By Al Myers
The USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH for March is John Strangeway, of the KCSTRONGMAN Club. Scottish Johnny has been a regular at local USAWA competitions and postal meets throughout the last year. He was the overall Men’s Champion in the 1st Quarter Postal Meet of 2019.
I have lifted with Johnny many times now and he has great enthusiasm for the all rounds. Congratulations on being the Lifter of the Month!
By Al Myers
The nomination & voting period is over for the 2018 USAWA yearly awards, to be awarded at the National Championships in several categories for outstanding performances within the USAWA. I have just finished the tabulations and I am getting ready to contact the awards shop to get the awards made up. So – I KNOW who the winners are but that’s still a secret until the awards presentation time! But there is ONE AWARD that is announced ahead of time – the USAWA Club of the Year. The reason it’s announced early is that it is really not a mystery as to who the winner is as this is the one award that is based on generating points instead of votes. I have outlined this point system several times in the past so I won’t rehash all that now. What I’m trying to say is this – anyone can add up the points on their own as ALL of the information is available on the website to do so, thus this winner is “no mystery”.
No club can win an award like this based on one individuals performance or effort. It takes contributions of several. And this club EXCEEDED that for sure – with several lifters helping FRANK’S BARBELL CLUB win the 2018 CLUB OF THE YEAR. Frank’s club had 16 registered USAWA members, far exceeding any other club. Their club members included: Frank Ciavattone, Jeff Ciavattone, Joe Ciavattone Sr., Joe Ciavattone Jr., David Gago, Laura Inglis, Chis Lestan, Eric Lestan, Kim Lydon, Rocky Morrison, Tony Patterson, Mark Raymond, Colleen Richards, Dan Rowe, Michael Vuono, and Peter Vuono. The club also had 2 lifters compete at Nationals (Joe Sr. and Joe Jr.) and promoted 3 club events.
The final standings for the 2018 USAWA CLUB OF THE YEAR (only top 3 listed):
1. Franks Barbell Club – 29 points
2. Habecker’s Gym – 17 points
3. KC Strongman – 16 points
As per the original rules for the Club of the Year, the defending USAWA Club of the Year is not eligible the following year, and instead is responsible for “passing the title” at the next year’s awards presentation. The Dino Gym was the Club of the Year in 2017 and will get the honor of awarding this year’s awards for the Club of the Year.
By Mark Raymond
MEET –
2019 USAWA HEAVY LIFT CHAMPIONSHIP
The meet was a great success. We had 6 lifters from Massachusetts and New York. It was held at Frank’s Barbell Club in East Walpole, Massachusetts.
The Lestan brothers, Chris and Eric, were outstanding on the platform! It’s always good to see them in action.
Michael Rabich from Queens, New York, showed lots of enthusiasm as he performed his lifts. We always enjoy spending time with Michael when he comes to visit.
Congratulations to Joe Ciavattone Sr who was overall champion of the meet.
Thanks to Frank and Joe Sr. who officiated the meet.
A special thank you to Peter Vuono for cheering us on throughout the event.
And a special thank you Frank for welcoming us all into his home and treating us to pizza after the event.
Results are as follows:
USAWA Heavy Lift Championship
Frank’s Barbell Club, East Walpole, Massachusetts
May 11th2019
Meet Director: Mark Raymond
Host: Frank Ciavattone
Meet Announcer/Scorekeeper: Frank Ciavattone
Officials – Frank Ciavattone, Joe Ciavattone Sr.
All lifts recorded in pounds
| Lifters using the one official system: | ||||
| LIFTER | AGE | WEIGHT | M/F | CLASS |
| Frank Ciavattone | 64 | 292 | M | 125 Kg/60+ Masters |
| Joe Ciavattone | 50 | 236 | M | 110 Kg/50+ Masters |
| Lifters using the three official system: | ||||
| LIFTER | AGE | WEIGHT | M/F | CLASS |
| Chris Lestan | 23 | 271 | M | 125 Kg/Open |
| Eric Lestan | 14 | 148 | M | 70 Kg/14-15 Juniors |
| Michael Rabich | 38 | 195 | M | 90 Kg/Open |
| Mark Raymond | 56 | 252 | M | 115 Kg/55+ Masters |
| Lift 1 | Neck Lift | ||||||
| Lift 2 | Hand and Thigh Lift | ||||||
| Lift 3 | Hip Lift | ||||||
| Lifter | Age | Weight | Lift 1 | Lift 2 | Lift 3 | Total # | Total Points |
| Chris Lestan | 23 | 271 | 700 | 1000 | 1800 | 3500 | 2668 |
| Eric Lestan | 14 | 148 | 110 | 550 | 800 | 1460 | 1885 |
| Frank Ciavattone | 64 | 292 | 110 | 300 | 600 | 1000 | 920 |
| Joe Ciavattone Sr. | 50 | 236 | 600 | 1000 | 1500 | 3100 | 2813 |
| Mark Raymond | 56 | 252 | 110 | 800 | 1200 | 2110 | 1951 |
| Michael Rabich | 38 | 195 | 400 | 1000 | 1200 | 2600 | 2357 |
| Record Day Lifts | |||||||
| Lifter | Lift | # | |||||
| Michael Rabich | Squat – Lunge | 240 |
By Scott Schmidt
MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –
SCHMIDT BARBELL CLUB RECORD DAY
Greetings to All our USAWA members!
