Tag Archives: Dave Glasgow

History of Grip Championships

by Al Myers

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Dave Glasgow has been the only lifter who has competed in every year of the USAWA Grip Championships.

This year will be the 6th year for the USAWA Grip Championships.  It officially started in 2011.  The Grip Championships purpose is to recognize the best lifters in the USAWA for grip strength based on the official USAWA lifts. I have hosted this event every year at the Dino Gym.  It has been a continual event since it began with no missed years!  Each year it is contested on the second Saturday in February.

The USAWA has several lifts that emphasize grip strength.  One of the stipulations of any Championship event in the USAWA is that it MUST contain only official USAWA lifts. Also – the scoring for a Championship event must follow the USAWA scoring guidelines.

The focus of grip strength amongst USAWA lifters started years ago when Kevin Fulton hosted several SuperGrip Challenges at his gym. They always had good turnouts.  In 2010 I hosted my first grip competition at the Dino Gym, and it was attended so well that the Grip Championships was introduced the next year. Andrew Durniat won the Dino Gym Grip Challenge in 2010, setting several very good records in the process.

History of the Overall Best Lifters at the USAWA Grip Championships

 YEAR  MENS CHAMPION  WOMENS CHAMPION
 2015  LaVerne Myers  Mary McConnaughey
 2014  Dan Wagman  Ruth Jackson
 2013  Troy Goetsch  Ruth Jackson
 2012  Al Myers  None
 2011  Al Myers  Felecia Simms

Now for a little USAWA Grip Championships trivia:

Only 2 lifters have won Best Lifter twice in the Grip Champs – Ruth Jackson and myself.

The Grip Champs is consistently one of the better attended USAWA competitions each year.  The top year in attendance was 2013 with 16 competitors.  It has averaged 11.4 since it started.

Only one lifter has competed in every Grip Champs.  That is Dave Glasgow!  Dave has placed very high each year – 2011-3rd, 2012-4th, 2013-5th, 2014-3rd, and 2015-5th.

Six lifts have been contested twice – Vertical Bar Deadlift, 1 bar, 2″, Vertical Bar Deadlift, 2 Bars, 2″, Dumbbell Walk, Deadlift-Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip, Deadlift-Middle Finger, and the Pinch Grip.

The biggest margin of victory for best lifter was 2011 where I scored 127.1 points over Ben Edwards.

The closest margin of victory for best lifter was 2014 where Dan Wagman scored 6.2 points over LaVerne Myers.

The youngest lifter to win Best Lifter was Troy Goetsch at 27 years of age.  The oldest lifter to win Best Lifter was LaVerne Myers at 70 years of age.

There are several great lifts at the Grip Champs that I’ll always remember.  Among these include: Ben Edwards 310# Middle Finger Deadlift in 2011, Scott Tully’s 394# 2 Bar 2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift in 2012, Troy Goetsch 260# 2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift in 2013, Darren Barnhart and a 250# Pinch Grip in 2013, LaVerne Myers Dumbbell Walk of 123# in 2014, and Kyle Jones 305# Bear Hug in 2015.

TOO SOON OLD

BY DAVE GLASGOW

IF YOU WANT QUALITY EQUIPMENT THAT CAN BE CUSTOM MADE TO YOUR NEEDS, GIVE AL MYERS A TRY. NONE BETTER. I GUARANTEE IT. GIVE HIM A TRY! WHY??? ‘CAUSE I SAID SO!!!!

RECENTLY, I HAD OPPORTUNITY  TO MAKE A WONDERFUL PURCHASE OF A VERY FINE, SUPERBLY CRAFTED POWER RACK, BUILT BY OUR OWN AL MYERS. I DIDN”T REALLY NEED IT, AS I PURCHASED ONE FROM ANOTHER OUT FIT A COUPLE YEARS AGO. IT WAS VERY BASIC, BUT WELL BUILT, STURDY AND FUNCTIONAL. HOWEVER, WHEN I SAW THAT AL WAS IN BUSINESS, I JUST COULD NOT RESIST AND HAD TO HAVE ONE OF HIS CREATIONS.

