USAWA

By Ben Edwards

2020 USAWA GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2020 USAWA Grip Champs was another very well run contest at the Dino Gym. My wife Carrie and daughter Josie drove with me and cheered me on for the first and last events. And there were plenty of fun things to do in Abilene to keep Josie occupied while I competed.

I got to reconnect with many old friends. Jason Payne and his son Jarod were return competitors.

Dave Glasgow harassed Chad Ullom throughout the meet, and it was hilarious.

I was surprised when I walked in the door with only about 20 minutes until contest start and saw Bill Clark across the room. I hadn’t seen him since Al and I did the Record Day at Clark’s Gym in 2009. Joe Caron  made the trip and it was nice to meet him.

Denny Habecker and Dean Ross were there again.

Eric Todd, John Strangeway, and Lance Foster made the trip. I think they are all members of the same gym.

LaVerne was an excellent host and everyone had a great time.

I thought the lineup of events was well chosen. My grip failed long before my body would in any of the events.

We started off with the 2″ vertical bar. The bar felt slick to me until about halfway through warmups when the chalk started to accumulate a bit on the bar. In training I had recently pulled 213lbs. So my goal was about 215lbs and I got it on a 3rd attempt. I won this event, but I’m not sure by how much because I didn’t see the scorecard. I actually used my left hand, even though my right hand has been stronger in training by about 20lbs. The reason was because my right hand was going to be doing two of the events and I wanted to save it for those.

Jarod Payne deserves a mention on this (and every other event) event because I think he pulled 192lbs and had never touched a 2″ vertical bar before. He was pulling all his attempts so fast and effortlessly that we were joking with him about not snatching the weight.

Next event was the One Hand Fulton Dumbbell Deadlift. I stunk up the room with my lifting. But it was fun to watch the top 3 – LaVerne, Chad, and John battle it out for the top lift. I don’t even know the winning lift. But I think it was 180lbs. I only pulled 170lbs and barely got that.

The Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift was next. I’ve never been good at this lift. But I do enjoy it. I had a solid lift with 240lbs and then only pulled 250lbs a few inches off the ground. Again, LaVerne, Chad, and John were the top lifters and they all did some great pulls. Again, I don’t know what the top lift was but I thought it was around 280lbs. I think this is the lift where Bill Clark almost crushed his foot to dust on one of his attempts.

Final event was the one hand thumbless grip deadlift. This is usually a good event for me. But my right forearm was cramping up and I was unsure where to jump in to make sure I didn’t bomb out. I barely got 205lbs. And then missed 215lbs by a half second. John beat me handily on this event too. Chad might have also, but we were very close in the end.

LaVerne jokingly told me after the contest that he made sure to include vertical bar so that I’d compete. He was not wrong. I enjoy vertical bar the best.

In the end, LaVerne whooped us all like rented mules. It was something like 200+ points over 2nd place. I think I edged Dave out by a close margin because I think he called for a recount.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s Grip Champs! Hope to see you there.

MEET RESULTS:

2020 USAWA Grip Championships
Dino Gym
Holland, Kansas
February 8th, 2020

Meet Director: LaVerne Myers

Scorekeeper: Chad Ullom

Official (1-official system used): LaVerne Myers, Dave Glasgow & Denny Habecker

Lifts: Vertical Bar Deadlift 2″ One Arm, Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell One Arm, Deadlift 2 Inch Dumbbells, Deadlift No Thumb One Arm

MENS DIVISION

LIFTER	AGE	BWT	VB1	FD1	IDB	DLNT	TOT	PTS
LaVerne Myers	75	227	162R	170R	240	175L	747	909.6
Chad Ullom	48	219	187R	180R	260	195R	822	761.5
John Strangeway	41	207	190L	180L	260	215L	845	755.1
Ben Edwards	44	234	215L	170R	240	205R	830	714.8
Dave Glasgow	66	248	147R	155R	200	190R	692	705.7
Denny Habecker	77	182	102L	120R	140	135R	497	703.1
Bill Clark	87	213	82L	95R	120	125R	422	618.8
Joseph Caron	74	185	92R	100R	140	125R	457	614.5
Jason Payne	54	321	172L	160R	230	180R	742	599.9
Eric Todd	45	259	132R	140R	210	170R	652	538.7
Jerod Payne	18	286	187R	130R	220	160L	697	532.9
Dean Ross	77	237	87R	95L	130	115L	427	522.1
Lance Foster	54	340	142R	115R	160	130R	547	430.8

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORDS:

Joseph Caron – VB1: 102R
Chad Ullom – VB1: 195R
Denny Habecker – FD1: 125R
LaVerne Myers – IDB: 260
Dave Glasgow – IDB: 220
Chad Ullom – IDB: 280
John Strangeway – IDB: 270
Joseph Caron – DLNT: 135R
John Strangeway – DLNT: 221L

RIM LIFT EXHIBITION

LIFTER	TOTAL
Jason Payne	340
Dave Glasgow	300
Eric Todd	300
Chad Ullom	300
John Strangeway	280
LaVerne Myers	280
Denny Habecker	210
Lance Foster	210
Bill Clark	160
Dean Ross	160

RECORD DAY LIFTING

John Strangeway – 41 Years, 207 lbs. BWT  (3 official system used)
Trap Bar Deadlift:  550 lbs
Deadlift 2 Fulton Dumbbells: 320 lbs

Dean Ross – 77 Years, 237 lbs. BWT (1 official system used)
Clean and Jerk 2 Dumbbells: 50 lbs
Clean and Jerk Dumbbell Right Arm: 25 lbs
Clean and Jerk Dumbbell Left Arm: 25 lbs
Clean and Jerk Fulton Bar: 40 lbs
Clean and Push Press 2 Dumbbells: 60 lbs.

NOTES: All lifts recorded in pounds. BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  R and L designate right and left arms. TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight.