Tag Archives: USAWA

2011 Nationals Venue Set

by Thom Van Vleck

Historic Rieger Armory, location for the 2011 USAWA Nationals

I have reserved the Rieger Armory for the 2011 USAWA Nationals and I couldn’t be more pleased with the location.  It is a classic building built in 1938 that has a lot of character and history (I know what you are thinking….that means it’s OLD, but it has been very well kept up and has been the location of hundreds of major functions here in Kirksville over the years).

It is named for Col. James Rieger who is a local war hero.  He served in WWI and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the French Croix de Guerre, and the Purple Heart as well as numerous other medals for leading  the 138th Regiment in a brutal attack that caused the German defenses to fall back all across the front lines.  He was nicknamed the “Hero of the Argonne” and one of his men famously said in an interview that went national, “…there wasn’t one of us that wouldn’t go to Hell for him”.   The War Department donated a German Howitzer captured in WWI to Kirksville that is in Rotary Park and Col. Rieger was later tapped to return to France at one point to locate and document American soldiers buried  there.  He was given pieces of a stained glass window from a bombed out French Church that was incorporated in the First Baptist Church here in Kirksville as a token of appreciation.

Just as importantly, it is a great place to have a weightlifting meet.  Centrally located in town, you can see Truman State’s campus and the town square from Rieger.  It has a large indoor area that used to house the National Guard artillery unit in town (now a Combat Engineer unit).  It also has a large kitchen with plenty of tables and chairs for our banquet and a stage for a first class awards ceremony!  I hope everyone will try and make this.  More info to come so stay tuned! It is located at 500 S. Elson St. in Kirksville.

National Postal Meet Reminder

by Al Myers

Dino Gym member Chuck Cookson lifts 656 pounds in the 12 inch base Deadlift in the 2010 USAWA National Postal Meet.

I just want to remind everyone that the deadline for the 2010 USAWA National Postal Meet is the last day of December.  If you only do one postal meet – do this one.  The USAWA Postal Meet Director John Wilmot picked three lifts for this meet that ANYONE can do – 12″ base deadlift, heels together clean and press, and the cheat curl.   Make sure you include the signatures of the officials that judge your lifts.  For postal meets, you may use someone who is not a certified USAWA official and your lifts will still count for placings.  However, lifts MUST have a certified official in order to set a USAWA Record (and THREE certified officials for a IAWA record).  This information is recorded on the result sheet.

The USAWA Postal Meet Series has been a big success these past few years.  John Wilmot deserves the credit for this.  He really believes in Postal Meets as a way of encouraging participation.  And I agree with him!!  All you have to do is do the lifts in your own gym – and it doesn’t even require any expense!!!  It doesn’t get any easier than that.

This year I am going to recognize an OVERALL Postal Meet Champion.  The scoring for this will be very straight-forward.  You will receive points for EACH Postal Meet (of the four) you compete in throughout the year.  If there are 10 competitors, first will receive 10 points and last will receive 1 point.  If there are only 5 competitors, first will receive 5 points and last 1 point, etc.  The National Postal Meet will be worth double points.

There also will be awards for the winners in the National Postal Meet – and you get ALL THIS FOR FREE!!!

Goerner Deadlift

by Al Myers

MEET RESULTS – GOERNER DEADLIFT DOZEN PLUS ONE

2010 Goerner Deadlift Participants: (left to right) Mike Murdock, Al Myers, and Rudy Bletscher

The tradition of the Goerner Deadlift continues!  After a postponement and a change of locations, the Goerner Deadlift has added another year to it’s rich history.  Bill Clark graciously let me reschedule it at the Dino Gym after he cancelled it because of low entries, and only one entry was added as the result of the postponement.  That one addition was Mike Murdock.  So, overall the Goerner this year only attracted 3 lifters, which is still a pretty low turnout for a meet of this caliber. Rudy Bletscher and myself were the other two lifters.

Rudy Bletscher pulled a 265# Heels Together Deadlift.

Because of lack of available weekends left in December, the meet occurred this past Tuesday night.  We started at 6 PM – which is a pretty late start for a meet that has 13 lifts!!  We kept after it at a fast pace, and by the time we finished at 10 PM all of us were starting to feel the effects of the aches and pains in our backs from the multiple deadlift attempts!   The real heated battle was between Rudy and Mike.  Both of these guys are over 70 years old and are two tough characters!  Together they teamed up at the 2010 USAWA Team Nationals last September  to become the National Champs in Two-Man lifting in the 70 year age division. Who can forget their 2-Man Trap Bar Deadlift of 585 pounds at that meet???  Both these guys are great pullers – so I knew this was going to be a close battle between them.  It was “nip & tuck” till the finger lifts, then Rudy’s experience with the Finger Deadlifts showed and he pulled out a tight win over Mike, and gathered second place overall.

