49  319  340 700  870  1910  1482.1

Extra Attempts for Records:

Dean Ross – Reeves Deadlift 205#
Dean Ross – Peoples Deadlift 295#
Dean Ross – 12″ Base Deadlift 225#
Dean Ross – Heels Together Deadlift 225#
Dean Ross – 2 Bar Deadlift 200#
Eric Todd – Index Finger Lift Right 135#
Eric Todd – Index Finger Lift Left 120#
Denny Habecker – 12″ Base Deadlift 225#

NOTES:  Age is age in years. BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds.  TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are overall adjusted points for age and bodyweight corrections.

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