Category Archives: 2017 Meet Results

World Championships

By John Mahon, World Championships Meet Promoter

MEET REPORT – 2017 IAWA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WORLDS WRAP UP

Well the dust has settled, lifters have returned home from another fantastic IAWA World Championships. Like every other Worlds so much work goes into organising the meet and the meet itself is done and dusted in the blink of an eye. This year ARWLWA was fortunate to obtain a grant from the local council and was donated a new platform from Bunnings warehouse in belmont. So would like to start this off with saying thank you to the City of Belmont and Bunnings warehouse for your generous support.

We started this World Championships with a moments silence to pay tribute to a wonderful IAWA lifter and friend George Dick. He will be truly missed by the All-Round weightlifting family. We had a great range of lifters this year who were all very competitive. Al Myers and Denny Habecker made the long journey from the USA and they both put on a great display of lifting.

Big Al Myers of the USA

Big Al Myers of the USA

Big Al Myers shoulders may have hindered him a bit through the bench and overhead press but he came back displayed pure deadlift power in the one hand hack and straddle deadlift.

Two new lifters from Australia’s newest club in Victoria made the trip across the country and put in some solid lifting performances. Catherine Dorrestyn and Douglas De Prada are two lifters to keep an eye on in the future. Catherine made up apart of a very competitive female division that had the leaders chopping and changing throughout the meet. Miriam Phillips claimed the Womens Open class title with an impressive display of power while Monica Cook took out the Womens Masters class and was the best overall female lifter.

Sharni Clifford and Mel Parkes-Urls did a wonderful job in at the scoring table. Their work made Al’s and my work much easier over the championships.

The Scoring table hard at work

The Scoring table hard at work

The Mens divisions were also a tightly fought battle with Peter Phillips putting in another one of his trademark tough performances. Javen Waller returned to the All-round platform and blew everyone away with his, rather unique, straddle deadlift technique and strength. Steven Charles hard training work had paid off as he was rewarded with the Mens Open title. Bill Kappel once again proved to be the unstoppable force that his is with a champion performance to claim the Mens Masters and Overall title. Bill is one the strongest pound for pound lifters I’ve ever seen and at the age of 72 he is still blitzing his much younger competitors.

Overall Champion Bill Kappel

Overall Champion Bill Kappel

Peter Phillips with his One Hand Hack Lift

Peter Phillips with his One Hand Hack Lift

Best female lifter Monica Cook

Best female lifter Monica Cook

Picture from the Banquet

Picture from the Banquet

I like to thank all of those who were involved in this World Championships. A lot of work was done behind the scenes to make this happen and all lifters, supported, loaders and officials made this a wonderful event the promote.

MEET RESULTS

2017 IAWA World Championships
Belmont Sports Club
September 30th-October 1st, 2017
Perth, Australia

Meet Promoter: John Mahon

Meet Announcers: Al Myers and John Mahon

Meet Scorekeepers: Sharni Clifford and Mel Parkes-Urls

Meet Photographers: Robin Lukosius & Russ Cook

Meet Caterers: Sharni Clifford & Anne Whitehead

Meet Officials (3-official system used): Peter Phillips, John Patterson, Justine Martin, Julia Phillips, Robin Lukosius, Sam Trew, Denny Habecker, Miriam Phillips, Tom Davies

Loaders: Alex Biasin, Sam Trew, Robin Lukosius, Mirriam Phillips, Craig Biggs and others

Lifts DAY 1:  Cheat Curl, One Hand Dumbbell Snatch, One Hand Vertical Bar with 2″ Bar, Bench Press Feet in Air
Lifts DAY 2: Clean and Press 2″ Bar, One Hand Hack Lift, Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar

WOMENS DIVISION

Lifter Age BWT Curl Sn1 VB1 BP C&P Hack Strad TOT PTS
Monica Cook 53 67.7 35 23R 40R 82.5  40 60R 110 390.5 475.8
Miriam Phillips 35 121.0 60 40R 65R 75 52.5 80R 135 507.5 390.1
Catherine Dorrestyn 46 83.5 47.5 25R 52.5R 60 42.5 55R 100 382.5 383.7
Mel ParkesUrlus 39 91.2 35 22.5R 40R 65 45 45R 135 387.5 345.3
Sharni Clifford 29 91.6 40 22.5R 50R 47.5 40 55L 100 355 315.5

