2023 New England Grip Classic

By Mark Raymond

2023 New England Grip Classic

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Meet sponsored by and held at:

Frank’s Barbell Club

204 East Street, Wapole, MA 02032

Meet Director: Mark Raymond (Email owdmr@aol.com)

Sanctioned by : USAWA(membership required)

Lifts: 

Deadlift-Ciavattone Grip

Vertical Bar Deadlift-1 Bar, 1 inch, 1 hand

Deadlift-Fulton Dumbbell, 1 hand

Pinch Grip Deadlift

Deadlift-Reeves

Divisions:                Junior, Womens, Masters, Senior, and Open

Weigh Ins:              9:00-10:00- Day of Meet

 

Please let me know in advance if you plan on attending.

Dino Gym Challenge

By Al Myers

MEET RESULTS:

2023 Dino Gym Challenge

“Tribute to John McKean”

Group picture from the 2023 Dino Gym Challenge

Group picture from the 2023 Dino Gym Challenge

The Dino Gym Challenge is often the first meet of the year for the USAWA, so I always hope that I can promote a competition that starts things off well for the organization.   Despite the snow that blowed in on Saturday that kept a few lifters away, it was a GREAT hard day of lifting for the 5 lifters that took to the platform. This meet was in tribute to the late John McKean.  John was a good friend  and a “big player” in the history of the USAWA, as well as an USAWA Hall of Famer.  I made sure to tell many stories about John throughout the day as well as all lifters receiving a retro Tshirt that John had designed for the 2012 Nationals that I organized in Las Vegas for our 25 year anniversary of the USAWA.

Much to everyone’s surprise was Chad Ullom making an appearance!  Chad just had total shoulder replacement a little over a week ago and seemed in great spirits.  LaVerne was going to sit this one out and officiate, but with Chad there I subbed him into the head chair so ole dad could enjoy himself lifting.  I was worried that Chad might be “slow on the calls” because of pain meds, but he did an outstanding job as usual.  He even stepped up and did a couple of lifts with his good arm in the one handed lifts.  I refused to watch as I thought he was crazy to do that and I didn’t want to be witness to a potential horror show, but he’s an iron warrior and lifted unscathed.

I hadn’t seen Lance in a while and hardly recognized him as he’s lost so much weight.  He looked fit and lifted better than he did when he was heavier.   I was very impressed with him, as dieting and losing weight is a difficult task.

Scottish Johnny sure put on a good lifting show and pushed me much harder than I had planned.  He always makes his lifts look effortless (unlike myself who looks like I’m gonna pop a vessel).  After the Kennedy Lift he did a great record day lift of 711 pounds in the Peoples DL which probably was the highlight lift of the day.

After the meet I put on a big fish fry for all that stayed.  John loved to fish as much as lifting and I know he would have been impressed by this (sorry you had to miss out on this Denny as I know how much you love your fish and chips!).

As great as the day was, there was a sense of sadness in the air with the absence of longtime Dino Gym member Dean Ross.  Dean’s fighting some health issues and couldn’t make it.  I can’t remember the last time Dean missed a Dino Gym event.

Meet Results:

Dino Gym Challenge
Saturday, January 21st, 2023
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas

Meet Director: Al Myers

Meet Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Meet Officials (1 official system used): Chad Ullom, Al Myers, LaVerne Myers

Lifts: 1×2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift, Bentover Row, Dumbbell Deadlift One Arm, Deadlift 2 Bars, Kennedy Lift

Lifter Age BWT VB Row DL1 DL2 Kenn TOT PTS
Al Myers 56 230 180R 275 330R 441 711 1937 1875.6
John Strangeway 44 216 180L 275 330L 507 661 1953 1754.3
LaVerne Myers 78 220 135L 155 200L 224 280 994 1279.9
Lance Foster 57 257 145R 175 220R 300 397 1237 1141.2
Chad Ullom 51 220 145L —- 200L — — 345 327.3

Notes: BWT is bodyweight in pounds. R and L designate right and left arms. TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are overall corrected points for age and bodyweight adjustments.

RECORD DAY LIFTS:

John Strangeway – 44 years, 216 pounds
1×2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift Left Arm: 191 pounds
Peoples Deadlift: 711 pounds

LaVerne Myers – 78 years, 220 pounds
Curl Cheat Dumbbell Left: 40 pounds
Curl Cheat Dumbbell Right: 40 pounds
Curl Cheat 2 Dumbbells: 70 pounds
Deadlift 2 Fulton Dumbbells: 250 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell Left: 125 pounds

Al Myers – 56 years, 230 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Bar Right: 190 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Bar Left: 170 pounds
Curl Cheat Dumbbell Right: 75 pounds
Curl Cheat Dumbbell Left: 75 pounds
Deadlift 2 Fulton Dumbbells: 320 pounds

