Tag Archives: Lifter of the Month

Lifter of the Month: Art Montini

by Al Myers

The Lifter of the Month for the first month of 2013 goes to ART MONTINI!

Art Montini (right) receiving his meet award at the 2013 Dino Gym Challenge from meet promoter Al Myers (left).

In the January, only one USAWA event was contested – The Dino Gym Challenge.  This meet featured a selection of Old Time Strongman lifts (Anderson Squat, Hackenschmidt Floor Press, and the Peoples Deadlift).  It was definitely a heavy-weight challenging competition of events.  I was surprised to even see our “senior member” of the USAWA Art Montini show up to take on this type of meet.  And not only did he complete all these joint-shearing lifts, he excelled in them!  He put up great lifts: Anderson Squat 209 pounds, Hackenschmidt Floor Press 120 pounds, and Peoples Deadlift 306 pounds.  Art at age 85, lifts like a man much younger and certainly was an inspiration to anyone who was fortunate to watch him on this day.   That earned him the Lifter of the Month against a field of very strong younger lifters.  Art also was one of the lifters who traveled the farthest for this meet (from Pittsburgh), which shows his dedication to the USAWA.  Congrats Art – you earned it.

Lifter of the Month: Ruth Jackson

by Al Myers

Congratulations goes to Ruth Jackson for being named the USAWA Lifter of the Month for December 2012.  Ruth was the OVERALL BEST WOMENS LIFTER at the 2012 IAWA World Championships in her first All-Round competition.  She followed up that stellar performance with setting 43 records at the Gracie Judo Club Record Day on the 1st of December.

I have been keeping a listing of the PAST LIFTERS OF THE MONTH on the website.   So when a lifter wins this title – they will FOREVER be listed in the USAWA Archives.  If any of the winners would like a certificate of their accomplishment just send me an email and I’ll send you one.  And please don’t ask because you think it will cause me more work – I can make a certificate for you in less than a minute (but don’t expect anything fancy haha).  

Below is the listing of the 2012 Lifters of the Month.  I have included links beside each name that links to the story of their Lifter of the Month blog.

LIFTERS OF THE MONTH FOR 2012

MONTH LIFTER STORY
January none  
February none  
March none  
April Chad Ullom https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-chad-ullom/
May Eric Todd https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-eric-todd/
June Al Myers  
July Bryan Benzel https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-bryan-benzel/
August Dale Friesz https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-dale-friesz/
September Barry Bryan https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-barry-bryan/
October Dan Wagman https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-dan-wagman/
November Denny Habecker https://www.usawa.com/lifter-of-the-month-denny-habecker/
December Ruth Jackson  

Lifter of the Month: Denny Habecker

by Al Myers

Denny Habecker "in action" at the 2012 IAWA Gold Cup in Glasgow, Scotland.

The month of  November for All-Round Weightlifting contained one of the biggest IAWA events of the year – the Gold Cup.  This year the Gold Cup was held in Glasgow, Scotland.  The USAWA had three representatives at that meet, one of which showed “true grit” in even making it to the platform.  For this, the USAWA Lifter of the Month for November goes to our USAWA President Denny Habecker!

This is the photo proof that Denny was "feeling under the weather" at the Gold Cup!

First of all due to Hurricane Sandy, Denny had travel difficulties even making it to the Gold Cup.  His flight got rerouted through Germany, and it took him 24 hours to even make it to England before the drive to Scotland.  To make his situation even worse – the night before the meet he came down with severe intestinal flu which would have keep most normal lifters away from the platform.  However, Denny is a true champ and  he wasn’t going to let a minor inconvenience like this keep him away from the meet.   When it was his time to perform his Gold Cup lift – he made his lift in excellent fashion.

Congratulations to Denny Habecker for winning the November Lifter of the Month!!!

Lifter of the month: Dan Wagman

by Al Myers

Dan Wagman - USAWA Lifter of the Month for October

The month of November was a busy one for me and sorta “flew by”.  I just realized that I have someone who deserves recognition for the MONTH OF OCTOBER.  His name is DAN WAGMAN and he is the 2012 IAWA World Championship OVERALL BEST LIFTER.  Dan won this title the first weekend in October in Salina, KS at the 25th IAWA World Championships.  It’s a “no brainer” if you win the OVERALL BEST LIFTER at the IAWA World Championships that you will win the USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH.  After all – that’s the highest award any lifter can win during the course of the year in the IAWA.  

Since then, Dan has competed in the Welcome Mat Record Day (results will be coming soon) and has made plans to attend my Dino Gym Challenge in January.   As the new CHAMP of the organization – Dan has “duties” this year of making appearances at USAWA events and competitions.  I know Dan is more than up for this!!!!  Congrats Dan on winning the USAWA  LIFTER OF the MONTH for OCTOBER, 2012.

Lifter of the month: Barry Bryan

by Al Myers

This is a picture of Barry Bryan from his earlier lifting days. That's alot of weight he has overhead!

There’s a reason I’ve been waiting to announce the LIFTER OF THE MONTH for the month of September.  Due to the low number of meets during September, I decided the lifter of the month should be the lifter that won BEST LIFTER of the Delaware Valley Postal Meet, and I’ve been waiting on the final meet results.  So the congrats for winning the lifter of the month goes to Barry THE BOMB Bryan!!!! 

I am so glad to see Barry get back involved in the USAWA.  I had a great visit with him at the Presidential Cup a couple of months ago.  I know alot of the younger guys in the USAWA don’t remember when Barry was competing in the USAWA during the early 90’s.  He was “a force” to be reckoned with!!!  He was the overall BEST LIFTER at the 1990 USAWA National Championships against a very tough field of lifters.   However, there’s a price to pay for lifting heavy weights, and Barry incurred a few injuries as a result which lead to him not competing for several years.  But it looks like he has put those injuries aside – and IS BACK TO WINNING FORM!!!  Congratulations Barry for winning the LIFTER OF THE MONTH for the month of September!!!

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