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORDS
Catherine Dorrestyn: Cheat Curl 50
Monica Cook: 1H Dumbbell Snatch 25R
Monica Cook: 1H 2″ Vertical Bar 45R
Sharni Clifford: 1H 2″ Vertical Bar 55R
Miriam Phillips: 1H 2″ Vertical Bar 70R
Monica Cook: 2H Clean and Press 2″ Bar 45
Catherine Dorrestyn: 2H Clean and Press 2″ Bar 46
Catherine Dorrestyn: 1H Hack Lift 57.5R
Sharni Clifford: 1H Hack Lift 57.5L
Miriam Phillips: 1H Hack Lift 85R
Monica Cook: Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar 120
Catherine Dorrestyn: Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar 105
Miriam Phillips: Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar 145

MENS DIVISION

Lifter Age BWT Curl Sn1 VB1 BP C&P Hack Strad TOT PTS
Bill Kappel 72 71.4 55 35R 65L 85 65 90R 145 540 740.9
Al Myers 51 101.2 80 50R 85R 120 55 130R 210 730 688.1
Peter Phillips 63 98.2 62.5 40R 77.5R 112.5 60 87.5R 170 610 647.2
Javan Waller 46 114.7 85 55L 70L 95 70 120L 220 715 603.7
Alex Biasin  49 123.8 80 44R 72.5R 140 85 90R 170 681.5 569.5
Denny Habecker  75  87.1 50 22.5R 45R 82.5 55 80R 110 445 553.4
Steven Charles  36  86.5 60 40R 72.5L 75 60 95L 170 572.5 525.6
Tom Davies  74 76.3 45 20R 60R 60 46 60R 100 391 522.2
John Mahon 34 121.1 80 42.5R 70R 135 93 90R 167.5 678 520.8
Sam Trew 34 126.7 75 51L 85R 105 70 100L 185 671 504.1
Robin Lukosius 63 99.5 65 30R 65R 70 45 80R 120 475 500.5
Douglas dePrada 24 113.1 90 50R 67.5L 112.5 70 70R 140 600 476.8
Russ Cook 55 76.2 40 27.5L 55L 62.5 40 67.5L 100 392.5 451.0

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORDS
Denny Habecker: 1H Dumbbell Snatch 26R
Tom Davies: 1H 2″ Vertical Bar Lift 63R
Denny Habecker: 1H 2″ Vertical Bar Lift 50R
Russ Cook: 1H Hack Lift 80L
Russ Cook: Straddle Deadlift with 2″ Bar 102.5
John Mahon: 2H Clean and Press 2″ Bar 97.5
Alex Biasin: Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar 185
Sam Trew: Straddle Deadlift 2″ Bar 195

Notes: All lifts recorded in kilograms. BWT is bodyweight in kilograms.  R and L designate right and left arms. TOT is total kilograms lifted.  PTS are overall points adjusted for age and BWT corrections.  Robin Lukosius and Douglas de Prada did not weigh in on day 2.  Steven Charles was in the 85 KG class on day 2, and all other lifters weighed in in the same class on day 2.

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Bill Kappel Overall Best Mens Lifter and Best Master Lifter
Monica Cook Overall Best Womens Lifter and Best Master Lifter
Steven Charles Best Overall Mens Senior Lifter
Miriam Phillips Best Overall Womens Senior Lifter

 

Lift at Lou’s

By Lou Tortorelli

Group - Lift at Lou'sThe Lift at Lou’s meet held at my Lou’s Physical Culture Studio Garage Gym was a most enjoyable and memorable experience!  Our two lifters, Aiden Habecker and Brooke Tortorelli, both did an outstanding job with their chosen lifts and setting records in their weight classes and age divisions.   In the group shot, you’ll find left to right myself, my daughter and competitor Brooke, My dad John (who is a NJ state record holder in the 80-84 division in WNPF powerlifting), our other competitor Aiden, and his granddad and our USAWA President Denny Habecker.  The top lifts of the day – Aiden’s 175 lb. Deadlift using an Overhand Thumbless Grip; Brooke’s 170 lb. Deadlift; Aiden’s Dumbell Snatch with the Right Hand with 47 1/2 lbs.; and Brooke’s 50 lb. Push Press from the Rack.    Both lifters received a fun t-shirt and some lifting related reading material as their prize for their great achievements.  I would like to thank most of all USAWA President Denny Habecker for making the trip to Howell New Jersey to be our official judge for this event and having his grandson Aiden participate.  It was a great pleasure for my family and I to meet these great folks and share our common interest in the iron game.

