USAWA Grip Championship

Date: Saturday, April 4, 2026
Address: High Country Vigour, Lakewood, Colorado
Weigh-Ins: 9 AM; Lifting Begins: 10 AM
The Lifts:
-Pinch Grip Deadlift – One Hand (I16)
-Deadlift, Fulton DB, One Arm (F8)
-Vertical Bar, 1 Bar, 1″ (I26)
-Deadlift, 3″ Bar (I4)
Exhibition Lift: One Hand Pinch Grip Clean and Press (IAWA lift F18) – Contested at the 2026 British Grip Champs
Entry Fee: $10 (waived for Junior athletes)
To Enter: The meet is open to any USAWA member. Entries deadline March 21, 2026
Meet Director: Sanjiv Gupta, contact by email sanjiv_gupta@hotmail.com
USAWA Membership Required
Awards: Best Lifter Award to the men’s and women’s champion. Other awards may be added based on number of entries.
Record Session: Each lifter can perform up to 5 records if equipment is available and time allows
Hybrid: Remote entries will NOT be allowed.

Athletes can look forward to some grip sport inspired USAWA events

The Grip Championship was created by Al Myers in 2011 and was hosted in Abilene, KS until 2024. It moved to Lakewood, CO in 2025. Ben Edwards is the reigning defending champion.

2025 USAWA Postal Championship

Updated 1/19/2026 to add missing Q4 Results

With the publication of the 4th Quarter Postal, we can now crown the postal champions. We use strongman scoring so if (8) women competed in Q1, 1st place would get 8 points, 2nd place would get 7 points, etc. At the end of the year, the athlete with the highest total points wins the championship.

Stacy Todd bested the women’s field with consistency. She was near the top in 1st and 2nd quarter and was first in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Lisa Gore was in 2nd place and Jessica Hopps was in 3rd place.

Abe Smith bested the men’s field with 96 total points. Barry Bryan was a close 2nd with 91 points and Jeff Wenzel completed the podium with 86 points.

Congratulations to our winners and our Grand Slam athletes who participated in all four postal events. (48) athletes participated in at least one postal event, but the following (21) athletes were committed: Stacy Todd, Lisa Gore, Jessica Hopps, Kim Van Wagner, Janet Thompson, Allison Lupo, Abe Smith, Barry Bryan, Jeff Wenzel, Dan Jones, Travis Luther, Randy Smith, Denny Habecker, Wade Marchand, Dave Hahn, Sanjiv Gupta, Nils Larson, Frank Ciavattone, Mike Locondro, Bill Clark and Jerome Licini.

2025 4th Quarter Postal

Results restated 1/19/2026 due to missing entries

The final postal of 2025 had 8 woman and 22 men participate. The top lifter among the men was Abe Smith and Stacy Todd led the women.

All lifts and Bdwts are in pounds. Records are marked with an*. All one hand lifts are right hand unless marked with an L.

October 1 thru December 31, 2025

The lifts- Dumbbell Swing- One Hand, Bench Press- Fulton Bar, Vertical Bar Deadlift- One Bar- 2″.

NameAgeBDWTCLASSDB SwingBP FultonV BarTotalAdj Total
Abe Smith4418485 KG125 *300215 *640630.12
Jeff Wenzel50228105 KG92325 *176593547.25
Barry Bryan6717580 KG66 *220 *129 *415523.32
Randy Smith7119890 KG75168160403499.80
Travis Luther3317480 KG102250146498481.96
Dan Jones4118685 KG77 (L)233179 (L)489465.11
Nils Larson66238110 KG62 (L) *243 *132 (L) *437455.31
Wade Marchand5616475 KG57 *175 *147 *349446.40
Frank Ciavattone70271125 KG77 *137198 *412427.18
Tony Lupo59244115 KG77 (L)240 *126443427.03
Stacy Todd4318785 KG60 *135.5 *131 *326.5415.41
Denny Habecker8318085 KG4513288-L *265407.79
Eric Todd50285125+KG75 *300 *115490404.72
Sanjiv Gupta54206.895 KG57 *170155382385.31
Barry Pensyl77126.360 KG409081211381.19
Dave Hahn8812860 KG30 85 70185379.23
Diya Gupta1811255 KG40 *60 *110 *210378.07
Bill Clark9320395 KG2065125210338.25
Nisha Gupta1686.140 KG25 *45 *60-L *130316.62
Jessica Hopps4115975 KG45 *85 *97-L *227314.20
Lisa Gore60226105 KG45 *121136 *302305.20
Mike Locondro63216100 KG5099137286303.89
Jerome Licini67237.8110 KG35133105273288.89
Logan Wenzel117735 KG183061 *109279.46
Lance Foster60268125 KG45 *120 *130 *295273.67
Everett Todd1213160 KG3080 *65175272.53
Kim Van Wagner5812660 KG35100135247.47
Janet Thompson6816475 KG35 *60 *86 *181239.33
Jarrod Fobes48218.2100 KG102 *130232215.50
Allison Lupo5919790 KG306576171184.76