CHRISTMAS CAME A COUPLE WEEKS LATE BUT THAT WAS OKAY. ALONG WITH DELIVERY CAME TWO YOUNG MEN TO ASSEMBLE THE RACK RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, SO THIS WAS A WIN/WIN SITUATION. I STILL HAD A LITTLE WORK TO DO TO ATTACH IT TO THE FLOOR BUT THAT WAS MINOR, IN RELATION TO SETTING IT UP.

WHILE I WAS WORKING PLACING THE RACK IN IT’S PERMANENT POSITION, I HAD SOME THOUGHTS THAT MADE ME CHUCKLE. THE ONE THAT KEPT COMING BACK TO ME WAS, ‘WELL, OLE MAN’, NOW YOU HAVE THIS FANCY ASS RACK AND YOU ARE TOO OLD TO PUT ANY SERIOUS WEIGHT ON IT!’ THEN IT OCURRED TO ME JUST HOW ‘LONG’ I HAD WAITED TO HAVE SOMETHING OF THIS QUALITY, WITH ALL THE ‘BELLS AND WHISTLES’ AND SUCH. IT WAS THEN THAT I STARTED A TRIP DOWN ‘MEMORY LANE’.

I GOT OUT OF COLLEGE IN THE MID-SEVENTIES; WITHOUT A DEGREE, I MIGHT ADD. I IMMEDIATLEY WENT TO WORK IN THE ‘OIL PATCH’. MONEY WAS TIGHT, THE WORK WAS HARD AND, SOMETIMES, HARD TO FIND. WHAT IS REFERRED TO, THESE DAYS, AS ‘DISPOSABLE INCOME’ WAS NON-EXSISTANT. WHY MY WIFE, GUNNER, LET ME BLOW THREE BILLS ON A YORK OLY SET IS WELL BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION. TO THINK I COULD ‘BLOW’ MONEY ON SOMETHING AS EXTRAVIGANT AS STORE BOUGHT LIFTING EQUIPMENT WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION.

SO, HAVING RUDIMENTARY WELDING SKILLS, I SET ABOUT MAKING MY OWN EQUIPMENT. THE NAME OF MY FIRST ‘GYM’ WAS ‘THE SCRAP IRON WEIGHT HOUSE’. IT DOES’NT TAKE A GENIUS OR DEEP THINKER TO FIGURE OUT WHY AND HOW IT GOT IT’S NAME. EVERYTHING I MADE WAS FROM THE ‘BONE YARD’ OF SCRAP METAL WE HAD AT THE FARM. I STILL HAVE THE BENCH I MADE AND MY FRIEND CONTINUES TO USE THE SQUAT RACKS I THREW TOGETHER (WHICH WILL BE ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT COULD POSSIBLY LIVE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, THAT’S HOW HEAVY AND DURABLE IT IS).

THE THING I WAS (AM) PROUDEST OF, HOWEVER, IS THE POWER RACK THAT I MADE, WITH MY DAD’S ASSISTANCE. I SCROUNGED FOUR 4 X 4s FROM AN OLD CRATE WE HAD AND DAD BORROWED A DRILL PRESS FROM A SHOP HE HAD CONNECTIONS WITH. WE HAD A ‘DOWN’ SATURDAY SO WE GOT TO WORK. DRILLING THE HOLES TOOK TWO HOURS AND WE FIGURED, WHEN WE WERE DONE, THAT WE HAD DRILLED 33’ FEET OF ‘HOLE’(COMING FROM THE ‘OIL PATCH’, THIS WAS IMPORTANT TO US!! HAHAHA). WITH SOME ANGLE IRON FOR SUPPORTS AND ‘SUCKER’ ROD FOR CROSS PIECES, I WAS IN BUSINESS!

THAT POWER RACK SERVED WELL UNTIL ABOUT 2007, WHEN I LOST THE PLACE I HAD BEEN LIFTING IN DUE TO AN ‘ECONOMIC DOWNTURN’. IT WAS A COUPLE YEARS BEFORE IT WAS PUT BACK IN USE.

ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE SWERLING OVER AND OVER IN MY HEAD AND I STOPPED AND MARVELED AT HOW FAR WE (GUNN AND I) HAD COME. I WAS SETTING UP A RACK THAT I, REALLY, DID’NT NEED AND WAS APROACHING AN AGE WHERE I COULD NOT, IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, USE TO IT’S FULL CAPABILITIES. DON’T MISUNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING. I WILL CONTINUE TO TRAIN JUST AS HARD BUT IN NO WAY WILL THIS RACK GET WORKED AS HARD AS IT IS FULLY CAPABLE OF. I KNOW I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD, IT’S JUST VERY HARD FOR ME TO REALIZE THAT I AM AT ‘THAT’ TIME IN MY LIFE! AT THIS POINT, I AM FIGHTING JUST TO SAVE WHAT I HAVE!!

FOR SOME REASON, I THOUGHT OF THE MOVIE, ‘IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE’. GEORGE IS COURTING MARY AND STANDING IN FRONT OF A HOUSE WHERE AN ‘OLDER’ MAN IS SITTING ON THE PORCH, READING A PAPER. GEORGE IS STRUGGLING WITH WHAT TO DO AND THE OLE GUY HOLLARS, ‘WHY DON’T YOU GO AHEAD AND KISS HER?!’ AS GEORGE JUST STANDS THERE, MOTIONLESS, THE MAN GETS UP FROM HIS CHAIR AND STARTS WALKING TO THE DOOR TO GO INSIDE. AS HE IS WALKING, HE SAYS, IN DISGUST, ‘AWWW, YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG!!!’

HOW TRUE, HOW TRUE! WHEN WE ARE YOUNG, WE HAVE NO COMPREHENSION OF TIME OR WHAT LIFE HAS IN STORE FOR US. AS GEORGE DID, WE MUDDLE THRU BEST WE CAN, AND, USUALLY, AS CHEAP AS WE CAN. IT IS ONLY WHEN WE REACH A CERTAIN AGE THAT WE CAN BE A BIT MORE EXTRAVIGANT AND PURCHASE SOMETHING WE REALLY WANT, NOT NECCESARILY WHAT WE NEED.

STILL, AGED OR NOT, LOWER WEIGHTS BE DAMNED, I WILL ENJOY THIS HOLLAND STRENGTH RACK AND PUT IT TO USE AS BEST AS AN ‘OLD GUY’ CAN. I WILL, WITHOUT A DOUBT, VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT, AS IT HAS TAKEN FORTY YEARS TO ACQUIIRE.

ODD, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WERE JUST YESTERDAY THAT I ………………………………….

OLE JOHN AND SALLY

BY DAVE GLASGOW

(A SEASONAL, NON-LIFTING, BUT UP-LIFTING STORY)

I ENJOY HISTORY, ESPECIALLY MY OWN FAMILY HISTORY. ONE STORY I HEARD MANY TIMES WAS TOLD BY MY DAD, JOHN. IT WAS ABOUT MY GREAT GRAND DAD, WHO I HAVE ALWAYS CALLED ‘OLE JOHN’, TO DIFFERENTIATE HIM FROM MY DAD. I THINK THIS IS THE APPROPRIATE TIME OF YEAR TO PASS THE STORY ON.

OLE JOHN WAS A SOLDIER IN THE ‘CIVIL WAR’. HE WAS IN THE CAVALRY, WHICH SEEMED ODD TO ME, AS HE WAS A SAILOR FROM THE TIME HE WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD. AT ANY RATE, HE WAS CAPTURED BY THE CONFEDERATES AND SENT TO THE NOTORIOUS PRISON CAMP, ANDERSONVILLE, IN GEORGIA. THE CONDITIONS IN THIS CAMP WERE HORRID. MANY DIED OF DISEASE, STARVATION AND JUST PLAIN LOSS OF HOPE. SOMEHOW, OLE JOHN SURVIVED, BUT HE DID NOT GO UNSCATHED. HE LOST ALL HIS UPPER TEETH AND HAD PERMANENT SKELETAL PROBLEMS FROM SCURY AND MALNUTRITION.

AS THE STORY GOES, OLE JOHN TOLD HOW THE MEMBERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY (WHOM I HAVE ALWAYS CALLED ‘SALLY’) WOULD SNEAK UP TO THE WALLS AT NIGHT AND THROW SWEET POTATOES OVER THE FENCE TO THE PRISONERS. HE SAID THAT THIS KIND, HUMANITARIAN GESTURE WAS ONE OF THE REASONS HE MADE IT OUT ALIVE.