MEET RESULTS:

Lift at Lou’s
Lou’s Physical Culture Studio Garage Gym
Howell, New Jersey
September 23rd, 2017

Meet Promoter: Lou Tortorelli

Meet Official (1-official system used): Denny Habecker

Lifts: Record Day

Aidan Habecker – Male 14 years old, 70 KG class
Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip 175 lbs
Snatch – Dumbbell, Right Hand 47.5 lbs

Brooke Tortorelli – Female 15 Years old, 55 KG Class
Deadlift – 12″ Base 170 lbs.
Push Press – From Rack 50 lbs.

OTSM Championships

By Eric Todd

2017 USAWA OLD TIME STRONGMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2017 USAWA Old Time Strongman Championships.

Group picture from the 2017 USAWA Old Time Strongman Championships.

Another installment of USAWA’s Old strongman Championships has now passed, and what an event it was. This is the 7th annual championship event in one of the most recent additions  in the USAWA.  The first three constested were at the JWC training hall in Kirksville, with the last 4 being at my facility.  In terms of competitors, this was the best turnout the organization has seen at this event with 12 competitors.  We also has a certified judge who was not also a lifter in Thom VanVleck.  We had many seasoned competitors ( I believe Denny was with the organization since around it’s inception) along with some relative newbies (John Douglas and Chris Todd are in the first year of competing in the USAWA-It is GREAT to get new blood into the organization).

The Contest started off with the Thor’s Hammer. I said it before, and I will say it again, this one is a fickle mistress.  You saw a number of times where it appeared the lifter had stuck the lift only to have it start moving before they could get the down command. When this lift was first contested a number of years back it seemed like 40-45 was about the top number to hit.  At this meet half the field was at that mark or better.  Some lifters preferred the snatch and some the swing.  In the end, just like last year it was Ben Edwards and I battling it out for the top spot, with both of us landing on about the same number we did last year.  Like I said, a fickle mistress.

The second discipline contested was the Hackenschmidt Floor Press. Abe Smith impressed me the most in this lift by hitting 345 at a bodyweight of 180.  As the lightest competor in the meet, this was the third highest mark hit on the press.  Scott Tully also hit a big mark of 360.

Once the pressing was completed, we moved the bar to the 18” boxes for the Kennedy Lift. This is the lift where one should be able to lift the most weight.  And there were a few lifters who did not disappoint!  Heather Tully kept pace with many of the fellas by hitting a big 400.  Chad Ullum hit a 725 in the meet, but then Greg Cook called for 755, which would break the all-time record, regardless of age or weight.  After a herculean effort, and the weight was locked out and still, VanVleck gave the down call for a good lift and a new record!  Chad came back to match it with a 4th attempt for record.  Dean Ross and Chris Todd also hit records on their fourth.

The last event in the contest was the Dumbell to shoulder. Because you can basically get it to your shoulder by whatever means you can, we got to witness some interesting techniques, from just cleaning it, to swinging it, to excruciating series of movements in the form of a continental.  John Douglas did kind of a combination swing/continental to result in a big 200# lift. I was pleased to surpass my old record with a 313# lift, though I am suffering for it now.

After the meet was over and we were tallying scores, lifters had the otion of trying out an exhibition lift, the Lurich Lift. It is basically a Hack Lift from 18”.  This lift was the brain child of Lance Foster, so I kind of let him take the reigns on this one.  Several lifters took part.  I took one attempt that failed at an embarrassing weight due to form issues, anatomical difficultied, or a combination thereof.  Denny hit 185, Dean Ross hit 205, and John Douglas hit 225.  Lance hit 315 on his pet lift. Ben Edwards managed a 405 lift on it, but Chad ullum amazed and insulted everyone with a massive lift of 605.  So I guess this lift is possible.  At the end, here are my thoughts on the lift is this going forward.  I did not enjoy this lift for obvious reasons.  With that being said, I see no reason why this lift would not be considered a valid OTSM lift and be presented for inclusion in our rule book.  Feel free to chime in on this in our forum.

