USAWA

Last weekend was the 5th Annual Bench Press Heptathlon and Record Day. The meet also features three special events. Eight lifters participated from two different gyms, six from Clark’s Gym and two from High Country Vigour. One of the lifts was a standard feet on the ground bench press for which, of course, we do not keep records. The other events were Alternate Grip, Reverse Grip, and Close Grip Bench Press as well as the Feet in the Air and One Arm Left and Right Bench Presses. The optional single events were the Reg Park Bench Press, and everyone’s favorite, the Roman Chair Bench Press, and finally the Bench Press “Rampage”.

On the Women’s side, two familiar combatants went head-to-head. Janet Thompson won the event, setting three records, including an impressive 65 lb Reverse Grip Press. She totaled 325 lb total and set three new records along the way. Allison Lupo debuted in the 60 year old age category totaling 340 lbs, getting the most raw weight, and setting four new records of her own. That included a Reverse Grip Press – a lift matching Janet’s 65 lb lift. In the special event lifts, Janet Thompson braved the Reg Park Bench Press to grab the 1st place certificate. Allison Lupo followed up with the 1st place certificate in the Rampage throwing up 15 lb a total of 53 times in one minute, a grand total of 795 lb. It was enough to edge Janet’s 10 lb at 64 (64!) reps which made it a great competition!

On the Men’s side, mighty Jeff Wenzel ran away with his second straight title finishing nearly 400 lb in raw weight ahead of the competition, translating to 335 age and weight adjusted points. Jeff still set three new records – impressive considering his competition was last year’s version of himself. After Jeff, the competition was stiff and a mere 41 Lynch points separated 2nd place from 4th place (3.3%). In that cluster, it was High Country Vigour’s Jarrod Fobes who came out ahead of Clark’s Gym lifter Tony Lupo. Jarrod pushed up 35 lb more weight and hung on by just over six Lynch points for 2nd. Both lifters improved by quite a bit over last year (17% and 26% by Jarrod and Tony, respectively), shaking off injuries which held them back a year ago. Jarrod set two new records including a Reverse Grip Bench Press that was tied for his best lift. Tony set records in all six record eligible lifts. The young Riley Wenzel finished a close 4th, with three new records to his credit. In spite of a slight off day, Riley was nearly 100 lb better than last year, an improvement of just over 8%. David DeForest put in a strong showing, a day that included both One Arm Bench Press records. Sanjiv Gupta was not to be left out of the strong improvement category, lifting nearly 100 lb (13%) more than last year. This included four new records to his name!

The Men’s special event results were very competitive as Jeff Wenzel performed a 251 lb Roman Chair Bench press, the best ever! Tony Lupo then edged Riley Wenzel for 2nd by two points in one of our favorite lifts! Moving on to the Reg Park event, the father-son team, Jeff and Riley Wenzel finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, while Tony Lupo edged teammate David DeForest by two points for 3rd place. In the Rampage, Riley Wenzel pulled off one of the most amazing feats of the day, a 5200 lb total (65 lb for 80 reps) finishing well ahead of the pack for 1st place. Second and third were only eight Lynch points apart, David DeForest getting 2nd (55 lbs for 58 reps), and Jarrod Fobes in 3rd (95 lb for 40 reps). All the great lifting and record day efforts were enough to have us looking forward to next year!

** One more competitor was added after I found their results in an e-mail account I very rarely use.

This year’s 1st Postal had 20 men and 4 women taking part. Barry Bryan led the men and Kim Van Wagner topped the women.

January 1 thru March 31 All lifts and BDWTS are in pounds. Records are marked with an *.

The lifts- Snatch -One Arm, Bench Press-Reverse Grip, and Deadlift- 2 Bars.

One Hand lifts are Right Hand unless marked with an L.

