Tag Archives: National Championships

2024 National Championship Meet Results

The 2024 USAWA National Championship was held in Columbia, Missouri last week. Bill Clark, who hosted the meet, writes:

THE CHAMPIONS REIGN –  BETH AND ABE RETAIN TITLES

There was little doubt after the initial event that Beth Skwarecki and Abe Smith would retain their national titles – and so it was – with 18 lifters on hand – the same as the meet drew in 2023.

Clark’s Gym, the meet sponsor for the second year in a row and the fifth time dating back to 1995, 1997 and 2001, won the team title by sweeping the first six places on the men’s side and two of the top four women.

Randy Smith, who came from Upper Michigan, was the men’s runner-up, followed by a pair of newcomers to the Nationals – Philip Marlin in third and Jeff Wenzel in fourth.

Lisa Gore, a gym member for less than two months, took third behind Beth and Stacy Todd. Allison Lupo was a close fourth.

The four Todd kids – two girls and two boys from the homes of Eric and Chris Todd – put on a great demonstration of both skill and strength and showed the flexibility and feel for the game that predicted a bright future – maybe in the Olympic Lift game as well as the odd lifts.

One of the negatives of the championship weekend was the failure of Kevin Fulton to free himself from weather-related farm problems to make it to the meet that was to honor him as a founding leader in the USAWA – the guy for whom the Fulton Bar was named.

Two of the old-timers who have been around for more than three decades were on hand. John Carter finished sixth overall and Denny Habecker, from Lebanon, Pa., was in seventh place. Habecker was the oldest lifter in the meet at 81. He brought along a guest – Steve Gardner, the long-time leader of the IAWA-UK – the British version of the USAWA.

Results are in the attached document.

USAWA-Nationals-2024-resultsDownload

National Championships

By Al Myers

***POSTPONED TILL FURTHER NOTICE***

Frank Ciavattone has already announced the 2020 USAWA National Championships!

You can always count on Frank and Frank’s Barbell Club for being on top of promotions.  They are very organized from the start to the finish.  This year Nationals will be a one day meet, held in Norwood, MA on June 27th.  The Boston area is beautiful in June to visit.  I have been there several times and I am really looking forward to making the trip again this summer.  It’s time to get excited about Nationals and start training for it.  I hope to see a great turnout at Nationals!

LIFTS FOR NATIONALS

Snatch – One Arm
Continental to Chest and Jerk
Deadlift – One Arm
Pullover and Press
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip

—————————–

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT (word)- 2020 USAWA NATIONAL anouncement

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT (PDF) – 2020 USAWA NATIONAL anouncement

ENTRY FORM (word) – 2020 USAWA Nationals entry form

ENTRY FORM (PDF) – 2020 USAWA Nationals entry form

National Championships

By Al Myers

2019 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Another year and another outstanding USAWA National Championships!

Meet promoter Denny Habecker put on a great Championships for the USAWA. It was held in a large facility at Acernus Crossfit.   This year’s Championships was a one day meet with six lifts, so it made for a long day of lifting.

It was great to see two lifters make their first appearance at Nationals.  Chris and Eric Lestan of Frank’s Barbell Club made their National debut and both lifted exceptionally.  Chris is a young strong lifter who put up the top total of the meet, and had the top lift in several of the competition lifts.  Eric is a Junior lifter and won best lifter in the Junior Division.  He had stiff competition from Aidan Habecker, and in the end less than 1 adjusted point separated them!!!   I love to see competition battles like that!

It was great seeing Frank Ciavattone on the platform. Frank has just went through a serious surgery so he was not at 100%, but still he got a mark in in every lift.  His courage and passion for the USAWA really impresses me. Frank is a pioneer in the USAWA and has influenced many lifters through the years.

Denny Habecker and Dennis Mitchell have been regulars at Nationals.  Both of these guys hit a milestone that probably can only be topped by themselves.  This year’s Nationals marked 30 YEARS of competing in the USAWA National Championships for the both of them.  I plan to do a more thorough followup story on this accomplishment at a later time.

Michigan native Randy Smith lifted great AGAIN at Nationals.  We normally only see Randy once a year in the USAWA – but he does it right and shows up for the organizations biggest event.  Randy started in the USAWA at the same time I did, so we have lifted together now for 20 years!!!

The over 70 group had the most lifters of the meet.  LaVerne Myers, Dean Ross, Barry Pensyl, and Denny Habecker showed everyone that being a senior citizen doesn’t mean you can’t lift heavy weights!!!  I was very impressed with their performances.

The Club title at Nationals was a close race, with the Dino Gym, Habeckers Gym, and Frank’s Barbell Club all putting together great teams.  The overall club title went to the Dino Gym.

I want to really thank Judy Habecker for her help at the scoring table.  Judy does so much behind the scenes to make sure events run smoothly.  I also got to mention my new announcer assistant Aidan.  Aidan wanted to help, and he did outstanding while I had to step away from the mic to lift.  I can’t say enough about the veteran loading team of Terry and John. These two have loaded at Nationals for Denny more times than I can count – and deserve as much recognition as the lifters.