Wow! I felt like this was the  tightest, fiercest competition this Championship has seen.  Watching the scores unfold, I could not have told you if I won or got 7th or last.  There was some big hitters at this meet, hitting big weights.  I was hard to tell how it would all fall.  In the end, it fell like this:

MEET RESULTS

Meet Promoter: Eric Todd

Head Official (1-Official System): Thom VanVleck

Loaders: All competitors

OTSM Lifts: Thor’s Hammer, Hackenschmidt Floor Press, Kennedy Lift, Dumbbell to Shoulder

Meet shirts provided by Metabolic Technologies

Hostess and Sandwich deliverer: Jenny Todd

 WOMENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT Thor HFP Ken DB TOT PTS
Heather Tully 38 213 25 175 400 100 700 603.5

MENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT Tho HFP Ken DB TOT PTS
Greg Cook 60 253 40 275 755 175 1245 1187.1
Eric Todd 42 252 60 385 650 313 1408 1145.3
Chad Ullom 45 245 40 315 725 250 1330 1128.8
Abe Smith 36 180 30 345 600 200 1175 1114.5
Scott Tully 40 354 45 360 660 200 1265 858.7
Ben Edwards 42 234 55 250 525 150 980 827.6
John Douglas 54 315 40 275 500 200 1015 827.4
Denny Habecker 74 195 25 200 325 75 625 764.1
Dean Ross 74 231 25 200 335 90 650 724.5
Chris Todd 38 272 30 275 365 175 845 642.4
Lance Foster 51 326 32.5 155 400 150 737.5 576.2

Notes: BWT in pounds. All lifts recorded in pounds. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight adjustments.

Lurich Lift – Exhibition Lift

Ben Edwards 405
Dean Ross 205
Denny Habecker 185
Lance Foster 315
Chad Ullum 605
John Douglas 225

Extra Attempts for Record

Hackenschmidt Floor Press
Dean Ross 210

Kennedy Lift
Dean Ross 365
Chris Todd 405
Chad Ullum 755

Heather Tully became the third women’s champion last year, and this year becomes the first two time champion.  Greg Cook becomes the 6th Champion in seven years.  What made this the most impressive was that he did it against all but one former champs.  He bested Chad, myself, Denny and Abe, all former OTSM champs to achieve this goal.  Thank you to all who came out and helped or competed.  It was a great day to be an all-rounder!

Iron Warrior Record Day

By Dan Wagman, PhD, CSCS

THE 2017 IRON WARRIOR RECORD DAY

Dan Wagman pulling 726 pounds in the Kennedy Lift!

Dan Wagman pulling 726 pounds in the Kennedy Lift!

On August 27, Denver’s Iron Warrior Gym hosted another USAWA Record Day. This gym’s perfect for all-round as it’s spacious, has several platforms, and tons of weights. Still, it’s obvious that the people training and coaching there aren’t familiar with the diversity of strength tests all-round offers. This time three lifters attempted to rewrite the record book while RJ Jackson and Jarrod Fobes judged.

Daryl Jackson, a University of Colorado student, has a varied martial arts background and is relatively new to all-round, though he was named Lifter of the Month in April, 2017. Considering how demanding his studies are, he thought it best to only contest two of his favorite lifts, the pull-up and chin-up. He started with the pull-up where he was successful with a new record of 95 pounds and missed 105. He wasn’t happy with that because he was hoping for 110 but I suspect that the super strict nature of pulling required by USAWA impacted how much he could lift; he missed his first two tries at 95 pounds on technicalities. But he kept his spirits high, supinated his grip, and gave the chin-up all he had. He missed his first attempt with 90 pounds, got it on his second, and had just enough energy left to declare, “I’m smoked. I’m done.”

RJ tasked her co-meet director Jarrod with judging her lifts. Of the five lifts she chose, the one she was most psyched about was the deadlift—index-finger. An aspect of concern to her were the types of injuries seen in this lift, “I was worried about the potential of snapping a tendon or ligament in my finger,” she explained. A few years back she set the USAWA record in that lift to establish a high standard. Then she dug deep in to training science, finger anatomy and physiology, and developed a training approach that allowed her to increase her record by 25 pounds; “I’m just amazed at how much strength I was able to gain with just those two fingers,” she told Jarrod.

