Author Archives: KCSTRONGMAN

USAWA Members Participate in Grip Meet

By Sanjiv Gupta

Beth Skwarecki competes in the Blob event

Beth Skwarecki, Kim Van Wagner and Sanjiv Gupta had a chance to compete in the 11th Annual International King Kong Grip Challenge (October 28, 2023).  This is an international competition hosted at multiple venues around the world and included 182 male and 40 female competitors.  Beth competed in Pittsburgh, PA; Kim and Sanjiv competed in Carbondale, CO.  This year’s implements included: 

  • 2.25 inch Crusher (Fat Bastard Barbell Company (FBBC)) 
  • Pinch Block (IronMind) 
  • Finnish Ball (Otevoima) 
  • 2.5” Jug (FBBC) 
Sanjiv competes in the pinch block discipline

The implements allowed athletes to showcase grip strength in the spirit of all-round weightlifting with a combination of technique, specific training and raw strength.  A big burly athlete may struggle to understand how to lift an implement that a showman with excellent technique can lift with ease.  The Crusher has often been compared to the Thomas Inch Dumbbell in difficulty as it wants to roll out of your hand.  Some notable lifts include Beth with a 40.82 kg lift on the Crusher, Kim with a 19.50 kg lift on the Finnish Ball and Sanjiv with a 21.90 lift on the Pinch Block. 

Beth finished 8th among 72kg women, Kim finished 3rd among 57 kg women and Sanjiv finished 19th among 93 kg men. 

Dino Gym has hosted the USAWA Grip Championships since 2011 with some impressive USAWA lifts.  In 2023 Frank’s Barbell Club hosted the New England Grip Classic.  There are some very challenging USAWA lifts that are limited by the athlete’s grip strength. 

Apologies if you participated in the King Kong Grip Challenge and your results were not included, please contact Sanjiv Gupta to be included in a revised write-up. 

3rd Quarter Postal

                 By Denny Habecker      

                                   

   USAWA 3rd QUARTER POSTAL

I think this may be the most lifters that have ever competed in one of our  postals. We had 24 men and 11 women lift this quarter.  The top man this quarter is Abe Smith and the top woman is Sylvia Stockall.

JULY 1  THRU  SEPTEMBER  30, 2023

The Lifts – HOLDOUT- LOWERED,    CIAVATTONE DEADLIFT,   CLEAN & PUSH PRESS

ALL LIFTS ARE IN POUNDS- RECORDS ARE MARKED WITH AN *

Name                            AGE     BDWT           Holdout     Deadlift        Push Press    Total        Points

Abe Smith                     41       183 Lbs.           90*           445*               265*            800          762.37

Dan Wagman               ?         180.8 Lbs.        80 *          461 *               156             697          660.19

Barry Bryan                65         188.6 Lbs.       61 *          331 *                160*           552          642.87

Dave Hahn                 86         140 Lbs.          22              230                    65               317         594.44

Wyatt Sawyer           26         206 Lbs.           45             385                   245              675         593.46

Randy Smith             68         198 Lbs.           45             315                    135             495         587.21

Dave DeForest         63         191 Lbs.           51 *          325                    140             516         587.05

Steve Jury                 58         230 Lbs.          61*            353 *                 171             585         576.76

John J. Carter          64         202 Lbs.           45 *           375 *                 100             520         574.40

Travis  Luther         30         177 Lbs.           65 *            365                    165             595         571.08

Denny Habecker    80        183 Lbs.           39 *            254 *                  94 *           387          567.74

Tony Hose              54         223 Lbs.          67 *             325                    175             567          549.15

Tony Lupo              57         238 Lbs.          60 *             335                    165             560          537.89

Jeff Wenzel           48         227 Lbs.           65                340                    165             570          518.41

Eric  Todd              48        281 Lbs.           85 *             320                     221             626          511.14

Sanjiv Gupta         52        193 Lbs.           45 *             305                     145             495           510.13

Barry Pensyl         75        136 Lbs.           19                200                       70             289            481.18

Chris Todd           44         275 Lbs.           65 *            320                     181              566           450.88

Brady Habecker  14        126 Lbs.           33 *            187 *                   88 *            308            445.74

Spencer Wenzel   16      131 Lbs.           45 *            205                       85               335            431.47

Lance Foster         57       239.4 Lbs.       35 *            250                       85              370             354.34

Everett Todd        10         97 Lbs.           30 *            110                       40 *           170             340.48

Bill Clark               91       203 Lbs.           11 *            170 *                    22 *            203             320.36

Leroy Todd         12      105 Lbs.            20 *              65 *                    40 *                125              232.80

WOMEN :

Sylvia  Stockall        65   160 Lbs.             35                265                    105                    405              521.32

