Tag Archives: Lifter of the Month

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!!!

Lifter of the Month: Dale Friesz

by Al Myers

Dale Friesz (center) at the 2012 USAWA Nationals in Las Vegas. He is surrounded by Dennis Mitchell (left) and the meet venue owner John Broz (right).

The choice for the lifter of the month of August was a pretty simple one – DALE FRIESZ.   In the month of August he won the prestigious Presidential Cup, the premier of the USAWA Record Days.  Dale has been involved with the USAWA from the very early days, and at the USAWA Nationals was “one of four” awarded the special award of Top Participation Award of past USAWA Nationals.  I consider Dale one of the “founding members” of the USAWA.  He has a passion for All-Round Weightlifting and the USAWA that very few others have. Despite having endured MANY physical hardships that would have put other lifters “on the sideline”, he continues to make a presence at meets, and in turn gives inspiration to any lifter that is facing a physical obstacle themselves.  Because no matter how bad you may think your issue is – it is NOTHING compared to what Dale has been faced with, and yet he continues to work out and compete.  That puts things in perspective.  In fact, I have NEVER met anyone like Dale who has such a underlying passion for weightlifting.   He is a true champion and very deserving of winning this month’s LIFTER OF THE MONTH.

Lifter of the Month: Bryan Benzel

by Al Myers

The USAWA Lifter of the Month for July Bryan Benzel performing a 705 pound Peoples Deadlift at the Battle of the Barn to secure his overall victory. This meet was an Old Time Strongman competition promoted by Eric Todd last spring.

I’m getting a little behind on announcing the USAWA Lifter of the Month for the month of July. Congrats go to the BIG BULL himself Bryan Benzel of Jobe’s Steel Jungle!  Bryan pulled out a tight win in the second USAWA quarterly postal meet, the Middle Atlantic Postal, over several very good lifters.  This feat earned him the Lifter of the Month for the month of July.

I have also started a section on the website to maintain a listing of this accomplishment.  It is titled “Past Lifters of the Month”.

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