Postal Series

The 2022 Postal series had great participation again! Over the 4 Postals we had 37 men and 9 women that competed in at least one postal. So the overall ranking for the postals was done again using the same scoring system as in the past. The overall placing in the meet determines you points. I.E.- if three lifters compete, lifter number one gets 3 points, lifter number 2 gets 2 points and lifter number three gets 1 point.Obviously then, as more lifters enter, more points can be earned for winning and all lifters earn points regardless where they place overall. Just entering will earm points toward the Postal Series Ranking. The Postal Championships is worth “double pionts”. Several lifters that competed in all the Postal meets last year and they deserve to be recognized. These lifters are the GRAND SLAM WINNERS: Beth Skwarecki, R.J. Jackson,Stacy Todd, Kim Van Wagner, Phoebe Todd, Janet Thompson, Abe Smith, Randy Smith, Nick Frieders, Dave Hahn, John J. Carter, Dave DeForest, Jarod Fobes, Barry Pensyl, Denny Habecker, Chris Todd, Tony Lupo, Eric Todd, LeRoy Todd, Everett Todd and Bill Clark.

Now for the overall ranking for the 2022 USAWA Postal Series!

WOMEN’S DIVISION – TOP FIVE

PLACING       LIFTER                   MEETS ENTERED     POINTS

1-Tie            Beth Skwarecki                  4                      33

1-Tie            R.J. Jackson                      4                      33

3            Stacy Todd                        4                     20

4           Kim Van Wagner                4                      19

5           Phoebe Todd                     4                       17

MEN’S DIVISION – TOP TEN

PLACING      LIFTER              MEETS ENTERED     POINTS

1              Abe Smith                    4                     115

2            Randy Smith                  4                     104

3            Nick Frieders                 4                      97

4           John J. Carter                 4                      95

5.          Dave DeForest                4                      84

6.         Anthony Hose                  3                     78

7.         Dave Hahn                      4                     76

8.         Eric Todd                        4                      65

8.         Barry Pensyl                   4                      65

10.       Denny Habecker             4                      64

This has been a great year for our USAWA Postal Series. The overall Champions for the 2022 USAWA Postal Series are WOMEN- BETH SKWARECKI in a tie with RJ JACKSON and MEN – ABE SMITH. Congrats to those two lifters and thank you to everyone who participated in the Postal Series last year.

 

 

Century Club Update

By Eric Todd

Dave DeForest-One of our newest members of the Century Club

Dave DeForest-One of our newest members of the Century Club

With the newest record update, I figured it was time to take a new look at the Century Club.  And there has been some movement.  The men’s Century Club, our biggest mover was no surprise.  It was Abe smith, and if he is in a meet, you know he is challenging for top honors, and records are going to be one of the many casualties in his wake.  Abe jumped up 39 records in his count, and that moved him up 9 spots to number 17.  Randy Smith jumped up the second most spots by moving four to number 25 on our list.  Big Frank Ciavattone improved his count by 21 records, and that saw him go from eighth on our list to seventh.  Myself and our founder, Bill Clark moved up 20 and 19 records, respectively, but maintained what place we sit in.  Biggest news in the men’s division is the addition of Dave DeForest, of Clark’s Gym.  This makes Dave the fifth member of Clark’s Gym to make the cut.  Dave sits at 111 records and is tied for 28th place.

Phoebe Todd becomes the fifth member of the Women's Century Club, and the youngest member to ever do it at age 12

Phoebe Todd becomes the fifth member of the Women’s Century Club, and the youngest member to ever do it at age 12

The Women’s Division once again saw very little movement.  RJ Jackson stands firm in first place, Noi Phumchona stays in second, Mary McConnaughey in third, and Susan Sees in fourth.  This is the way this list has looked for some time.  There is a new name on the list, though.  Young Phoebe Todd has broken through the Century mark at 104 records.  Unless I am missing something (and I am not), Phoebe is the youngest member ever of the Century Club.  She joins the ranks at a mere twelve years of age.

Below is a link to the club:

Record List and Century Club

Plese note, our records director John Strangeway has been doing some work on cleaning this list up.  So if you are unsure why your count is lower than you think, that is why.  There were duplicate records for the same lift spanning decades.  So, for a time, you might have had a record listed that had since been beat, but your record remained on the books.  So, while we are not claiming it is perfect, this should be a more accurate reflection of where you stand in the record count.

New record List Out

By Eric Todd
The newest record list is out and posted. This list is current through the “Lift for Leroy Record Day.” If you are uncertain if your record should be included or not, please refer to the results page. If your lift was completed in a meet that was posted after “Lift for Leroy” it is not and should not be posted yet. Hope you guys enjoy Johnny’s work, and to see where you and your friends fall on the records list. Will be posting an update on the century club soon.

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