Three masters athletes made it to the Lebanon Valley Record day this year. We had a great day of lifting and talking about the days when we were much stronger. The lifters were Mike Locondro , 63, 95 KG.. CLASS, Barry Bryan, 68, 80 Kg. CLASS, and Denny Habecker, 83, 80 KG. CLASS.
Mike Locondro – 63 – BW=207 lbs – 95 KG Class
One Hand- 1″ Vertical Bar Lift- Right Hand – 216 lbs
Two Hand 1″ Vertical Bars Lift – 256 lbs
Deadlift – 2 Dumbbells – 264 lbs
Deadlift – No Thumb- Right Hand – 143 lbs
Deadlift – Fulton Bar- Right Hand – 121 lbs
Barry Bryan – 68 – BW=172.8 lbs – 80 KG Class
One Hand – 1″ Vertical Bar Lift – Right Hand – 161 lbs
On June 06 we had quite beautiful weather in Northern Colorado for the first ever Carnival in the Cul-de-Sac. The meet focused on classical/old timey lifts from sideshows, carnivals, and other similar displays from days past. In order to enhance the environment, fresh popped corn and festive old-timey mustaches were provided to competitors!
The primary lifts were:
Steinborn Squat
Dinnie Deadlift
Goerner Stroll
In addition, we had two exhibition lifts that followed a similar theme:
A modified dumbbell press using a Fulton dumbbell handle (similar to a “circus dumbbell”).
A nail-bending face-off.
Nails included were:
Der Fiegel – Ace Hardware 20D 4” Galvanized Box Nails (~29 lbs.).
El Jefe – Grip Rite 60D 6” Timber Ties (~53 lbs.).
The Centurion – Hillman Fas-n-Tite 6-in x 0.125-in 60d Hot-dipped galvanized Ring Shank Pole barn Nails (~63 lbs.).
The primary lifts went smoothly, with each lifter being humbled in their own way by the Goerner Stroll’s balancing act! While this lift proved technically difficult, the Steinborn lift and Dinnie both appeared to be comfortable for those involved, with the Dinnie allowing for some fairly significant deadlift numbers.
Lynch-adjusted overall scoring was:
Kim Wagner (465 lbs total, 1st place women’s).
Joshua Guerin (1083 lbs total, 1st place men’s).
Sanjiv Gupta (805 lbs total, 2nd place men’s).
Tony Lupo (813 lbs total, 3rd place men’s).
“Circus Dumbbell” Exhibition
The one-arm dumbbell and Fulton bars are no strangers to USAWA contests, so competitors were fairly confident going into the event. The event was selected based on the classical “circus dumbbell lift” from carnival and sideshow lore. While those events are often pictured with a globe-style dumbbell, a Fulton-style handle and large sleeve covers has become the norm. In order to ensure that more competitors had the equipment, a standard Fulton dumbbell handle was selected.
The circus dumbbell event was taken overall by Tony Lupo, with an impressive 90 lb left-arm lift. Overall these were followed by Joshua, Kim, and Sanjiv in terms of Lynch-adjusted weight. This puts Tony and Kim as male and female winners of the exhibition lift, congrats!
The lift seemed to go smoothly, and appeared to be enjoyed by the competitors involved. Given the inclusion of other Fulton dumbbell handles and existing dumbbell presses, perhaps the Fulton overhead press could be considered for inclusion as an official event.
Nail Bending Exhibition
Nail bending was new to most lifters, with Joshua giving a short training seminar at a previous High Country Vigour contest. Despite the lifters being relatively new to the event, the exhibition ended up being a fun surprise for everyone involved! Most importantly, everyone who participated bent not just one, but multiple nails in their category.
Due to the nature of the event, nails were judged first on category (with harder nails beating any number of correctly bent nails in previous categories) then on the total number of nails bent to break ties. All nails were judged based on a 2-inch maximum inner distance. Kim, Sanjiv, and Joshua all participated in Greeley.
