Author Archives: Al Myers

2019 Postal Series

By Al Myers

The entire 2019 Postal Series Meets has been announced.  The USAWA has had a long history of promoting postal meets, and for the last several years have hosted a Postal Series, consisting of 4 quarterly Postal Meets with the last one being the USAWA Postal Championships.

The promotion of these meets are done by the USAWA, under the direction of the Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker.  All scoresheets are to be sent to Denny as he does the formula calculations for the final meet standings. There is no entry fee to enter the USAWA Postal Meets. The Postal series is sponsored by the USAWA.  However, you must be a current member of the USAWA to participate.

Postal Meets are a great way to get introduced to All Round Weightlifting. Denny picks a variety of different lifts for each meet.  Rules for the lifts are found in the USAWA Rule Book, which is available for free download from the website.

Now for the lifts of this years Postal Series!

1st Quarter Postal Meet – January 1st to March 31st
Jerk – From Racks
Hack Lift – One Arm
Deadlift – Fulton Dumbbell, One Arm
(done with opposite hand than hack lift)

2nd Quarter Postal Meet – April 1st to June 30th
Snatch – From Hang
Curl – Strict, Reverse Grip
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 2 Bars, 2″

3rd Quarter Postal Meet – July 1st to September 30th
Pullover and Press
Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat
Continental to Belt

Postal Championships – October 1st to December 31st
Press – Dumbbell, One Arm
Deadlift – 2 Dumbbells
Push Press – From Rack

All entry forms for the USAWA Postal Meets are found in upcoming events in the right column of the website homepage.

Dino Challenge

By Al Myers

2019 Dino Gym Challenge
“Dale Friesz Memorial Meet”

Group picture from the 2019 Dino Gym Challenge

Group picture from the 2019 Dino Gym Challenge

The weather turned cold and the forecast looked bad, but 5 brave lifters made their way to the Dino Gym Challenge this year.  I’m sure this would have been a very well attended meet this year if not for the bad weather as I had several lifters cancel their attendance because of concerns of the bad road conditions.   I’ve always known that’s a risk I take having this meet in January – but the show goes on!

Best Lifter Chad Ullom (right) receiving his award from meet director Al Myers (left).

Best Lifter Chad Ullom (right) receiving his award from meet director Al Myers (left).

This year the meet was dedicated to the late Dale Friesz.  All the lifts contested were among Dale’s favorites.   It provided a great variety from finger lifting to the Neck Lift.  It gave everyone a challenge for sure!

Chad Ullom won the BEST LIFTER award.  The highlight lift for Chad was his 310 pound Middle Finger Deadlift.  That’s the most he has ever done, and is one of the best MF deadlifts ever done in the USAWA.

I want to thank Chad, LaVerne Myers, Dean Ross, Brandon Rein, and Calvin Heit for competing.  It was another great meet at the Dino Gym!

MEET RESULTS:

Dino Gym Challenge
January 19th, 2019
Dino Gym
Holland, KS

Meet Director: Al Myers

Meet Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Official (1-official system used): Al Myers

Lifts: Finger Lift – Ring, Deadlift – Fulton Bar One Arm, Deadlift – One Arm, Deadlift – Middle Fingers, Neck Lift

MENS DIVISION

Lifter Age BWT RF DLF1 DL1 MFDL Neck TOT PTS
Chad Ullom 47 239 114R 160R 365R 270 500 1409 1235
LaVerne Myers 74 230 100R 170L 204R 172 260 906 1012
Calvin Heit 16 159 100R 120R 204R 192 190 806 909
Brandon Rein 23 153 69R 100R 162R 172 240 743 781
Dean Ross 76 244 74L 95R 152L 132 240 693 762

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORD

Chad Ullom: Middle Finger DL 310
Dean Ross: Finger Lift Ring 84L

NOTES: BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds.  R and L designate right and left.  TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall adjusted points.

RECORD DAY LIFTS

Al Myers – 52 years old, 232# BWT
Pinch Grip DL Right Hand 125#
Pinch Grip DL Left Hand 125#
Pinch Grip Strict Right Hand 55#
Pinch Grip Strict Left Hand 55#
Deadlift Fulton Bar Right Arm 182#

LaVerne Myers – 74 years old, 230# BWT
Pinch Grip DL Right Hand 125#
Pinch Grip DL Left Hand 125#
Pinch Grip Strict Right Hand 55#
Pinch Grip Strict Left Hand 55#
Finger Lift – Ring Left 100#

Postal Series 2018

By Al Myers

The USAWA has 4 postal meets per year (March, June, September, and December), with the last one being designated as the Postal Championships. All these together make up the Postal Meet Series. Each postal meet a lifter competes in generates points for him/her, that total up for the final Postal Series Ranking.