SO, EVERY CHRISTMAS, WHEN MY KIDS WERE GROWING UP, I WOULD ENCOURAGE AMBER AND DEREK TO ‘THROW SOMETHING IN SALLY’S POT’, IN HONOR OF OLE JOHN AND TO HELP OUT SALLY, WITHOUT WHOM WE WOULD , PROBABLY, NOT BE AROUND.

THEN, A FEW YEARS BACK, I WAS LISTENING TO THE RADIO AND THEY WERE SPEAKING TO SOME MEMBERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY, AS IT WAS CHRISTMAS TIME AND THEY WERE IN NEED OF MONIES AND CLOTHING DONATIONS TO GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED. NATURALLY, I THOUGHT OF OLE JOHN. SO, WHEN I HAD TIME I DID A LITTLE RESEARCH ABOUT ‘SALLY’. WHAT I DISCOVERED DISAPPOINTED ME, GREATLY.

SEEMS THAT SALLY WAS STARTED IN ENGLAND IN 1865, AND WAS NOT FOUNDED IN THE STATES UNTIL 1880! CLEARLY WELL PAST THE TIME OF OLE JOHN’S CONFINEMENT!! IMMEDIATELY, QUESTIONS FORMED IN MY MIND AS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS CONTRADITION IN THE STORY. UNFORTUNATELY, ANYONE WHO WOULD KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS MYSTERY HAS LONG SINCE PASSED.

AFTER A LOT OF DILIBERATIONS, I CAME TO SOME OF MY OWN CONCLUSIONS. COULD IT BE IT WAS THE BAPTISTS, METHODISTS OR MEMBERS OF SOME OTHER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION WHO FOUND THE COMPASSION TO HELP THESE UNFORTUNATE INDIVIDUALS?

TO HAVE SURVIVED ALMOST A YEAR IN THAT FILTH AND DEGRADATION, CERTAINLY, BRINGS TO MY MIND THAT SOMEONE WAS HELPING THOSE PRISONERS! JUST BECAUSE THE DISCREPANCY OF THE ORGANIZATION IS IN QUESTION DOES NOT TAKE AWAY FROM THE MEAT OF THE STORY. ORAL HISTORY HANDED DOWN FROM ONE TO ANOTHER LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN TO ERRORS AND A MISTAKE COULD HAVE VERY WELL BEEN MADE BY ONE WHO HAD ONLY HEARD THE STORY, NOT THE ONE THAT WAS THERE, LIVING IT.

REGARDLESS, DO I THINK THAT SWEET POTATOES MADE THEIR WAY INTO UNION PRISONERS HANDS? ABSOLUTELY! A STORY, SUCH AS THIS, IS TOO GOOD TO HAVE BEEN ‘MADE UP’. FURTHER, WHY WOULD HE FABRICATE SUCH A TALE IF IT WERE NOT TRUE?? IN MY MIND, OLE JOHN WAS THE RECIPIENT OF A KINDNESS THAT CAN NEVER BE REPAID.

SO, IN THIS SEASON OF GIVING, MIGHT I ENCOURAGE EACH OF YOU TO ‘THROW SOMETHING IN SALLY’S POT’? THEY ARE A VERY WORTHY ORGANIZATION AND HELP UNTOLD NUMBERS OF THOSE LESS FORTUNATE. EVEN IF SALLY WAS NOT THE ONES THAT HELPED OLE JOHN, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, YOU WILL HELP THEM HELP SOMEONE ELSE THAT NEEDS A HAND UP!

JUST TELL THEM ‘OLE JOHN’ SENT YA…..

Highland Games Masters 2014

by Thom Van Vleck

Chad Ullom tossing the caber in Scotland!

Recently USAWA members Dave Glasgow, Chad Ullom, and Thom Van Vleck went to Inverness, Scotland to attend the Masters World Champs of Highland Games.  Unfortunately, Dean Ross was unable to attend.  Dean was the last person to have attended EVERY SINGLE MWC since it’s inception a dozen years ago.  Larry Traub was in attendance to watch and cheer us on.  Dave and Larry had brought their wives along….I was stuck rooming with Chad…..

