Contest Memories

By Eric Todd

I was inspired by the article Chris Lestan wrote called “The Excitement and Memories of Competition Prep.” Since things have been rather slow of late, I thought I might do a few articles about some of my more memorable contests/contest preps.  I have competed many, many times across a number of strength disciplines.

I am going to gloss over my first experience a little.  It was the Show-Me State Games powerlifting meet, which was actually a push/pull.  Training had gone OK, but a week prior, I  badly sprained my ankle by stepping in a hole, so I only did the benchpress, and performed poorly there.  So, not a tremendous experience, but though I did not realize it at the time, it is more than likely the first time I was at a meet with Bill Clark.  I do remember holding my pause for an inordinate amount of time.

What I was really excited to train and compete in was strongman.  While I always did well moving the weights in the weightroom, I always found functional strength to be more of my forte.  So, when I decided I wanted to try my hand at it, I found a contest in a small college town in northeast Missouri called Canton.  The meet was called Tri-States Strongest Man.  I sent in my entry and started training for the events.

The events in this contest were as follows: Farmers walk/sandbag carry medley, truck pull, crucifix, tire flip for reps, and atlas stones. Access to equipment as well as training advice at that time was minimal.  I got a tractor time (maybe 300 pounds) from a tire repair place in town.  I took the inner tube out of it  and used that as a dirty, makeshift harness by which to practice pulling my brothers broken down car up and down the driveway (that car was later converted into my shooting car).  Crucifix I was able to simulate in the weightroom with dumbbells.  I did make my first atlas stone at that time using the play ball and plaster of paris method for making the mold.  Somebody on one of the old forums said you can do farmers walks with ez curl bars.  So, one day in the high school when no one was around, I gave that a shot.  Needless to say, it was not a suitable substitution.

So, contest day rolled around.  We drove out the night before and arrived in town at around 10:00.  We pulled in to the contest motel  to check in.  The office where I checked in was clearly the living room of the older couple who owned the motel.  The old man snoozed on the davenport as his wife checked us in. I got  a decent night’s sleep, and when I got up, I decided to find the park where the contest was being held since I had never been there before.  Since this was the contest motel, most of the competitors stayed there.  As I left my room, my attention was drawn to a group of the competitors at the edge of the parking lot.  There were some MONSTERS in this group.  As this contest only had a lightweight class and a heavyweight class, and anyone 225# or less was a lightweight, I knew I was going to be competing against some of those behemoths. I instantly felt out of place, as though I had made a tragic error.  I thought to myself that no one knew me, so no one would notice if I just slipped back into the car and drove home (not unlike Melvin did after a couple of events-but that is another story).  I decided against it, and stuck it out. The contest was rather eye opening.  I saw competitor after competitor fail on the 800 pound tire.  I got 2 flips, which was good for second place.  I got third in the crucifix and the atlas stones, being one of only 3 to load all of them. I did find out that day that grip was going to be my Achilles heel and grip events my nemesis.  I must have done 20 some deadlifts with 250# farmers walks, only to end up 5 feet short of the finish line.  But, in my first contest I took 4th place among the giants, and figured out I belonged.  The other thing I found remarkable was what appeared to be fantastic camaraderie among the competitors.  They were all cheering for each other, even though they were competing against each other.  It is what drew me to the sport initially, and ended up being what kept me around it for so long. Anyhow, that is the story of how I got my start in strongman; however, it was my second meet that pretty much hooked me for good. (to be continued)

2020 Postal Series

By Al Myers

The USAWA has 4 postal meets per year (March, June, September, and December), with the last one being designated as the Postal Championships. All these together make up the Postal Meet Series. Each postal meet a lifter competes in generates points for him/her, that total up for the final Postal Series Ranking.

The way the points are generated is pretty simple. I take the overall placings of the meet and then reverse “the count” for the points earned for each lifter. I.E – if three lifters compete lifter number 1 gets 3 points, lifter number 2 gets 2 points, and lifter number three gets 1 point. The Postal Championships is worth “double points”. Obviously then, as more lifters enter more points can be earned for winning the meet, and ALL lifters earn points regardless where they place overall. Just entering will earn points toward the Postal Series Ranking.

Overall there was good participation in the USAWA Postal Meets last year. A total of 39 lifters competed in the various postal meets, which is 10 more lifters than competed last year. The first Postal Meet had 19 lifters, the second had 25 lifters, the third had 31 lifters, and the Postal Championship drew 24 lifters. Several lifters competed in ALL of the postal meets last year and they deserve to be recognized.  These lifters are the GRAND SLAM WINNERS:  Eric Todd, Abe Smith, John Strangeway, Denny Habecker, Dave DeForest, Barry Pensyl, Dean Ross, Bill Clark, RJ Jackson, Elizabeth Skwarecki, Sylvia Stockall, Phoebe Todd, Lynda Burns

Now for the overall rankings for the 2020 USAWA Postal Series!

