Date: Saturday, August 1, 2026
Address: High Country Vigour, Lakewood, Colorado
Weigh-Ins: 9 AM; Lifting Begins: 10 AM
Any USAWA lift may be performed for repetition records. Only repetition records will be accepted.
Entry Fee: None
To Enter: e-mail Jarrod Fobes at jarrod.fobes@gmail.com
Meet Director: Jarrod Fobes
USAWA Membership Required
Hybrid: Remote entries accepted. Results due by Tuesday, August 4th
The USAWA National Meet was held Saturday 27 June 2026 in Columbia, MO. Besides our insufferable humidity and road construction, MO is the land of the University of Missouri, nice rolling terrain, Civil War History, the Katy Trail, Route 66, and delicious BBQ which we hope you enjoyed! We welcomed 19 lifters representing six USAWA clubs including our eastern and westernmost (Frank’s Barbell Club and High Country Vigour) and all points in-between (Ledaig Heavy Athletics, Dino Gym, KC Strongman, and of course the home team). Two teams featured lifting families, the Traub’s and the Wenzel’s. We hope you enjoyed the meet events and Missouri. Thank you all for the help tearing down after the meet. That was a huge help to us.
The meet results are posted below. There were four difficult lifts; Deadlift, No Thumbs, Overhand, Clean and Press, Heels Together, Lateral Raise, Lying, and the Jefferson Lift. Our meet director and gym leader, Bill Clark, made the day go smoothly and David DeForest was crucial for set-up, refereeing and loading. And a thank you to Our Lady of Lourdes Church and School for letting us use their gym. The venue was very nice. We’ve “sliced and diced” the results for each lifter and you can check how you placed as well as the number of records set. It was an all-around success with the exception of a “typo” in the score sheet. While normally these wouldn’t decide who wins – this time it did. And the meet scorekeeper apologizes for this.
The winners were:
Women’s Jr: Nevaeh Traub
Women’s Master: Christian Traub
Women’s Overall: Nevaeh Traub, Christian Traub, and Nisha Gupta
Men’s Jr: Jayden Traub
Men’s Master: Larry Traub
Men’s Overall: Larry Traub, Abe Smith, Drew Traub
Teams: Ledaig Heavy Athletics 1 (1st), Clark’s Gym (2nd), High Country Vigour (3rd).
Additionally, the Records Page and all Records Tables are updated to include Nationals.
The Results: USAWA NATIONALS RESULT
Meeting held on June 26, 2026; at D. Rowes Restaurant in Columbia MO.
Sanjiv Gupta, USAWA Vice President presiding
Meeting Notes: Jessica Hopps
Called to order 6:04pm
USAWA Members Present:
2025 meeting minutes have been posted on usawa.com for review; motion made to approve meeting minutes. Motion carries.
Officer Reports:
Treasurer Bill Clark presented a report in person during meeting, copies distributed to members present. At time of meeting; current USAWA bank account: $17,558.66; no outstanding bills. 2026 has brought in 65 paid individual memberships, and 7 club memberships. A full report can be requested via email.
Award Director/Records Director Tony Lupo presented report in person. Reported over 1200 new records have been added to the record books. This year’s voting of annual awards yielded higher voting percentages than previous years; would like to continue to encourage further engagement still.
Website Director Report: By acting Secretary Sanjiv Gupta: Website continues to be produced in WordPress with content being published by a handful of trusted members. The domain is registered with Network Solutions. Curtis Cooper continues as the consultant that maintains the website and resolves issues. The website was down earlier this year due to high volume access from overseas; the website is not only accessible from the United States, UK, Australia and New Zealand. No changes planned for the upcoming year.
Drug Enforcement Director: Currently Vacant. Two drug tests were performed in the 2025 National Championships. One was positive, one negative. Once a new Director is appointed, they can establish an MRO account.
Officials Director Joe Garcia, presented by Sanjiv Gupta; New Level 2 officials Jeff Wenzel, Jarrod Forbes. New Level 1 officials Jessica Hopps, Dan Jones, Kim Van Wagner. New officials in training Philip Marlin.
Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker, presented by Sanjiv Gupta- 2025 Postal Series was a great success with 12 women and 36 men competing. 2026 is off to a great start with 4 women and 20 men competing in Q1. The top 5 men so far are Barry Bryan, Jeff Wenzel, Riley Wenzel, Nils Larson, and Anthony Lupo; the top woman so far is Kim Van Wagner.
