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.
Last weekend the 2nd For Women Only Meet and record day was held here in Columbia, MO and remotely. This meet featured five events, the Bench Press – Feet Up, Swing – Dumbbell, One Hand, the Hack Lift, the Deadlift Barbell, One Hand, and the Push Press from the Rack. Two gyms and four lifters participated in the competition and record day.
The competition was tight onsite, but the winner this year was Jessica Hopps from Frank’s Barbell Club. Jessica was first overall with a total over 500 lbs raw weight and Lynch adjusted points. She won four of the five events and set two age and weight records as well as ALL records for her weight class. Her lifts included impressive efforts in the Hack Lift and Push Press from the Rack. The onsite competition was very close as two familiar lifters, Allison Lupo and Janet Thompson squared off. Allison’s lifts totaled over 400 lb, and she edged Janet by 0.27 Lynch adjusted points for 2nd overall. Allison set four new age and weight records including the Deadlift, One Hand which was the best effort of the competition in that event. Janet’s third place effort was very strong as she was close to personal bests in spite of not being at 100% strength for the meet. Young Dylan Wenzel competed as well and just one week after competing in the Stars of Tomorrow Meet. Again, she challenged my ability to model her Lynch factor, and under the guidance of her dad, completed the competition. She set five new age and weight records and ALL records in her weight class, including finishing 2nd in the Press from the Rack, when age and weight were taken into account. Congratulations to all the lifters! Please check out the record lifts as well. There were five individual record setters and one familiar set of team lifters that did some good lifting.
Last weekend was the 3rd Annual Stars of Tomorrow meet and Record Day. It was a busy weekend in town with the end of the school year and graduations and all. The meet this year attracted only two young lifters who are so young they might better be characterized as the stars of the day after tomorrow. But both showed some grit in learning how to do the lifts, and both had a familiar last name. The lifts were Bench Press Feet Up, Jerk from the Rack, Anderson Squat, Clean and Press – Heels Together, and Deadlift – Heels Together.
The two lifters, Dylan and Logan Wenzel, the youngest of the Wenzel family came in with Dad and the gym was ‘alive with the sound of ….iron’. Ok, so I’m not going to replace Steven Colbert. But, young Dylan, the lone Women’s contender did well setting age / weight records and ALL records in the five events. At 24.5 kg, she tested my mathematical skills in modelling the lynch function and extrapolating down below 25 kg. Dylan showed she was a quick study in performing the lifts very well technically under the guidance of her dad, a USAWA champion. Logan was the only contender on the Men’s side and he contributed two age / weight and ALL records in a new weight class. Those lifts were among his personal best. Congratulations to the two young lifters! Hopefully we’ll see a few more next year.
There were a few record seekers that lifted as well and Jeff Wenzel and Dave DeForest did some impressive work. Tony and Allison Lupo did another team lift. Check out the results below.