I am setting up a USAWA Record Meet on July 13, 2019 at my Schmidt Bar Bell Club. The address is 2571 Glenmore Drive Westlake, Ohio 44145. We can weigh in at 11 am and start lifting at Noon.There is not a fee to attend but you do need a membership in USAWA to set Records.
If you would like to attend, you can e mail me at: onelifter@yahoo.com
I look forward to a Fun Event! We can have a snack after we lift.
By Al Myers
DINO GYM SPRING RECORD DAY
Group picture from the 2019 Dino Gym Spring Record Day
What an exciting weekend at the Dino Gym!!! We celebrated LaVerne’s 75th birthday with a record day and a big fish fry afterwards. The weather was perfect for a fun day.
Seven lifters made their way to the gym for the event. Each lifter set their “usawa max” of 5 records each. I want to really thank these guys for making it, as a few of them came quite a long way. Our President, Denny, made the longest drive from Pennsylvania. Dean never misses an event at the gym and made his normal drive from Oklahoma. Lance and Scottish Johnny came from Kansas City, and John Douglas made his several hour drive from western Kansas.
LaVerne putting his new cane to use!!!
Many great record day lifts were made. As I inputted the results a few really stood out to me. Regrettably, I was tied up with work and made it to the gym late so I missed out on most of lifts. Scottish Johnny put up a 425# front squat which is a huge lift for a lifter over 40. The birthday boy LaVerne put up some great finger lifts. Big John put up over 400 pounds in the Neck Lift, and Lance combined many different types of lifting to put up the most well rounded set of records. Dean exerted himself fully by back lifting and harness lifting over 1000 pounds. Denny put up big records in the one arm dumbbell deadlift with both arms. My highlight was doing the Lurich Lift for the first time and realizing I like it much better than the Hack Lift!
The evening festivities were held on my deck. We had a few other gym members join us that night – including Brandon, Casey, Hunter, Molly, K dog, Katie, and Cale. Each of us took our time giving a roast and gag gift to LaVerne for his birthday. Even though we didn’t get the 75 new records I was hoping for, we did give LaVerne a birthday he won’t forget!
Meet Results:
Dino Gym Spring RD
Dino Gym
Holland, KS
May 4th, 2019
Meet Director: Al Myers
Scorekeeper: Al Myers
Lifts: Record Day Lifts
John Strangeway – BWT 207#, Age 40 years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Denny, Lance
Front Squat: 425#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 474#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 418#
Finger Lift – Left Index: 135#
Finger Lift – Right Index: 135#
LaVerne Myers – BWT 235#, Age 75 years
1 Official System – Denny
Finger Lift – Left Little: 65#
Finger Lift – Left Thumb: 71#
Finger Lift – Right Thumb: 71#
Finger Lift – Left Index: 90#
Finger Lift – Right Index: 111#
John Douglas – BWT 314#, Age 55 years
3 Official System – Denny, Lance, LaVerne
Front Squat: 350#
Bench Press – Feet in Air: 275#
Bent Over Row: 303#
Deadlift – Trap Bar: 501#
Neck Lift: 410#
Al Myers – BWT 233#, Age 52 Years
3 Official System – Denny, LaVerne, Lance
Back Extension: 150#
Lurich Lift: 579#
Deadlift – 2 Inch Dumbbells: 241#
Habecker Lift: 320#
Wrist Curl: 230#
Lance Foster – BWT 348#, Age 53 Years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Denny
Anderson Press: 135#
Clean & Jerk – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 50#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 275#
Harness Lift: 1240#
Bench Press – Fulton Bar: 144#
Dean Ross – BWT 235#, Age 76 Years
1 Official System – LaVerne
Back Lift: 1050#
Harness Lift: 1010#
Bench Press – Feet in Air: 135#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 135#
Back Extension: 75#
Denny Habecker – BWT 193#, Age 76 Years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Lance
Press – From Racks: 100#
Push Press – From Racks: 100#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 243#
Deadlift – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 147#
Deadlift – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 187#