USAWA

By Eric Todd

MEET REPORT AND RESULTS

2016 Old Time Strongman Championships

Another chapter of USAWA’s Old Time Strongman Championship is in the books. This is one of the newer championships in the USAWA.  It was started by Thom VanVleck several years ago, and has been hosted by me for the past 3 years.  This year’s event proved to be our best turnout since it has been contested in the big tin-can with ten competitors.  The weather could not have been more cooperative.  It was a great day to be an all-rounder.

The day started off with a bang. My 3 month old black lab/redbone hound mix Archibald was on hand to support us all day.  Before the meet he was causing a commotion over behind some equipment by the wall.  When we looked to see what was going on, it appeared he was doing battle with a critter, which turned out to be a woodchuck.  Before long, it became obvious that Archie would be the victor, and he proudly made a victory lap around the barn with the critter hanging from his mouth.

Anyhow, after the excitement, it was time for the lifting to begin. We had a wide array of competitors with different lifting experience.  Abe Smith made his way back into the USAWA.  Abe saw lots of success competing for Clarks gym a number of years ago.  At a lighter bodyweight with huge poundages lifted, Abe has always been tough to beat in all-round.  President Denny Habecker came from Pennsylvania.  Denny is a seasoned all-rounder and Olympic weightlifter.  His travel partner was one of the senior members of the USAWA, Art Montini.  Dean Ross from Oklahoma was there.  Dean has been a highland games thrower for many years, and now is a stalwart in the USAWA.  My good friend and training partner Lance Foster was there.  Lance has competed in strongman, powerlifting, Highland Games, and all-round.  Scott Tully and Heather Gardner came from Salina, KS to compete.  Scott, who was a huge presence in Strongman for many years, also competed in powerlifting and highland games.  Heather trains at Scott’s gym, Driven Fitness, and has primarily competed in powerlifting.  Greg Cook made his return to all-round.  Greg is an old school powerlifter who I competed with in strongman for a number of years.  Ben Edwards also came to us from Kansas.  Ben has competed in all-round and highland games, but is probably best known for being one of the most successful grip competitors in our area.

We started off with the Dinnie lift. There were some great lifts here, with four lifters going over 600 pounds.  Abe Smith’s 650 without the aid of a hook grip was maybe the most impressive, along with Heather’s 480 record attempt.

The next discipline was the Thor’s hammer. I had heard that in training, Ben had been hitting record poundages, so I knew I would have my work cut out for me to keep pace.  Well, we both hit our stride in this one.  We both hit the all-time record on the Thor’s hammer in competition of 55 pounds.  In a record attempt, I also hit a 60 pound lift, to again beat the all-time record.

In the third lift of the meet, we contested the Saxon Snatch. Though not Art’s favorite lift, he did comment to me that he would be making the implement when he got home.  Scott’s best in the competition was 100 pounds.  But in a record attempt, he nailed 110 for the all-time record in an attempt that looked effortless.

In the last lift of the day, we did the Hackenschmidt Floor Press. Scott opened very conservatively, but ended with a top lift of 355.  Abe wowed everyone again with a 335 lift at 183 pound body weight.  Heather challenged the guys with her 175 lift.

In the end, Abe’s incredible strength per body weight was insurmountable. Particularly impressive as he had not trained for these specific disciplines.   Heather was the women’s champion.  Results are as follows.

Meet Results:

2016 OTSM Championships
September 10, 2016
ET’s House of Stone
Turney, MO

Meet Director: Eric Todd

Officials: Eric Todd, Lance Foster, Denny Habecker

Lifts: Thor’s Hammer, Hackenschmidt Floor Press, Saxon Snatch, Dinnie Lift

Lifter	Weight	Age	Dinnie	Thor’s	Saxon	Hacken	Total	Ajd	Age Adj	Place
Eric Todd	259	41	700	55	105	400	1260	983.808	1003.484	2
Dean Ross	253.5	73	400	30	65	215	710	558.912	748.942	5
Denny Habecker	196.5	73	350	25	55	215	645	581.468	779.166	4
Art Montini	176	88	230	12.5	30	100	372.5	358.047	533.49	9
Lance Foster	340	50	480	32.5	60	175	747.5	511.664	567.947	8
Ben Edwards	231	41	500	55	80	245	880	726.528	741.059	7
Greg Cook	254	59	600	40	70	225	935	735.097	882.116	3
Scott Tully	356.5	40	600	40	100	355	1095	733.76	741.2	6
Abe Smith	183	37	650	30	80	335	1095	1028.315	1028.315	1
Heather Gardner	215	35	400	25	65	175	665	570.437	570.431	1
Extra attempts for record	Lifter	Weight
Hackenschmidt Floor press	Dean Ross	225
Dinnie Lift	Heather Graham	480
Thor’s Hammer	Eric Todd	60
Saxon Snatch	Scott Tully	110

All weights recorded in pounds.