By Al Myers
Barry Pensyl performing a Habecker Lift at the 2019 Presidential Cup.
Congratulations goes to Barry Pensyl, for being selected as the USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH for August. Barry competed in the USAWA Presidential Cup in August, hosted by our USAWA President Denny Habecker, and was awarded the Presidential Cup for 2019. This is an outstanding lifting accomplishment!
Way to go Barry!!!
By Al Myers
Barry Pensyl (center) is now an USAWA Certified Official.
Habecker’s Gym gained a new USAWA Certified Official this week! Longtime USAWA member Barry Pensyl just completed the certification process and is now listed as a Level 1 Certified Official on the website. That gives him authority to officiate any sanctioned USAWA competition. It also allows him to officiate in the IAWA as well, as all USAWA officials are also IAWA officials.
Congrats Barry!!
By Denny Habecker
2019 USAWA PRESIDENTIAL CUP
Barry Pensyl (left) won the Presidential Cup Award.
We had a small, but talented group of lifters for the Presidential Cup this year. , Lou Tortorelli came up from New Jersey to do an outstanding Trap Bar Deadlift, Dean Ross drove all the from Oklahoma to do some very difficult lifts , Barry Pensyl, from Easton, did some great lifting, and last but not least, my grandson Aidan Habecker did 5 very good lifts. Barry Pensyl won the Presidential Cup this year for his outstanding Allen Lift. The lifts were judged under the one official format. I was the only certified official.
MEET RESULTS
2019 Presidential Cup
August 3rd, 2019
Habeckers Gym
Lebanon, PA
Meet Director: Denny Habecker
Officials (1 official system used): Denny Habecker
Dean Ross 76- 238.5 Lbs [75-79] 110 Kg. class
Piper Squat- 121 Lbs.
Side Press – Dumbbell – Left Hand – 10 Lbs.
Side Press – Dumbbell – Right Hand – 10 Lbs.
Barry Pensyl – 71 – 149 Lbs. [70-74] 70 Kg. Class
Cheat Curl – 105 Lbs.
Deadlft – Index Fingers – 95 Lbs.
Habecker Lift – 198 Lbs.
Allen Lift – 29 Lbs.
Lou Tortorelli – 53 – 239 Lbs. [50-54] 110Kg. Class
Trap Bar Deadlift – 425Lbs.
Aidan Habecker – 16 – 204 Lbs [16-17] 95 Kg. Class
Jerk from Racks – Behind Neck – 132 Lbs.
Clean & Push Press – Dumbells – 80 Lbs.
James Lift 45Lbs.
Habecker Lift – 204Lbs.
Dumbbell Walk – 55 Lbs.
By Al Myers
I just got done updating the USAWA Record List and the Century Club. And to my excitement we have a new USAWA Century Club member, and that is BARRY PENSYL. The Century Club is for an inclusive group of All Rounders who hold over 100 USAWA records. It’s not easy to exceed 100 records in our organization, and often takes many years. Barry has been working towards this for a long, long time. His first USAWA record was set in 1990 at the Nationals in Akron! So this has been a 27 year project for Barry! Big congrats Barry from myself and the rest of the USAWA.
Other than that, there were not any really big changes in the CENTURY CLUB. Our Prez Denny still holds the big lead over the rest of the field in the Mens Club, with a total of 575 USAWA Records. RJ still holds the top Women’s spot in the Womens Century Club and is closing in on 300 USAWA Records. In the Men’s Club all the top ten members either stayed the same or increased their record count. In the Womens Club all four members stayed the same or increased their count. The Men’s Century Club now stands at 25 members with the addition of Barry. The biggest record “increasers” since last count were: RJ (+17), Denny (+15), LaVerne (+11), and myself (+19). Not much changed in the overall order – the women’s Club stayed the same and only two changes happened in the Mens Club. LaVerne moved past THE LEGEND Howard Prechtel to 13th place, and ET moved up a place to 22nd. One thing had me really concerned when updating this list, and that is that I found a “record error” with Dave Glasgow, who’s barely holding in the Century Club with an even 100 records. Apparently I had made a previous mistake in the Record List by attributing a record to Dave, when it should have went to his Uncle Kenny! So I had to made the correction which would have meant Dave had not officially reached the Century Club – but to my good luck I got to add a record for Dave when I added the Strict Pinch Grip to the Record List so he’s still in with his count of 100. But PLEASE DAVE set a few more so you will no longer be on the “cut line”!
I’ve always been pretty good at predicting who the next Century Club member will be. I “nailed it’ with Barry, and with Eric and Randy before as well. Now who do I predict it will be now? My bet is on Dan Wagman! Dan is standing at 90 Records and it wouldn’t take him much work to get 10 more. But that depends on Dan not going “off the grid” in the near future, which with Dan you never know! So I’m going to hedge my bet and throw out another name for a future Century Club member. Abe Smith is currently standing at 91 USAWA Records, and has shown interest in lifting this spring in the USAWA. His odds are very good that he will make the Club as well.
Be sure to check out the latest Record List update.
By Al Myers
Barry Pensyl performed a very difficult lift, the Abdominal Raise, at the 2017 Presidential Cup.
A big congrats goes to the USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH for December – BARRY PENSYL. There was only one sanctioned USAWA event during the month of December, the John Vernacchio Memorial Record Day hosted by Denny Habecker at Habecker’s Gym. Barry is a member of Habecker’s Gym and has been a very active participant in events at Habecker’s Gym over the past few years. At the Vernacchio Memorial Barry set 5 new USAWA Records. Barry is getting very close to joining the prestigious USAWA Century Club for lifters that hold 100 records or more. I’ve been watching his count closely (mid 90’s on last count) and it’s quite possible with his efforts from this past record day he may now be in the CLUB with the next Record List update. Barry has been around the USAWA since the beginning, competing in his first USAWA competition at the 1990 USAWA National Championships in Akron, Ohio.