Lifters with no certified official- Randy Smith, Dave Hahn, Kim Van Wagner, Barry Pensyl, Jerome Licini and Bill Clark.

2025 New Years Eve Record Breaker Results

By Jessica Hopps

Franks Barbell Club hosted ins annual New Years Eve Record Breaker event again this year; this year opening up to remote entries. 2025 brought in an amazing 15 lifters from Massachusetts, Colorado, and Missouri. It’s great to see so many joining in the festivities and ringing in the new year by clanging some heavy weights!

Massachusetts Officials: Frank Ciavattone, Wade Marchand, Nils Larson, Jessica Hopps (in training) Dan Jones (in training)

Jessica Hopps, 159lbs, 75K- 41 Years old
Little Finger Lift- Left- 39.5 lbs
Ring Finger Lift- Left- 67 lbs
Middle Finger Lift- Left- 77 lbs
Index Finger Lift- Left- 64.5 lbs
Index Finger Lift- Right- 67 lbs

Dan Jones, 186 lbs, 85K- 41 years old
Hand and Thing Lift- 1050 lbs
Hacklift- ring fingers- 97lbs
Straddle Lift- little fingers- 77lbs
Straddle Lift- Middle Fingers- 215 lbs
Straddle Lift- Ring Fingers- 158 lbs

Wade Marchand, 164 lbs, 75K- 56 years old
Bench press alternate grip- 146 lbs
Bench press reverse grip- 156 lbs
Bench press- 2 dumbbells- 80 lbs
Bench Press 1 Dumbbell LEFT- 40 lbs
Bench Press 1 Dumbbell RIGHT- 40 lbs

Nils Larson, 238lbs, 110k, 66 years old
Middle finger lift RIGHT- 212 lbs
Middle finger lift LEFT- 201.5 lbs
Bench press Alternate grip- 206 lbs
Bench press- feet in the air- 220 lbs
Bench press one arm LEFT- 40lbs

Frank Ciavattone, 270 lbs, 125K, 70 years old
2 hand vertical bar, 2”- 341 lbs
2 hands vertical bar, 1”- 341 lbs
Civattone Deadlift, LEFT-208 lbs
Thumbless Deadlift, LEFT- 187 lbs
Thumbless Deadlift, RIGHT-187 lbs

Clarks Gym Officials:  Lisa Gore, Bill Clark, Jeff Wenzel, Dave DeForest, Tony Lupo

JANET THOMPSON, 164.5lbs, 75K, 68 years old
Deadlift – Fulton Bar – 160.
Deadlift – Fulton Bar – left – 86.
Side press left – 15.
Side press -right – 15.

LISA GORE, 219 lbs, 100K, 60 years old
Jefferson lift – Fulton Bar – 225.
Deadlift- Fulton Bar – 277.  
Deadlift – Index fingers – 95.
Deadlift – Middle fingers – 95.
Deadlift – ring fingers – 95.

TONY LUPO, 244lbs, 115K, 59 years old
Clean and press -heels together – 140.
Clean and press seated – behind neck – 110.
Dumbbell press – right – 62.
Dumbbell press – left – 90.
Clean and Jerk – left – 90.

DAVE DeFOREST, 184lbs, 85K, 65 years old 
Snatch – two dumbbells –  2×45 – 90.
Swing – two dumbbells – 2×45 – 90
Seated press from rack – 95.
Press – dumbbell – right – 55.
Deadlift – Inch Bar – two bars – 2×85 – 170.  