The event was great fun and I’ve already talked about the Guinness caber toss record.  This was a three day event and it worked out where I could help Chad in the morning sessions when he threw and he could help me in the afternoon sessions.  I know for a fact Chad helped me out and I hope he found me helpful as well.  We would video each other throwing and assess mistakes and changes.

Chad Ullom between Wilbur Stam and Tommy DeBruijn....and Chad beat them both in the caber!

Chad was 4th in what I would call one of the toughest 40-44 age groups I’ve ever seen.  He had former champ Mike Dickens to deal with as well as 6’10” Tommy DeBruijn.  Chad did extremely well against a field of some 20 throwers.  His best event was the caber toss where he was one of only three in his group to turn the caber.  He was in a dead tie going into the third and final attempt and ended up 2nd by a fraction.  I have to say in my opinion I thought he won it….but they didn’t let me judge!  It was that close.

I was in the 50-54 age group and I was dealing with two of the all time Scottish greats….Mark McDonald and Allister Gunn.  Both former pros and it was no contest with 18 throwers in my group about who would be in the top two.  Allister pulled out a close victory and the rest of use were really contending for 3rd.  I was very pleased to have my 2nd best finish ever with a 5th.  However, what really made my trip was winning the Weight Over Bar event for the 4th time at the World’s.   I really thought I had no chance at beating the two legendary Scots but it ended up being my day!  Chad was a big help spotting for me and keeping me focused.  I get deservedly kidded for focusing on this event but I love it and I won’t apologize for enjoying my win even if it’s just one event!

Thom Van Vleck winning the WOB event.

I know Dave was in a very tough group.  It was great to see him in Scotland with Larry.  Dave’s best events were the hammers where he placed 4th in both the light and heavy.  He was also 5th in the Heavy weight for distance.  Dave was in the 60-64 age group…..Which had THREE former or current World Champs in his group….by far the toughest in my opinion relative to the competition and age. I think Dave would be at the top had he not blown both quads a few years back.  I think he’s an amazing story recovering from that injury and coming back to throw well enough to contend for the podium.

Next year the World’s are slated for St. Louis, Missouri…back in the USA!  Looking forward to it all ready!

Club Championships

BY DAVE GLASGOW

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS ON THE GREAT PLAINES

Group picture of the lifters from the 2014 USAWA Club Championships.

FOUR CLUBS AND THREE STATES WERE REPRESENTED AT THE USAWA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS, HOSTED BY THE LEDAIG HEAVY ATHLETICS, IN RAINBOW BEND, KS. THOSE PARTICIPATING RANGED IN AGE FROM ELEVEN TO EIGHTY SEVEN! QUITE A RANGE. YET, THERE WERE GREAT LIFTS POSTED BY ALL WHO COMPETED.

ALEX WHETSTONE HAD NEVER DONE ANY OF THE LIFTS PRIOR TO THE MEET DAY. HE WAS GIVEN A CRASH COURSE ON THE LIFTS BY HIS UNCLE, 9 TIME MASTERS NATIONAL POWER LIFTING CHAMPION , LARRY ‘FLOYD’ TRAUB AND HIS GRANPA, DAVE GLASGOW. FOR ONE SO YOUNG AND WITH NO EXPERIENCE, WE ALL THOUGHT HE DID VERY WELL! I DOUBT VERY SERIOUSLY IF WE HAVE SEEN THE LAST OF HIM!

ANOTHER NEW CAST MEMBER TO THE LEDAIG TEAM AND THE USAWA IS DREVON KRESSLY. YOU WILL SOON NOTICE THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS OF TEAM LEDAIG ARE KRESSLYS AND DREVON ADDED A NEW FACE! WHAT A GREAT, YOUNG TALENT THIS KID IS!! VERY UNASSUMING AND SOFT SPOKEN, DREVON WAS SHOWED THE ‘SPLIT’ TECHNIQUE FOR THE ONE ARM C/J AND THEN PROCEDED TO PERFORM IT TO PERFECTION ON HIS VERY NEXT LIFT!! IMPRESSIVE! HE HAS THAT POWER/QUICKNESS QUALITY THAT YOU CAN’T TRAIN OR TEACH. VERY GOOD TO HAVE HIM ABOARD. DREVON’S BROTHER, LOGAN, SHOWED UP AND DID VERY WELL, ALSO. HAVING RETURNED FROM NATIONALS LAST MONTH, HE IS NO STRANGER TO THE USAWA. HE KEPT THE LEDAIG TEAM IN THE HUNT FOR THE TITLE WITH SOLID, CALCULATED LIFTS!