Joshua took first in the event total, with 3 Centurion nails. This was followed by Sanjiv who bent 4 Der Fiegel’s, and Kim who had two Der Fiegel blends. This has Joshua and Kim as the top benders in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively. This puts Kim Wagner in the impressive position of having the leading lynch-adjusted score across the divisions, and had her ranked highest overall for the day, and sees her taking home awards in the women’s category the primary contest as well as both exhibition lifts.
COMPLETE RESULTS:
Carnival in the Cul-de-Sac Greeley, Colorado June 6, 2026 Meet Director: Joshua Guerin Scorekeeper: Joshua Guerin
Officials: (1-official system) Sanjiv Gupta, Kim Van Wagner, Allison Lupo
Where: Habecker’s Gym, Lebanon, PA When: August 8, 2026 Weigh Ins: 10:00 AM Lifting Starts: 11:00 AM Entry Fee: None
The Presidential Cup will follow along some of the same guidelines as the Gold Cup, which is the IAWA meet which recognizes outstanding performances by lifters in the lift/lifts of their choosing. The Gold Cup started in 1991 under the direction of then-IAWA President Howard Prechtel. However there will be some differences in the guidelines of the USAWA Presidential Cup:
The Presidential Cup is hosted annually by the USAWA President only.
Must be a USAWA member to participate.
A lifter may choose any official USAWA lift/lifts (up to a maximum of 5 lifts) to set a USAWA record/records in.
The lifter must open at a USAWA Record Poundage on first attempt.
The top performance record lift of the entire record day, which will be chosen by the President, will be awarded the PRESIDENTIAL CUP.
USAWA President Joe Garcia is unable to host the Presidential Cup in 2026. Denny volunteered to host the event again and the the USAWA Executive Board approved his sanction request.
May featured the USAWA Heavy Lift Championship, Stars of Tomorrow and For Women Only meets.
Dan earned lifter of the month with his incredible 3304-pound total in the Heavy Lift Championship. This was a 294-pound improvement over his 2024 numbers.
Dan has been competing since 2023 and currently holds 64 records. Dan is a member of Frank’s Barbell Club and is an excellent ambassador of All-Round Weightlifting on and off the platform.
Congratulations Dan!
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
Reviewing the January through May participation numbers brought forth some insights
Year
Meets
Participants
In Person
Remote
2025
15
68
51
31
2026
12
43
34
23
2026 shows 60% membership drop from 154 to 54
2026 shows 30% drop in meets so far from 15 to 12
2026 shows 36% drop from 68 members competing to 43 members competing
How are 2026 athletes competing? Remote only athletes are 17% of competing athletes so far this year. Only two athletes traveled out of state for meets this year.
21 In Person and Remote/Postal
13 In Person Only
7 Remote Only
2 Postal Only
Membership Numbers (sorted by 2026 Membership from Largest to Smallest)
Club
2023
2024
2025
2026
Clark’s
24
23
25
22
Habecker’s
9
12
8
7
Frank’s
16
13
11
7
High Country
0
6
6
6
N/A
19
50
55
3
Per Aspera
0
0
0
3
Dino Gym
6
6
5
2
Iron Sharpens Iron
0
0
2
2
Ledaig
1
3
2
1
KCSTRONGMAN
10
8
7
1
Buffville
11
13
12
0
Lou’s
1
1
1
0
Jackson WLC
1
1
0
0
Power Partners
1
0
0
0
Empower
1
0
0
0
TOTAL
100
136
134
54
-Canada
3
22
25
0
USAWA has a smaller, but more active group of lifters.
With membership lists going all the way back to 2010, some other insights can be gained.
No Club Affiliation is the most popular selection – This means new people are trying all-round
Club Membership and Activity is cyclic
Dino Gym – peaked in 2018 with 19 members
Clark’s – grew from a low of 1 member in 2017 to the juggernaut it is today
Frank’s – peaked in 2019 with 23 members
Habecker’s – relatively steady with an average of 6 members annually
Share your thoughts on the Forum, Facebook page or directly with the Secretary at usawasec@gmail.com.