2020 POSTAL SERIES SUMMARY

Postal Meet Winners

POSTAL MEET MEN WOMEN
1st Quarter Postal John Strangeway RJ Jackson
2nd Quarter Postal Abe Smith Elizabeth Skwarecki
3rd Quarter Postal Jeff Ciavattone Amorkor Ollennuking
Postal Championships Eric Todd RJ Jackson

GRAND SLAM WINNERS: Eric Todd, Abe Smith, John Strangeway, Denny Habecker, Dave DeForest, Barry Pensyl, Dean Ross, Bill Clark, RJ Jackson, Elizabeth Skwarecki, Sylvia Stockall, Phoebe Todd, Lynda Burns

Final Postal Series Rankings

WOMENS DIVISION – TOP TEN

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 TIE RJ Jackson 4 33
1 TIE Elizabeth Skwarecki 4 33
3 Sylvia Stockall 4 30
4 Lynda Burns 4 17
5 Phoebe Todd 4 16
6 Natalie Collins 1 10
7 Janet Thompson 3 9
8 Amorkor Ollenuking 1 8
9 Olivia Collins 1 4
10 Crystal Diggs 3 3

MENS DIVISION – TOP TEN

PLACING LIFTER MEETS ENTERED POINTS
1 John Strangeway 4 76
2 TIE Abe Smith 4 71
2 TIE Eric Todd 4 71
4 Denny Habecker 4 56
5 Dave DeForest 4 55
6 Barry Pensyl 4 52
7 Barry Bryan 3 41
8 Tony Hose 3 39
9 Al Myers 2 34
10 TIE Christopher Lestan 1 30
10 TIE John Carter 2 30

It was very CLOSE for the overall winner in the Women’s Division, and ended up being a tie between RJ Jackson and Elizabeth Skwarecki.  Sylvia Stockall was very close behind these two, only trailing by 3 points. A total of 11 women competed in the various postal meets (the most ever) so for the first time we had a TOP TEN for the Women’s Division.

The Men’s Division was very close as well, with John Strangeway taking the title of Overall Champion of the USAWA Postal Series.  Behind him was a close tie for second with Abe Smith and Eric Todd.  The strength and depth of the Mens Division was the best ever, and it took competing in every postal meet to make the top five overall.  A total of 28 men entered at least one postal competition which is the most ever.

I want to thank everyone who participated in our Postal Meet Series.  This participation is what keeps our Postals going every year. I also want to mention and give credit to our Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker who makes all this happen.  A full historical archive of the past Postal Meet Series is kept on the website, under “history”.

2021 Postal Series

By Al Myers

The entire 2021 Postal Series Meets has been announced.  The USAWA has had a long history of promoting postal meets, and for the last several years have hosted a Postal Series, consisting of 4 quarterly Postal Meets with the last one being the USAWA Postal Championships.

The promotion of these meets are done by the USAWA, under the direction of the Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker.  All scoresheets are to be sent to Denny as he does the formula calculations for the final meet standings. There is no entry fee to enter the USAWA Postal Meets. The Postal series is sponsored by the USAWA.  However, you must be a current member of the USAWA to participate.

Postal Meets are a great way to get introduced to All Round Weightlifting. Denny picks a variety of different lifts for each meet.  Rules for the lifts are found in the USAWA Rule Book, which is available for free download from the website.

Now for the lifts of this years Postal Series!

1st Quarter Postal Meet – January 1st to March 31st
Bench Press – Feet in Air
Curl – Cheat, Dumbbell, One Arm
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip

2nd Quarter Postal Meet – April 1st to June 30th
Pullover and Press
Curl – Reverse Grip, Strict
Deadlift – One Arm

3rd Quarter Postal Meet – July 1st to September 30th
Push Press – From Racks
Clean and Jerk – Dumbbell, One Arm
Deadlift – Stiff Legged

Postal Championships – October 1st to December 31st
Press – Dumbbell, One Arm
Snatch – One Arm
Habecker Lift

All entry forms for the USAWA Postal Meets are found in upcoming events in the right column of the website homepage.

The Excitement and Memories of Competition Prep

By Christopher Lestan

Since there haven’t been any in-person competitions I think it would be fun to reflect on when the time comes when in-person competition becomes normal again.

The preparation for competition is what stimulates the regular strength athlete and soon becomes all they can think about for the next couple of months. The training schedule, reps, and sets are all determined 8-12 weeks out from the day of the competition. The journey from the beginning of prep when you write down goals you want to achieve. Then at the end of the competition prep you recall on what you have written down to see if you achieved your goal or goals.

That is the beauty of competition. The journey! Everyone has as prep that they remember like the back of their hand. The prep that pushed that individual to the brink, or maybe have to overcome some sort of adversity during prep. Those are the  memories that stick with us the most. The moments that we recall as defining us or redefining us as people. It’s what makes competition prep almost seem like magic.