Beth Skwarecki      42    154.5 Lbs.         35                287                    110                    432              464.58

Kasey Cicero          22    165 Lbs.             44*              303 *                  99 *                  446              446.76

R.J. Jackson            61    104.6 Lbs.         33                 191                     85                     310              435.70

Kim Van Wagner   56    127.6 Lbs.         25                 165                     65                     255              356.49

Lilly Todd               14     146 Lbs.            30 *              151 *                 85 *                   266              342.72

Stacy Todd            40     181 Lbs.            35 *              216*                  90 *                   341               322.76

Phoebe Todd       13      127 Lbs.           22.5 *            131                    60                      213.5            319.72

Allison Lupo         57     196 Lbs.            30 *               180 *                 45 *                    255              271.95

Janet  Thompson  66   165 LBS.            22 *              155 *                  33 *                    210             269.25

Crystal Diggs        36     155 Lbs.           30 *                150                    50                       230             239.71

OFFICIALS :

Abe Smith          – Bill Clark, Tony Lupo, Dave DeForest 

Dave DeForest  – Bill Clark, Tony Lupo, Abe Smith

Travis Luther    – Bill Clark, Abe Smith, Dave DeForest

Tony Lupo         – Bill Clark, Abe Smith, Dave DeForest

Allison Lupo     – Bill Clark, Abe Smith, Dave DeForest

Joohn J, Carter – Bill Clark, Tony Lupo

Tony Hose        – Bill Clark, Tony Lupo

Chris Todd       – Eric Todd, Lance Foster

Everett Todd  – Eric Todd, Lance Foster

Leroy Todd     – Eric Todd, Lance Foster

Lilly Todd      – Eric Todd,  Lance Foster

Stacy Todd –  Eric Todd,  Lance Foster

Phoebe Todd  – Eric Todd, Lance Foster

Dan Wagman  – R.J. Jackson

Sanjiv Gupta   – R.J. Jackson

Crystal Diggs  – R.J. Jackson

Barry Bryan  – Denny Habecker

Steve Jury    – Denny Habecker

Brady Habecker  – Denny Habecker

Kasey Cicero      – Denny Habecker

Denny Habecker – Barry Bryan

Jeff Wenzel – Bill Clark

Spencer Wenzel – Bill Clark

Janet M. Thompson – Bill Clark

Bill Clark    – Tony Lupo

Eric Todd – Lance Foster

Lance Foster  – Eric Todd

LIFTERS WITH NO CERTIFIED OFFICIAL:

Dave Hahn, Wyatt Sawyer, Randy Smith, Barry Pensyl, Sylvia Stockall, Beth Skwarecki,, R.J. Jackson & Kim Van Wagner

Letter from Nick Frieders

Submitted by Bill Clark

LETTER FROM NICK FRIEDERS

Good morning Bill, and happy Sunday. I apologize for the lack of correspondence these last couple months, but I have been working through an extremely transitional period in my life. In summary, since graduating I have done the following:

Traveled to Wyoming with my father to hike the Tetons,

Traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi, with my childhood friends to celebrate our college graduations.

I returned to my old beer distribution job in Aurora to save money,

I landed a different beer distribution job as a relief salesman on the North side of Chicago.

Now, as of this month, I have moved to the northwest neighborhood of Albany Park in Chicago (I’m sure you ran a training camp here no doubt) and I have been training with the sales team in preparation for taking over my own sales route in the city.

Throughout all of the transition I am sure you would be happy to hear, that I am still lifting heavy and am currently looking for opportunities to compete in weightlifting up here.

I have not yet forgot about the USAWA and I hope to return for the deadlift dozen so I may defend my title.

Again, I apologize for my absence these last few months, I have had a lot of life to live following graduation. I hope you and your wife are doing well, and I look forward to coming back to visit soon. Be sure to catch me up on the happenings of the USAWA. How has participation been these last couple postals? Is membership continuing to climb? I look forward to hearing about it.

Best wishes to you,

Nick

Memorial Record Day

By Eric Todd

Denny Habecker and his York Adjustable Krusher.

Denny Habecker and his York Adjustable Krusher.

Meet Announcement

Our honorable president, Denny Habecker has sanctioned the Memorial Record Day.  This meet honors our former USAWA members who have passed over the years.  Some that immediately come to mind are our friends Art Montini, Mike Murdock, Dean Ross, and John McKean.  I know there are many others, and too many to list for our purposes here.  At any rate, it is a great way for us to honor those who have come before us in the organization.  Here are the meet details:

Date: December 16, 2023

Location:   Habecker’s Gym, Lebanon, PA

Please contact Denny if you plan on attending to remember these great people and set or break some USAWA records. You can email him at liftingliar@comcast.net

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