CONTINUING WITH THE KRESSLYS, DOUG AND JERA ARE ALWAYS GREAT TO HAVE AROUND! THEY COME TO LIFT AND ALWAYS ATTEMPT TO PERFORM AT THEIR BEST. THIS DAY, SADLY, WAS NOT TO THEIR LIKING. SOMETIMES THE EXCITEMENT OF THE DAY MAKES FOR MISCALCULATIONS AND THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE HERE FOR THEM. JERA COULD’NT MANAGE HER OPENER FOR THE TWO HAND, FULTON, CIVATONNE LIFT. HAVING MADE THE SAME WEIGHT IN WARM-UP, SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO PULL IT ON ANY OF HER ATTEMPTS. JERA WOWED THE SPECTATORS WITH HER ONE HAND C/J AND TRAP BAR DL, SO THE DAY WAS NOT A TOTAL LOSS! DOUG MUST HAVE HAD SOME OF THE SAME PORRIDGE AS JERA AS HE COULD’NT MANAGE HIS OPENER ON THE SAME LIFT!! HE WAS PERTURBED BUT CAME BACK ON THE REMAINING LIFTS TO POST GOOD NUMBERS AND SAVE SOME FACE.

Dave Glasgow helped lead his club to club victory with this 450 pound Trap Bar Deadlift (picture and caption by Al Myers).

ART MONTINI AND DENNY HAYBECKER MADE THE LOOONG TRIP FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO COMPETE. THESE TWO HAVE MADE THEIR WAY TO THE GREAT PLAINES MORE THAN ONCE AND WE ARE AWAYS GLAD TO SEE THESE TWO GENTLEMEN AT OUR GATHERINGS! ART DID HIS USUAL CALCULATED AND SCRIPTED LIFTING. OF HIS NINE ATTEMPTS, I THINK HE MISSED ONLY ONE! THAT IS KNOWING YOURS ABILITIES, FOR SURE! DENNY IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES IN THE USAWA. ALWAYS GREAT TO BE AROUND AND TALK TO, DENNY IS A GIFTED LIFTER. HE APPEARS COMFORTABLE WITH ANY LIFT THAT IS BEING CONTESTED. HIS KNOWLEDGE, BACKROUND AND EXPERIENCE ARE VERY APPARENT.

I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT DEAN ROSS NEVER PRACTICES THE LIFTS PRIOR TO SHOWING UP FOR THE MEETS!! DEAN ALWAYS KEEPS THE CONVERSATION GOING AND NEVER MET A STRANGER. HIS LIFTS WERE SOLID AND UNDER CONTROL. HE, ALSO, DOES MORE THAN HIS FAIR SHARE OF LOADING AND SPOTTING, AS WELL. IT WAS GOOD TO SEE MIKE MURDOCK, AGAIN!! LOOKING VERY SVELTE AT HIS NEW WEIGHT OF 174, HE WAS AIMING AT SOME RECORDS IN HIS NEW FOUND WEIGHT CLASS. MIKE ALWAYS JUMPS IN AND HELPS WHEREVER HE CAN. HE EVEN SAID ‘GOOD-BYE’ TO EVERYONE THIS TIME, WHEN HE LEFT!!

AL MYERS AND CHAD ULLOM, EVER THE TRAVELING COMPANIONS, JUST RETURNED FROM A THREE WEEK LIFTING/THROWING EXTRAVAGANZA IN NORWAY AND EASTERN EUROPE. BOTH WERE PRETTY BEAT UP AND WEARY FORM THE COMPETITIONS AND THE TRAVEL. REGARDLESS, THEY ’COWBOYED UP’ AND HIT THE PLATFORM. AL WAS NURSING A TORN GROIN MUSCLE RESULTING IN VERY TIMID AND CONSERVATIVE LIFTS. THE FACT THAT HE COULD TRAP BAR LIFT AT ALL SURPRISED EVERYONE. AL IS A REAL STUDENT OF THE LIFTS AND LIFTING IN GENERAL, SO HIS LIFTING WAS NOT HAP HAZARD OR RECKLESS. CHAD CONTINUES TO AMAZE ME. HE HAS TO BE THE BEST OVERALL LIFTER AND ATHLETE I HAVE EVER RUN ACROSS. THERE JUST DOES’NT SEEM TO BE ANY LIFT HE DOES’NT DO WELL. HE CARRIED THE DAY AS HE WAS ALWAYS THE LAST LIFTER ON EACH LIFT. THIS BACKFIRED ON HIM, HOWEVER, AS, WHEN HE FINISHED FOR THE DAY, ALL THE FOOD WAS GONE!! I WONDER WHERE IT ALL WENT!?