JEFF WENZEL, 230 lbs, 105K 50 years old
Side press – left – 75.
Side press – right – 75.
Press from rack – seated – behind neck – 140.
Snatch – two dumbbells – 2×65 – 130.
Dumbbell deadlift – right – 255.

LOGAN WENZEL, 77lbs, 35K, 11 years old    
Swing – left – 15.
Vertical bar deadlift – one bar – 2 inch – 56.
Side press -left – 10.
Side press – right – 10.
Deadlift – left – 50.

Colorado Officials – Jarrod Fobes, Sanjiv Gupta, Nisha Gupta, Kim Van Wagner (in training)

Sanjiv Gupta, 205.9 pounds (95KG class) – 54 years old
Deadlift, 3″ Bar – 305 pounds
Dumbbell Walk – 83 pounds
Pinch Grip Deadlift, One Hand, Left – 45 pounds
Pinch Grip Deadlift, One Hand, Right – 45 pounds
Side Press, Dumbbell, Left – 50 pounds

Diya Gupta, 112.5 pounds (55KG class) – 18 years old
Vertical Bar Deadlift, 1 Bar, 1″, Right – 101 pounds
Vertical Bar Deadlift, 1 Bar, 1″, Left – 96 pounds
Vertical Bar Deadlift, 1 Bar, 2″ Right – 90 pounds
Vertical Bar Deadlift, 1 Bar, 2″ Left – 90 pounds

Jarrod Fobes , 220.4lbs (100kg class) 48 years old
Deadlift, 3in bar:  355lbs
Pull up: 40lbs
Bearhug: 230lbs
Cheat curl, dumbbell, right: 92lbs
Deadlift, Fulton bar: 365lbs

Kim Van Wagner, 128.8lbs (60kg class), 58 years old
Crucifix: 30lbs
Bearhug: 130 lbs
Clean and Press, Heels together: 62.5 lbs
Clean and Press on knees: 65 lbs
Clean and Jerk, behind neck: 65lbs

Spotlight on Senior Lifters

Senior Lifters are age 20-39 and are referred to as ALL in the record books.  OPEN is Senior and Masters, but I will be using the term to refer to Senior only.

Senior Lifters (20-39) are often under-represented in All-Round weightlifting.  In scrolling through the records, I came across (204) athletes who have an ALL age class record, but no Junior or Master’s records.  (144) of those athletes have less than six records.  That goes to show you how difficult it is for 20-39 year old athletes to compete successfully in All-Round Weightlifting.

  1. Riley Wenzel – 51
  2. Bill Spayd – 31
  3. Crystal Diggs – 29
  4. Travis Luther – 27
  5. Phil Anderson – 24
  6. Jacqueline, Simonsen – 24
  7. Nicholas Frieders – 23
  8. Jera Kressly – 23
  9. Kerry Clark – 22
  10. Jacqueline Caron – 20

In the last twenty years only (6) senior athletes have won the overall National Championship.  The remainder have come from the Masters class. 

Nationals Senior & Overall Champions

  • 2016 Joe Ciavattone Jr and Casie Morrison
  • 2011 Amber Glasgow. 
  • 2006 Al Myers and Amorkor Ollennnuking
  • 2005 Mike McBride. 

By membership in 2025, Senior Members hailed from

  • Canada – (11)
  • Buffville/Kentucky – (4)
  • Clark’s – (2)
  • Frank’s – (1)
  • Pennsylvania – (1)

The most obvious reason for few Senior lifters in the record book is that they must beat all of the Junior and Masters records to establish an ALL age record.

I have a few other theories as to why Senior lifters are not as prevalent in All-Round weightlifting records and hope there will be some discussion in the forum.  First, 20-39 are the prime strength years and athletes may choose to focus on Olympic Weightlifting or Powerlifting which have multiple federations and larger fields.  Second, Lynch, Age, and Gender adjustments tend to draw more Masters athletes.  Third, athletes are introduced to All-Round primarily through friends and family and in a mostly “old men” organization, new athletes tend to be other old men, wives of old men or children of old men.

A website article considered having a Senior record category rather than only allowing Seniors to set ALL age class records, but I did not see any details in the 2022 Annual General Meeting minutes. There was a good forum discussion as well.

Do you have an idea for a USAWA website article? Consider submitting some content for the website.

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