My personal competition prep that sticks out to me to this day was my first Heavy Lifts Nationals back in 2018. I had just finished competing at College Raw Powerlifting Nationals and as soon as I got home I went to Frank Ciavatone to start training. Now normally I give myself a decent 8-10 weeks before a major competition. This allows myself to peak for the day of completion with phases of hypertrophy, strength, and power. However, during this time Heavy Lift Nationals was only 4-5 weeks away. Thank goodness I have one of the greatest Heavy Lifters of all time Frank Ciavatone. I remember we talked for hours on end deciding what to do for the prep and how to get ready. Finally, he made the decision (because he’s the coach and I am the athlete) to do 1-2 workouts a week of the Neck, Hand and Thigh, and Hip lift.

During that time I learned so much about timing of training, and how to control intensity. I learned how to be a listener whenever Frank gave some advice or technique tips. I learned how to recovery from the lifts, for the style of recovery is vastly different from recovering from powerlifting workouts. I loved every minute of it. It was one of the best 4-5 weeks of training of my life because Frank taught me so much about how to get ready for these lifts. I guess it worked in the end because I achieved all of my goals by the end of 5 weeks and found a new love for the Heavy Lifts. This time of my life sticks out to me because of how much I learned from Frank about the lifts, and also I was allowed to push myself in a different discipline of strength sports.

As I said before… Everyone has these types of memories. Maybe it was your first Powerlifting competition? Or the time you deiced to do a strongman competition? Or the first All-Around Weightlifting Competition. All different stories that come with different memories!

Postal Championships

By Denny Habecker

2020 USAWA POSTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

We had 24 lifters take part in our Postal Championships this year. Eric Todd was at the top of the men’s division and R. J. Jackson  led a very competitive woman’s division. Thank you to all who participated.

MEET RESULTS:

USAWA POSTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
October 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2020

The Lifts: Snatch From Hang  –  Deadlift, Dumbbell, One Arm –  Pullover and Push

MEN’S DIVISION

Eric Todd                 – 45 – 263   –  181 – 346-R     – 401    – 928     – 760.97

Christopher Lestan  – 24  – 275   –  220 – 350-R    – 402.5 – 972.5   – 737.34

Abe Smith              – 39  – 183   –  185 – 255-L     – 315   – 755      – 710

John Strangeway    – 42  – 205   –  170  – 320-L    – 255    – 745     – 676.26

Randy Smith          – 66  – 195   –  115  – 252.5-R – 205  –   572.5  – 659.23

Denny Habecker    – 78   -187.6 –   72  – 189-R    – 165   –   426    – 600.12

Dave DeForest       – 60  – 196    – 125  – 201-R   – 185    –   511   –  558.82

Barry Pensyl         – 72   – 148   –  65   – 165-R    – 135    –  365    – 549.22

Barry Bryan          – 62  – 190    – 99   – 187-R    – 176     –  462    – 522.74

Aidan Habecker    – 17  – 230    – 121  – 243-R    – 198     –  562    – 489.02

Tony Hose            – 51  – 230    – 65    – 255-R   – 205     –   525   – 487.15

Wade Marchand    – 51  – 154    – 75    – 170-L   – 130      –  375   – 440.58

Michael Marchand – 14  – 165    – 80    – 170-R   – 115      – 365    – 438.74

Dean Ross           – 78   – 207   – 45    – 100-L    -133.5    – 278.5 – 371.08

Lance Foster       –  55  – 342   – 75     -200-R     – 0         – 275    – 217.97

Bill Clark             – 88   -208   – 22     – 106-R    – 0          -128    – 192.55

WOMEN’S DIVISION

R.J. Jackson               – 59 – 106  – 65    – 145-R   – 100       – 310  – 517.04

Elizabeth Skwarecki  – 40  – 148.8 – 108  – 187-L   -154        -449   -485.46

Sylvia Stockall         – 62   -142     – 77   – 92-R     – 100      – 269  – 365.71

Natalie Collins          – 13  – 116    – 60   – 70-R     –  66       – 196   – 315.14

Phoebe Todd            – 10  – 106    – 25   – 60-R     –  50       – 165   -305.01

Lynda Burns            – 46  – 164    – 75    – 115-L   – 85        – 275   – 295.72

Olivia Collins           – 11  – 126    – 45    – 70-R     -66        -181    – 290.32

Janet Thompson     – 63   – 180    – 22    – 80-L    – 65         – 167  – 196.70

OFFICIALS:

Aidan Habecker         – Denny Habecker, Barry Bryan
Phoebe Todd             – Lance Foster, Eric Todd
Eric Todd                 -Lance Foster
Christopher Lestan   – Frank Ciavattone
Abe Smith               – Bill Clark
John Strangeway      – Lance Foster
Denny Habecker       – Barry Bryan
Dave DeForest         – Bill Clark
Barry Bryan            – Denny Habecker
Tony Hose             – Bill Clark
Wade Marchand     – Frank Ciavattone
Michael Marchand – Frank Ciavattone
Dean Ross            – Lance Foster
Lance Foster        – Eric Todd
Bill Clark              – Dave DeForest
Natalie Collins      – Frank Ciavattone
Olivia Collins        – Frank Ciavattone
Janet Thompson   – Bill Clark

LIFTERS With non-certified Officials:

Randy Smith
Barry Pensyl
R.J. Jackson
Elizabeth Skwarecki
Sylvia Stockall
Lynda Burns

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