USAWA

By Eric Todd

This Saturday past saw the 13th annual Old Time Strongman Championship. There was no championship held in 2020, due to the pandemic. It was on track to being the best attended OTSM championships, but due to illness, work obligations and other matters, we fell short of tying the top set in 2017 and 2023 by one competitor.

The day was a beautiful one in God’s country. the conditions of the ole tin can were tolerable. The weights were heavy, and the competitors were ferocious. I do not know when I have seen a more determined group. Many a time, I saw lifts that felt like they were going to fail, but the will of the competitor would not be denied. That is the stuff that keeps me hanging around.

We started off with the Saxon Snatch. The men’s division was dominated by Chad Ullom and Chris Todd. They both were successful with 90 pounds. That is not too far off the all time mark of 110 set by Scott Tully in 2016. The fight of the day was Everett Todd’s 30 pounds. He was denied several times for a lockout before finally making a clean lift. In the women’s division, the top lift was a 60 pound effort by Stacy Todd.

We then moved to the Habecker Lift, named after the honorable president Denny Habecker, who was MIA due to an illness. This lift almost crippled me once. Chad Ullom again had the top mark in the men’s division with 405 pounds. The women’s class saw the youngster Lilly Todd outdistance her ma 215# to 190#.

The third lift was the Apollon’s Lift. a clean and press with a two-inch bar. The slight slant of the platform and the slope of the roof (believe me, there is a learning curve on that one) saw some people struggle with this one. Chris Todd easily set the top mark in the men’s class with a 175 pound effort. The lift of the day, though was from his daughter Lillian. The 2-inch bar gave her fits in the clean. In her last attempt, it appeared there was no way she would get the lift after multiple failures to clean it. With time winding down, she executed the clean, and finished off the press for the best effort in the women’s division of 90 pounds.

The last lift of the day was the Kennedy Lift. This is the lift in which we expected the highest poundage’s. Chad outdistanced the men’s field by almost 300 pounds, hitting a 705 pound effort. Stacy Todd bested the women’s division by 125 pounds. There were some stupid efforts in this lift. It was clear everone was going for broke to finish the meet.

Official results are as follow:

Old Time Strongman Championship
ET’s House of Iron and Stone
Turney, MO
September 9, 2023

Meet Director: Eric Todd

Meet Announcer: Eric Todd

Score Keeper: Chris Todd

The three Official system was used for all lifts

Official: Eric Todd, Dave Glasgow

Loaders: Eric Todd, Dave Glasgow and most of the lifters

All lifts are recorded in pounds, as is the total. Adj is the adjusted score after Lynch and Age adjustment. 

Lifts: Saxon Snatch, Habecker Lift, Apollon’s Lift, Kennedy Lift