Superlatives

While the year is not yet complete, I find myself with a little time on my hands and wanted to shout out some folks who have really knocked it out of the park in 2025.

Most Active Athletes:
The results of (39) events have been posted and making 20+ is quite an achievement. (24) other athletes were 10+, (13) athletes were in 5-9 events, the large majority of (84) athletes were in less than 5 events in 2025 so far.

  • Tony Lupo – (28) events, (16) in person, (8) remote, (4) postal
  • Allison Lupo – (24) events
  • Sanjiv Gupta – (23) events
  • Jeff Wenzel – (23) events
  • Dave DeForest – (20) events)

Road Warriors:
How many athletes traveled out of state for more than one event?

  • Denny Habecker – (4) IAWA Gold Cup, USAWA Nationals, IAWA Worlds, USAWA OTSM Championship
  • Tony Lupo – (3) True North True Strength, USAWA Nationals, Bayou Beast Bash
  • Chad Ullom – (3) IAWA Gold Cup, USAWA Nationals, USAWA OTSM Championship
  • Dave Glasgow – (2) USAWA Nationals, USAWA OTSM Championship
  • Clint Poore – (2) True North True Strength, Bayou Beast Bash
  • Sanjiv Gupta – (2) USAWA Nationals, IAWA Worlds

Commitment:
No athletes participated in all (8) championships. Tony and Dave missed the Presidential Cup and Grip Championship. Nisha and Sanjiv missed the Presidential Cup, Heavy Lift and OTSM Championship.

  • Tony Lupo – (6)
  • Dave DeForest – (6)
  • Nisha Gupta – (5)
  • Sanjiv Gupta – (5)

Active Clubs:
I tried to tally up and rank 2025 entries to date. Clark’s Gym was by far the most active club hosting (12) events in 2025. Ranked in order of member event entries.

  • Clark’s Gym – 221 entries by 26 athletes
  • High Country Vigour – 71 entries by 6 athletes
  • Frank’s Barbell Club – 68 entries by 10 athletes
  • Canada – 51 entries by 25 athletes
  • Habecker’s Gym – 45 entries by 8 athletes
  • Buffville – 35 entries by 15 athletes
  • KC Strongman – 23 entries by 7 athletes
  • Dino Gym – 11 entries by 5 athletes
  • No Club Listed – 9 entries by 6 athletes
  • Ledaig Heavy Athletics – 8 entries by 2 athletes
  • Iron Palace Podcast – 6 entries by 5 athletes
  • Iron Throne – 5 entries by 3 athletes
  • Iron Sharpens Iron – 4 entries by 2 athletes

Active Clubs:
Al Myers made a big push to promote all-round lifting clubs. It would be impossible for me to figure out due to the absence of online records, but there should be a century club for clubs that have hosted over (100) events. Aside from the $30 sanction fee per event, meet directors have to plan the meet; organize athletes, officials, spotters, loaders, announcers; distribute awards, results; and keep everyone safe. It is a tough job for small field events of less than (10) athletes and exponentially higher for (10+) athletes. There were (41) events sanctioned in 2025 and Clark’s Gym led the pack by an incredible margin.

  • Clark’s Gym – (12) events
  • High Country Vigour – (6) events
  • Buffville – (4) events
  • Habecker’s – (3) events
  • Frank’s – (3) events
  • KCSTRONGMAN – (2) events
  • Iron Sharpens Iron – (1) event
  • Ledaig – (1) event
  • True North True Strength – (1) event
  • Postal – (4) events
  • IAWA – (4) events