Social Media Director currently vacant. Facebook continues to be the primary social media platform. It is a private group with 497 members. Aside from USAWA business and announcements, some content is generated by non-USAWA members regarding historic all around weightlifting and general odd lifting. Reddit is active with minimal content. The Instagram pages have been archived.
VP to IAWA– Denny Habecker and Sanjiv Gupta. Report available at https://www.usawa.com/iawa-world-council-meeting/
Motion to accept all officer reports made; motion carries.
Old Business
Sanjiv Gupta motioned to delete rule “Meet directors reserve the right to remove any athlete due to disruptive behavior.”
Discussion followed; hearing opinions both for and against motion.
Motion carries; rule to be deleted.
Sanjiv Gupta motions to delete addendum to Section IX sub-section 4 “at the meet director’s discretion, including USAWA National events”
Discussion followed; hearing opinions both for and against motion.
Motion carries; addendum to be deleted.
New Business
New Lifts: 6 were presented over the past year; however none were approved by the executive board. New Lift approvals must be sent to usawasec@gmail.com at least 4 weeks before the annual meeting to be considered by the executive board. Historically the EB has considered (1) Is it a new lift, (2) Does it represent an all around movement, (3) Can it be performed properly by the majority of the members?
Bill Clark motioned to change By-Laws Articles 2-17.
Discussion followed, hearing opinions both for and against motion.
Motion did not carry; no changes to By-Laws Articles 2-17 made.
A motion was made to change Article 7 , Section A: “Members of the Executive Board are elected every two years, on odd numbered years, at the Annual Meeting by vote of the membership present.” Suggested change “President, Treasurer and one At Large member are elected on even number years; Vice President, Secretary, and the other at large member are elected on odd number years.”
Discussion followed.
Motion carries unanimously.
A motion was made to change Article 7, Section I: “ Elected positions take effect immediately”; suggested change to “Elected positions take effect at the beginning of the second month following the Annual Meeting.”
Discussion followed.
Motion carries.
A motion was made to to add a general provision to Article 22 “Other General Provisions”: “Any change, amendment or addition to the USAWA bylaws must be submitted to the membership at least four weeks prior to the annual meeting, in a manner approved by the Executive Board (IE posted on the official website)”
Discussion followed.
Motion carries unanimously.
A motion was made to delete Rule VI Equipment 27: A certified scale is required for weigh-ins in competitions of events where records are set. It may weigh in either pounds of kiligrams. A scale certificate must be present with the scale and must not be older than 1 year.”
Discussion followed.
Motion carries.
Review of current Executive Board and Special Assignment Directors
Website Director: vacant
Drug Enforcement Director: vacant
Social Media Director: vacant
Dave Deforest nominated for Drug Enforcement Director by Tony Lupo; no objections to nomination. Dave Deforest to serve as Drug Enforcement Director.
2027 USAWA Nationals: bid made by David Glasgow, Larry Traub and Chad Ullom; location TBD in Kansas.
Meeting adjourned: 7:20pm
Minutes amended to add Drew Traub to roll call
June featured Carnival in the Cul-De-Sac, Lebanon Valley Record Day and the National Championship (results still pending).
Mike Locondro earned lifter of the month based on his outstanding performance at the Lebanon Valley Record Day which included a 121-pound Deadlift-Fulton Bar-Right Hand. This lift tests wrist strength to maintain balance on a one-handed lift and grip strength on an axle bar.
Mike has been competing since 1993 and his earliest record is 474-pound Squat, 12” Base set at the Eastern US Championship. He currently holds (27) records as a member of Habecker’s Gym.
Congratulations Mike!
Do you know a USAWA member who should be recognized as lifter of the month? Send nominations to the acting Secretary at usawasec@gmail.com
The 38th USAWA National Championship is upon us. Four lifts will be contested including:
The format follows the 2025 successful model of four lifts in one day which drew 28 lifters from around the country.
This will be the sixth Nationals in Columbia, MO with previous promotions in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2023 and 2024. The 1995 meet was a two-day event with nine lifts. The only other city to host Nationals six times is Lebanon, PA. Ambridge, PA is a distant third hosting nationals three times.
Judging should be straightforward aside from the Lateral Raise, Lying. The Rulebook specifies maximum diameter of dumbbell plates at 11 inches, arms to remain straight, elbows locked and arms must maintain 90-degree angle to the body. This is a lot to watch even with a 3-official system.
The start list has not been published, but hopefully there will be a good turnout of men, women, junior, senior and masters athletes from different clubs.
The 2025 Champions are Larry Traub (open), Beth Skwarecki (open), Isaac Bankens (junior), and Nisha Gupta (junior).