MEET RESULTS:

2019 USAWA National Championships
Acernus Crossfit
Lebanon, PA
June 22nd, 2019

Meet Director: Denny Habecker

Meet Announcer: Al Myers with assistant Aidan Habecker

Meet Scorekeeper: Judy Habecker

Loaders: Terry Barlet and John Horn

Officials (3-official system used): Denny Habecker, LaVerne Myers, Frank Ciavattone, Dennis Mitchell, Randy Smith

Lifts: Curl – Cheat Reverse Grip, Deadlift – No Thumbs Overhand Grip, Clean and Jerk – One Arm, Snatch – From Hang, Pullover and Push, Continental to Belt

MENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT Cur DLNT C&J Sna P&P Belt TOT PTS
Al Myers 52 229 75 170 50R 57.5 130 175 658 616.7
Randy Smith 64 195 70 140 42.5R 37.5 92.5 132.5 515 583.3
Chris Lestan 23 275 90 192.5 47.5R 90 145 182.5 748 565.6
Denny Habecker 76 184 47.5 110 25R 35 85 105 408 522.4
Barry Pensyl 71 151 45 85 12.5R 32.5 55 90 320 448.2
LaVerne Myers 75 228 55 130 20L 35 55 100 395 446.8
Eric Lestan 14 150 40 97.5 25R 35 60 60 318 405.8
Aidan Habecker 15 203 50 110 37.5R 45 65 90 398 405.1
Dean Ross 76 232 40 110 17.5L 30 65 80 343 387.2
Dennis Mitchell 87 142 20 71 0  0 27.5 45 164 267.5
Frank Ciavattone 64 306 30 90 15R 15 40 70 260 233.7

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORDS:

Aidan Habecker  Curl-Cheat, Reverse Grip 55
Denny Habecker Curl-Cheat, Reverse Grip 50
Barry Pensyl Clean and Jerk – One Arm 15R
Denny Habecker Clean and Jerk – One Arm 28.5R
Aidan Habecker Pullover and Push 70
Barry Pensyl Pullover and Push 57.5
Dean Ross Pullover and Push 70
Barry Pensyl Continental to Belt 92.5

NOTES:  All lifts recorded in kilograms.  BWT is bodyweight in pounds. R and L designate right and left arms. TOT is total kilograms lifted.  PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight.

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Best Junior Lifter – Eric Lestan
Best Senior Lifter – Chris Lestan
Best Master 50-54 Lifter – Al Myers
Best Master 60-64 Lifter – Randy Smith
Best Master 70-74 Lifter – Barry Pensyl
Best Master 75-79 Lifter – Denny Habecker
Best Master 85-89 Lifter – Dennis Mitchell
Best Overall Total – Chris Lestan
Best Overall Lifter – Al Myers
Best Club – 1st Dino Gym 1450.7 points (Al Myers, LaVerne Myers, Dean Ross), 2nd Habeckers Gym 1375.7 points (Aidan Habecker, Barry Pensyl, Denny Habecker), 3rd Franks Barbell Club 1205.1 points (Eric Lestan, Chris Lestan, Frank Ciavattone)

National Championships

By Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –

2019 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The date has been set!

Denny Habecker, the promoter of this year’s National Championships, has just released the entry form and information page for the biggest yearly event in the USAWA.  Denny is planning on promoting the Nationals in his hometown of Lebanon, PA on June 22nd.  A great selection of lifts have been chosen for this Championships.  The lifts are:

Curl – Cheat, Reverse Grip
Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip
Clean and Jerk – One Arm
Snatch – From Hang
Pullover and Push
Continental to Belt

This will be a long day – as all lifts will be performed on the 22nd.  Afterwards there will be an awards banquet for all lifters and supporters. Make sure to make plans to attend the banquet as that is a highlight of the weekend.

This is VERY IMPORTANT – make sure to get Denny your entry form (AND ENTRY FEE) before the deadline.  The deadline is MAY 22ND. It will be enforced.

There will be drug testing done at the Nationals.  DO NOT enter if you have an issue with being tested!

ENTRY FORM – 2019 USAWA Nationals Entry Form

INFORMATION PAGE – 2019 USAWA Nationals Info Page

National’s History

By Al Myers

I just updated our History Archives on the “Past USAWA Nationals”.  The one thing about history is that it is ever changing, with new things that become history once they are finished. This is an ongoing project for me, and sometimes I find that I’ve been slow to add the updates as time seems to fly by at a faster pace the older I get!

If you get some extra time and are interested in the history of the USAWA, take a look at these pages in the “History” section. (It is located on the header line of the USAWA website).  I always reread the past history as I add updates.  Today I want to share some highlights as it applies to the history of our USAWA National Championships.

  • This year (2018) marks the 31st year of the USAWA National Championships, with NO YEARS being missed since the first Nationals in 1988.
  • This year (2018) marks the first and ONLY time Nationals has been held in Florida.  8 states have been hosts for Nationals with Pennsylvania in the number one spot (12), followed by Ohio (6), Massachusetts (4), Missouri (4), Kansas (2), Illinois (1), and Nevada (1).
  • 15 meet directors (or combinations of meet directors) have promoted the Nationals. Denny Habecker has promoted the most (5), followed by Al Myers (4), and 4 promoters with (3): Frank Ciavattone, John Vernacchio, Art Montini/John McKean, and Bill Clark/Joe Garcia.
  • The top 5 lifts that have been contested at Nationals are: Zercher Lift (17), One Arm Deadlift (16), Pullover and Push (13), One Arm Snatch (12), and the Clean and Press heels together (12).  Three of these top 5 National lifts were contested at this years Nationals!
  • 55 Official lifts of the USAWA have been contested at past National Championships. 22 lifts have only been contested once in Nationals.
  • This year was a one day meet, but only 10 times in our history has Nationals been a one day meet.  The other 21 times it was a two day meet.  However, all 10 of these one day meets have occurrd in the past 13 years.
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