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
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.
May 2nd was the USAWA Heavy Lift Championship with live venues being hosted across United States. In the end, Jessica Hopps completed a three-peat having one in 2024, 2025 and again this year in 2026. Nils Larson won his second time, notching his first win in 2023. Thanks to all of the host venues and promoters for a fantastic event.
Complete Results:
USAWA Heavy Lift Championship Frank’s Barbell Club, KCSTRONGMAN, and High Country Vigour Walpole, MA; Turney, MO; Lakewood, CO May 2, 2026 Meet Director: Jessica Hopps Scorekeeper: Jessica Hopps
Officials: Jessica Hopps, Dan Jones, Wade Marchand, Nils Larson, Frank Ciavattone, Eric Todd, Lance Foster, Tony Lupo, Sanjiv Gupta, Jarrod Fobes, Kim Van Wagner, Nisha Gupta
The Lifts: Neck Lift, Hand & Thigh Lift, Hip Lift
Bodyweight and Lifts in Pounds
WOMENS DIVISION
Lifter
Age
BW
Neck
H & T
Hip
Total
Points
Jessica Hopps
42
158
240
622
1126
1988
2802.0
Nisha Gupta
17
86
90
170
209
469
1109.4
MENS DIVISION
Lifter
Age
BW
Neck
H & T
Hip
Total
Points
Nils Larson
66
240
637
872
1546
3055
3143.1
Dan Jones
42
193
360
1122
1822
3304
3103.6
Frank Ciavattone
71
264
380
775
1510
2665
2716.8
Carl Puzin
69
216
350
610
1300
2260
2516.1
Wade Marchand
56
164
225
620
1126
1971
2317.6
Anthony Lupo
60
247
250
550
1120
1920
1855.1
Everett Todd
13
137
300
420
500
1220
1729.2
Jarrod Fobes
49
215
100
594
843
1537
1452.6
Sanjiv Gupta
54
208
190
483
623
1296
1303.5
Joshua Guerin
41
256
150
594
843
1587
1269.4
Lance Foster
60
269
200
550
0
750
694.3
As a multivenue event, each location will be submitting a meet report.