My highlight of the meet was FINALLY officially registering a 400 pound plus One Arm Deadlift!  I have worked for this for very long time, and this NIGHT was the NIGHT!  My 405# One Arm Deadlift broke the record of 402# held by Kevin Fulton in the 40 year age group/115 kg class.

I want to thank Bill for allowing me to host the Goerner Deadlift this year, and to Rudy and Mike for showing up to make it a competitive event.

FULL MEET RESULTS:

Goerner Deadlift Dozen Plus One
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas
December 14th, 2010

Meet Director:  Al Myers

Officials (one official system used):  Al Myers & Mike Murdock

Lifts:  Deadlift – Heels Together, Jefferson Lift, Hack Lift, Deadlift – 2 Bars, Deadlift – Right Arm, Deadlift – Left Arm, Deadlift – Right Arm, No Thumb, Deadlift – Left Arm, No Thumb, Deadlift – Reeves, Deadlift – Middle Fingers, Deadlift – Ring Fingers, Deadlift – Index Fingers, Deadlift – Little Fingers

Lifters:

Rudy Bletscher – 75 years old & 220# bodyweight

Mike Murdock – 70 years old & 234# bodyweight

Al Myers – 44 years old & 244# bodyweight

Lift Rudy Bletscher Mike Murdock Al Myers
Deadlift – HT 265 265 551
Jefferson Lift 198 198 551
Hack Lift 198 154 551
DL – 2 Bars 220 265 551
DL – Rt Arm 154 154 405
DL – Lt Arm 154 154 353
DL – Rt, NT 132 132 220
DL – Lt, NT 132 132 200
Reeves 185 185 280
DL – MF 135 115 234
DL – RF 95 45 140
DL – IF 140 95 140
DL – LF 45 45 95
Total 2053 1939 4271
Adj. Points 2367.96 2084.65 3602.44

NOTES:  All lifts recorded in pounds. Adj Points are adjusted points corrected for bodyweight and age.

Joe Ciavattone – Level 2 Official

by Al Myers

Joe Ciavattone is now a Level 2 USAWA Official.

Joe Ciavattone Sr., the owner of Joe’s Gym,  has just passed the USAWA Official’s Exam which upgrades him from a Level 1 USAWA Official to a Level 2 USAWA Official.  Level 2 is the highest level of official certification attainable in the USAWA .  This gives Joe LIFETIME CERTIFICATION as an official.  To be eligible as a Level 2 official, an official must have knowledge of the rules (by passing the Rules Exam) and experience officiating (by serving as an official in over 25 USAWA competitions).  There are currently only 11 Level 2 Officials in the USAWA, which makes Joe part of an elite group!

Congratulations Joe!!!

Apollons Lift

by Al Myers

Thom Van Vleck, of the JWC, training on his 245# Apollon Wheel Replica.

It’s about time I start highlighting the rules of the events that I plan on having in the Dino Gym Challenge on January 15th, the VERY FIRST strongman competition sanctioned by the USAWA.   Again – this strongman comp will be quite different than modern traditional strongman comps as this one will be based on feats of strength performed by OLD TIME STRONGMEN.  The first event that I am going to profile is the APOLLON’S LIFT.  This event is based on the old-time strongman Louis Uni, aka Apollon.  He made famous the Apollon’s Wheels – a 2″ axle connecting two railway car wheels.  The entire apparatus weighed in at 366 pounds!  David Willoughby made this feat well-known when in his book, The Super Athletes,  he listed it as one of  the “Five famous weights and the men who lifted them.”   Well, I don’t expect anyone to lift a replica of the original 366# Apollon’s Wheels so we will use a lighter set-up.  I do expect this event to be held to the basic dimensions of the original Apollon Wheels so a 2″ axle will be used and a higher bar height will be allowed (since the diameter of the original AW was 26 inches).  The rules for this lift will be very liberal since the object of this strongman feat is to “get it overhead in any fashion”.

The Rules for the Apollon’s Lift:

A 2 inch diameter axle (or Fulton Bar)  will be used as the bar for this lift.  The maximum starting bar height is 12 inches measured from the platform to the bottom of the bar.  Any method may be used to take the bar to the shoulders or overhead.  The bar or plates are allowed to retouch the platform during the lift.  If the bar is placed down or dropped, the lifter may try again as many times as he/she wants within the time limit.  A time limit of 1 minute is allowed.  Once the weight is overhead, with arms’ locked, legs straight,  and the feet in line with the torso,  an official will give the command to end the lift.

All other general rules of the USAWA will apply.  Each competitor will get three attempts of their choosing with the best one counting towards their total.

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