The way the points are generated is pretty simple. I take the overall placings of the meet and then reverse “the count” for the points earned for each lifter. I.E – if three lifters compete lifter number 1 gets 3 points, lifter number 2 gets 2 points, and lifter number three gets 1 point. The Postal Championships is worth “double points”. Obviously then, as more lifters enter more points can be earned for winning the meet, and ALL lifters earn points regardless where they place overall. Just entering will earn points toward the Postal Series Ranking.

Overall there was good participation in the USAWA Postal Meets last year. A total of 28 lifters competed in the various postal meets, which is more lifters than competed last year. The first Postal Meet had 12 lifters, the second had 15 lifters, the third had 16 lifters, and the Postal Championship drew 26 lifters. Several lifters competed in ALL of the postal meets last year and they deserve to be recognized.  These lifters are the GRAND SLAM WINNERS:  RJ Jackson, Chad Ullom, John Douglas, Stephen Santagnelo, Chris Todd, Eric Todd,  Aidan Habecker, Denny Habecker, and Lance Foster.

Now for the overall rankings for the 2018 USAWA Postal Series!

WOMENS DIVISION – TOP FIVE

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 RJ Jackson 4 14
2 Kim Lydon 1 6
3T Crystal Diggs 3 4
3T Amorkor Ollenuking 2 4
3T Sylvia Stockall 1 4

MENS DIVISION – TOP TEN

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 Chad Ullom 4 66
2T Al Myers 3 61
2T John Douglas 4 61
4 Barry Bryan 3 50
5 Stephen Santangelo 4 48
6 Jeff Ciavattone 1 44
7 Denny Habecker 4 43
8 Dravin Barcia 1 38
9 John Strangeway 2 37
10 Chris Lester 1 36

This has been a great year for our USAWA Postal Series.  The overall Champions for the 2018 USAWA Postal Series are WOMEN – RJ JACKSON and MEN – CHAD ULLOM. A big congrats goes out to these two lifters!  I was glad to see a few “first timers” entered in our Postal Meets this past year.

I want to thank everyone who participated in our Postal Meet Series.  This partipation is what keeps our Postals going every year. I also want to mention and give credit to our Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker who makes all this happen.  A full historical archive of the past Postal Meet Series is kept on the website, under “history”.

National Championships

By Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –

2019 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The date has been set!

Denny Habecker, the promoter of this year’s National Championships, has just released the entry form and information page for the biggest yearly event in the USAWA.  Denny is planning on promoting the Nationals in his hometown of Lebanon, PA on June 22nd.  A great selection of lifts have been chosen for this Championships.  The lifts are:

Curl – Cheat, Reverse Grip
Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip
Clean and Jerk – One Arm
Snatch – From Hang
Pullover and Push
Continental to Belt

This will be a long day – as all lifts will be performed on the 22nd.  Afterwards there will be an awards banquet for all lifters and supporters. Make sure to make plans to attend the banquet as that is a highlight of the weekend.

This is VERY IMPORTANT – make sure to get Denny your entry form (AND ENTRY FEE) before the deadline.  The deadline is MAY 22ND. It will be enforced.

There will be drug testing done at the Nationals.  DO NOT enter if you have an issue with being tested!

ENTRY FORM – 2019 USAWA Nationals Entry Form

INFORMATION PAGE – 2019 USAWA Nationals Info Page

1st Quarter Postal

By Al Myers

The USAWA Postal Series consists of 4 quarterly postal meets, with the grand finale being the USAWA Postal Series.  These Postal Meets may be contested anywhere with the results being sent to the USAWA Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker.  This allows any member of the USAWA to compete in an USAWA competition without the expense of traveling.

The basic rules for entering a USAWA Postal Meet are as follows:

  • Must be a CURRENT member of the USAWA
  • All lifts must be done on the same day
  • USAWA rules apply as outlined in Rule Book
  • 3 attempts allowed with best attempt recorded
  • Bodyweight and Age apply as to the day of lifting
  • Must turn in official scoresheet by deadline
  • Record results on scoresheet in pounds
  • At least 1 certified official required for records
  • May enter with a non-certified judge but will not be eligible for records
  • Scoresheet must be fully filled out
  • No entry fee

ENTRY FORM (PDF) – 2019 1st Quarter Postal Entry Form

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