Another lift RJ was excited about was the dumbbell-to-shoulder. Al Myers wrote a recent blog entry about it, unfortunately only one female—and a 13-year old at that—has met this challenge. So RJ thought it time to test herself and she smoked 75 pounds on her first attempt. To my dismay she decided to leave it at that. I really would’ve enjoyed seeing her throw around 100+ pounds. Next time, right?!

As to me, I was fortunate in being able to rotate between RJ and Jarrod for judging. Since I rely exclusively on the latest scientific developments in training and competition, I enjoy a decided advantage over those who prefer myth and conjecture. And so I seek out challenges beyond other competitors or the record book. For this Record Day I decided to see if I could devise a science-based training regimen that would allow me to break the Open deadlift—index-finger and middle-finger records in the same meet and in so doing also exceed the Open IAWA records, all while remaining injury free. I was successful on both counts with my index-finger but failed within inches of lockout to unofficially break the world record with my middle-fingers.

But that Al Myers and his darn blogs….Well into my training for the finger-deadlift-challenge I read Al’s blog entry on the Kennedy Lift. This lift I had never done and so I reasoned that it would constitute a great personal challenge to crank out some big weight with only three weeks of training left. To meet the challenge of putting resistance training research to the test I had to figure out how to most effectively manipulate all training variables so that in a short period of time I could lift a maximal amountof weight while, again, remaining injury free—this latter point has become most important to me over the 30+ years I’ve been competing in various strength sports. Principles of physiology dictate that I needed to focus primarily on having my nervous system learn the new movement; strength development had to be secondary. To do so with maximum effect I trained the Kennedy eight times in three weeks and manipulated all remaining training variables in very specific ways. Very quickly, however, I realized that I just might have challenged myself beyond what’s reasonable…

Dan almost made 331 pounds with his middle fingers! He had it close to lockout when his fingers gave way!

Dan almost made 331 pounds with his middle fingers! He had it close to lockout when his fingers gave way!

Due to the high frequency of training the Kennedy it invariably fell a few times on the same day as my finger deadlift work. Since I trained the finger deadlifts first, the result was drastically reduced grip strength for the Kennedy. But based on the many biomechanics studies focused on grip strength and training studies about maximizing gains in the type of muscle contraction unique to the vast majority of grip-strength tests, I wasn’t deterred; I knew the approach would generate supercompensation. In addition, to aid in grip strength recovery between finger deadlifts and the Kennedy I decided to throw in the press-dumbbell as an “intermission” for my main challenges.

Upon warming up for the Kennedy it became apparent that I had made tremendous gains in strength; my opener and second attempt were smoke. So I decided to give 766 a ride to break Al’s (yes, THAT Al) all-time record. But what good are strong legs, a strong back, and perfect technique if you can’t hold on to the bar? Despite the awesome gains made, grip strength remained the weak link in the Kennedy chain. Nevertheless—Hail Science!

Meet Results:

Iron Warrior Record Day
Iron Warrior Gym
Denver, Colorado
Sunday, August 27th, 2017

Meet Directors: RJ Jackson & Jarrod Fobes

Lifts: Record Day

Officials:
RJ Jackson – 1 Official Jarrod Fobes
Daryl Jackson – 1 Official RJ Jackson
Dan Wagman – 2 Officials Jarrod Fobes & RJ Jackson

RJ Jackson – F, 55 years old, 105.8 lbs. BWT
Dumbbell to Shoulder: 75 lbs.
Seated Press, from Rack: 70 lbs.
Side Press – Dumbbell, Right: 40 lbs.
Deadlift – Index Fingers: 105 lbs.
Side Press – Dumbbell, Left: 35 lbs.

Daryl Jackson – M, 27 years old, 152 lbs. BWT
Pull Up: 95 lbs.
Chin Up: 90 lbs.

Dan Wagman – M, Open Class, 182.6 lbs. BWT
Deadlift – Index Fingers: 216 lbs.
Deadlift – Middle Fingers: 316 lbs.
Press – Dumbbell, Left: 101 lbs.
Press – Dumbbell, Right: 101 lbs.
Kennedy Lift: 726 lbs.

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