LARRY TRAUB CAME TO BE A PART OF THE FESTIVITIES FROM INDIANA. HAVING A LONG HISTORY OF SUCCES IN THE POWERLIFTING GAME, HE SLIDES INTO MOST OF THE LIFTS VERY WELL. HOWEVER, HAVING SOME MOBILITY ISSUES AS OF LATE, HE TOOK PRETTY MUCH ‘TOKEN’ LIFTS IN THE TRAP BAR DL. TEAM LEDAIG WOULD NOT BE THE SAME WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE. THE HOST OF THE GAMES, YOURS TRULY, HAD A PRETTY GOOD DAY! HAVING HAD THE CHANCE TO DO THE LIFTS FOR THE PAST SIX WEEKS DID’NT HURT ANYTHING AND BEING ON HOME TURF IS ALWAYS A POSITIVE.

BIG THANKS TO LAVERNE MYERS FOR JUDGING. I WAS GLAD TO SEE HE COULD MAKE IT. WHEN IT WAS ALL SORTED OUT, THE LEDAIG HEAVY ATHLETICS TEAM CARRIED THE DAY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

TEAM SCORES:

LEDAIG HEAVY ATHLETICS 2477.74
DINO GYM 2165.25
HABECKERS 763.54
AMBRIDGE BBC  550.04

ALL IN ALL, A GREAT TIME. I LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING THIS MEET FOR YEARS TO COME, AS WELL!! MANY, MANY THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE TO BE A PART OF THIS MEET! I AM MUCH OBLIGED!!

MEET RESULTS:

USAWA Club Championships
July 19th, 2014
Ledaig HA
Rainbow Bend, Kansas

Meet Director: Dave Glasgow

Official (1-official system used): LaVerne Myers

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Lifts: Clean and Jerk – One Arm, Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip, Trap Bar Deadlift

1. Ledaig Heavy Athletics – 2477.74 points

LIFTER AGE BWT C&J DL-FB,CG TRAP
Alex Whetstone 11 79 22 R 72 105
Draven Kressly 13 131 70 R 182 250
Logan Kressly 16 171 95 R 257 350
Jera Kressly 29 237 80 R 0 350
Doug Kressly 34 285 110 R 0 450
Larry Traub 60 206 70 R 272 500
Dave Glasgow 61 253 105 L 304 450
Mike Murdock 74 172 22 R 142 135

2. Dino Gym – 2165.25 points

LIFTER AGE BWT C&J DL-FB,CG TRAP
Chad Ullom 42 253 130 R 327 550
Al Myers 47 236 125 R 327 420
Dean Ross 71 264 0 237 330

3. Habecker’s Gym – 763.54 points

LIFTER AGE BWT C&J DL-FB,CG TRAP
Denny Habecker 71 197 75 R 237 330

4. Ambridge BBC – 550.04 points

LIFTER AGE BWT C&J DL-FB,CG TRAP
Art Montini 86 176 27 R 152 210

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORDS

Jera Kressly: Clean and Jerk – Right Arm 85
Chad Ullom: DL-Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 342
Dean Ross: DL-Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 242
Denny Habecker: DL-Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 242
Alex Whetstone: DL-Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 82
Alex Whetstone: Trap Bar Deadlift 110
Mike Murdock: Rectangular Fix 55
Mike Murdock: Curl – Reverse Grip 55
Mike Murdock: Curl –  Cheat, Reverse Grip  65

NOTES: AGE is age in years. BWT is bodyweight in pounds. R and L designate right and left arms. All lifts recorded in pounds.

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