April was an exciting month with meets being held in Colorado and Missouri. Jeff Wenzel earned lifter of the month with some incredible lifts in the Club Championships and winning the Bench Press Heptathlon. His 250-pound Reg Park Bench Press was good for an all-ages record at 110kg.
Jeff has been enthusiastically competing and setting records since 2023 in the 45-year-old age category and since the 50th Birthday Bash in the 50-year-old age category. Jeff is a member of the Century Club and was honored as 2024 Newcomer of the Year.
All-Round weightlifting is a family sport in the Wenzel household. Spencer (17), Logan (10) and Riley (20) quickly in Jeff’s footsteps. They tend to favor the obscure and currently all four athletes hold records in the Anderson Squat, Jackson Press, Roman Chair Sit-up, Pinch Grip Deadlift and Bench Dip.
Our Awards Director, Tony Lupo, would like to ask everyone to vote for the 2025 USAWA Awards if you haven’t already. You can find all the information you need here about the awards and how to vote. You just need to send an email, and votes are due by May 31, 2025.
Also, the survey about the future of USAWA is about to close—the deadline was April 30 but I will allow a few more days for any stragglers to submit their responses. Here is more information about the survey, which includes a link to fill it out. It should only take a few minutes of your time. Current, past, and potential future members are all invited to respond.
To follow up on the previous update regarding Dale Hollow State Park going through immediate emergency reconstruction at the park, I have polled many of the lifters coming to nationals about where to have the National Meeting.
The two choices I proposed were the SKD Distillery, after the tour or Angie’s Family Restaurant, a locally owned family restaurant that serves southern style country cooking. Before proposing this option to the lifters, Lynne and I went and had dinner at Angie’s Family Restuarant. It met the criteria we need and then I invited the lifters attending nationals to share which option they liked best. In an overwhelming response, the lifters chose Angie’s Family Restaurant by an 80 to 20 percent margin. I think this was conclusive and I will be setting up the 2025 USAWA National Meeting in the side room at Angie’s Family Restaurant for Friday, July 18.
Here is the planned itinerary for Friday, July 18:
– 2:00 – 4:30 pm we have a tour scheduled for Southern Kentucky Distillery
– 5:30 – 8:30 pm we will have the 2025 National Meeting at Angie’s Family Restaurant.
March was a busy month with meets being held in Massachusetts, Kentucky, Missouri and Colorado. Randy Smith earned lifter of the month for March by shining in the Colorado Single Arm Challenge and Jeff’s 50th Birthday Bash. He was first overall in the Single Arm Challenge with a massive 420 pound unadjusted total at 198 pound bodyweight and 70 years of age. During Jeff’s Birthday Bash, he completed four of five lifts with an impressive 130 pound Roman Chair Sit-up.
Randy has records dating back to the 2003 National Championship and has competed in 16 National Championships and was the best lifter in 2015. He is a member of the Century Club with 144 records. 31 of those are National Records, which puts him at 5th behind some pretty impressive company.
Most recently he has taken a role on the USAWA Advisory Committee which was tasked with better understanding the membership.
This is the 4th time Randy has earned Lifter of the Month with past recognition in July 2014, June 2015 and October 2021. Congratulations Randy!
