USAWA

This year’s 2026 USAWA Athlete of the Year for Women is Kim Van Wagner. Kim is a longtime USAWA member who competes when she can. She also brings with her a little mystery (See picture below). She may be from Krypton or the Marvel Universe because when she competes, she puts up big numbers in the USAWA. She ranks 11th all-time in the Women’s division with 146 records all-time. In addition to being an All-Round Weightlifter, Kim competes in Grip Sport and Strongman. She holds (11) top 3 master’s women’s records in grip sport.  She also plays organized lacrosse and hurling which is the National Sport of Ireland if you haven’t heard of it.

A couple of competitions stand out.  At the 2025 Team Lift Championship, she became a last-minute pairing with Diya and did a great job. Kim and Diya were 1st place in the women’s overall and the only team for the women’s masters division. They were not far off from a 3rd place finish when men’s teams were included. The second standout meet was the High Country Vigour Cup. She set or tied records in all three lifts, as she does very well with the overhead lifts. Also a fun fact: Her sister is named Piper and she decided to attempt a Piper Squat.  After she put up an astounding 80 pounds, Jarrod Fobes and Sanjiv Gupta were inspired to try the lift. Congratulations to Kim Van Wagner!

Let’s begin featuring the 2026 USAWA Award Winners right where we did last year. Last year began with the athlete of the year and newcomer of the year, and we called it “All in the Family”! Well in 2026, this show was renewed for a second season! The 2026 Male Athlete of the Year is Jeff Wenzel for the second straight year. Jeff is a member of Clark’s Gym in Columbia, MO, joining the team after spotting in the Bench Press Decathlon a few years ago. And why not a second year as Jeff competes in just about every meet and finishes in the top five including several 1st place finishes. Not only does he compete in meets across the USAWA, but he continues to try about every lift in the book from Abdominal Raise to the Zeigler Clean. In a few short years as a member of the USAWA he now ranks 7th all-time in the number of individual records with 370, which is good enough 2nd all-time from Clark’s Gym. He still owns top lifts in a few events, including the Piper Squat and the Foot Press. This year he was certified as a level-two USAWA referee as well. Jeff is a fierce but gracious competitor. He inspires fellow gym members to up their game. By day he works for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The 2026 Female Newcomer of the Year is Dylan Wenzel. At only seven years old, she is the youngest of the Wenzel lifting family. And when the Wenzel’s are in, the gym is alive with sound of iron (sorry – I do recycle old jokes). Dylan became interested in lifting watching her brothers take on the record book. What makes her case so compelling is that for such a young person, with the coaching of her dad, she picks up the lifting techniques quite readily. Although she can be shy in front of large crowds, she’ll do the particular lift and has managed to get 54 records already. And she is so light, I can practice my math modelling skills to get her Lynch score. She has a bright future in lifting, finishing 1st at the Stars of Tomorrow meet in May at Clark’s Gym. She is a favorite among the Clark’s gym members having earned the name “Cookie Monster” because of her love of Nilla Wafers and Oreos. She is pictured below with her USAWA Award, which she really appreciated, alongside dad after competing at Nationals on 27 July 2026 in Our Lady of Lourdes Gym.