Name	Age	BDWT	CLASS	Snatch	BP	Deadlift	Total	Points
Barry Bryan	68	175	80 KG.	83.77*	198.41*	352.73	634.92	809.85
Jeff Wenzel	51	228	105 KG.	105	275	430	810	754.97
Riley Wenzel	21	156	75KG.	85	225	410	720	747.58
Nils T. Larson	67	241	110 KG.	55	211*	322*	588	701.52
Anthony Hose	57	215	100 KG.	85-L*	275	320*	670	678.97
Dave DeForest	66	179	85 KG.	65-L*	155	330	550	670.20
Dave Hahn	88	133	65 KG.	27	85	220	332	661.32
Travis Luther	33	173	80 KG.	85	225	365	675	655.76
Dan Jones	42	192	90 KG.	76	225	380*	681	641.80
Anthony R. Lupo	60	243	115 KG.	85-L*	220*	340*	645	628.42
John Carter	67	200	95 KG.	65	100*	350*	515	597.60
Randy Smith	71	199.5	95 KG.	70-L	140	270	480	593.04
Wade Marchand	56	162	75 KG.	45-L*	156*	280*	481	570.93
Barry Pensyl	78	125	60 KG.	35-L	75	196	306	563.91
Denny Habecker	83	176	80 KG.	33.069	110.23*	198.414	341.713	553.57
Jarrod Fobes	48	209	95 KG.	75-L	255*	200*	530	503.75
Mike Locondro	63	217	100 KG.	44.092	88.184	308.644	440.92	467.19
Kim Van Wagner	58	128	60 KG.	15	85	150	250	452.88
Jessica Hopps	41	158	75 KG.	41*	85*	198*	324	450.48
Sanjiv Gupta	54	208.1	95 KG.	59	95	290	444	446.57
Jerome Licini	67	235.4	110 KG.	50-L	120	230	400	423.85
Janet Thompson	68	165	75 KG.	25*	55	170*	250	413.20
Frank Ciavattone	71	271	125 KG.	55	121	198	374	393.49
Allison Lupo	59	196.5	90 KG.	20	70*	170	260	359.09

LIFTERS WITH NO CERTIFIED OFFICIALS-Jerome Licini, Kim Van Wagner, Barry Pensyl, Randy Smith, and Dave Hahn.

This year’s Grip Championship was an all-Colorado event.  Nisha and Kim lifted in flight 1 and Sanjiv, Jarrod and Joshua lifted in flight 2.  Weigh-ins and rules briefings were conducted and the meet was contested using the one official system.

We started with Pinch Grip, Deadlift, One Hand.  This is the first time the lift was contested at the Grip Championship and mistakes were made.  Flight 1 set the plates up vertical to the platform and had top lifts under 30 pounds.  Essentially, they did a Pinch Grip Strict, One Hand.  Jarrod correctly pointed out the error and Flight 2 set up the plates horizontal to the platform.  Flight 2 all had good lifts at 100 pounds or more.  Kim and Nisha declined the option to repeat their lifts. For record purposes, they should be recorded as Pinch Grip Strict, One Hand.

Next was the Deadlift, Fulton Dumbbell, One Hand.  This was the fifth time this lift has been contested at the Grip Championship, and some big numbers were put up.  The women’s field accounted for Age Class and ALL age records in their weight classes.

Next was another favorite, the Vertical Bar, 1”, One Hand.  This was the third time this lift has been contested in the Grip Championship and athletes who competed in Tony & Allison’s Birthday Bash got to test their max lifts recently.  At 86 pounds on a fourth attempt for a record, Nisha was the only athlete to set a record in this lift.

The last competition lift was the Deadlift, 3” Bar.  Records were set across the board.  Everybody was feeling the effects of the first three lifts, but everybody also knew what they needed to hit the overall field.  Jarrod narrowly missed his third attempt at 355 pounds, securing Sanjiv’s position atop the men’s field. Joshua followed suit attempting 355 pounds on his third attempt.

The Pinch Grip Clean & Press, One Hand was offered as an exhibition lift.  This is an IAWA lift and the IAWA rules were followed. 

The lifter will grip the weight, either in front or to the side, as in the one hand pinch lift. The lifter will clean the weight to the shoulder and stand ready for the signal to press. The lifter will be standing erect with the weight held at the side of or just above the deltoid muscle, or even resting on the shoulder muscle (if desired). The stance is as for the start of any pressing movement, foot spacing is optional, but the feet will be parallel to the lifters front. On the referees signal the weight will be pressed out to arm’s length, as in the one hand dumbbell press. On completion the referee signals to replace the bar.

All athletes were able to complete the lift.  However, maintaining a plate width spacing on the lighter loads required the use of foam spacers to achieve an outside spacing of 2.25-2.50 inches.  The other challenge with lighter lifts was incremental plate loading.  We utilized magnetic weight attachments so that athletes could still get a full grip on the plates.

• Nisha – 15, 17.5, 20 pounds
• Kim – 20, 22.5, 24 pounds
• Sanjiv – 25, 28 pounds
• Joshua – 28, 35 pounds
• Jarrod – 25, 28 pounds

The consensus was that it was not a fun lift.  As the weights approached maximum efforts, missing a lift resulted in an explosion of weight and collars as the plates came crashing down.  The width of the rod was also a concern as the rod was coming dangerously close to the lifter’s ear.  When I watched a video of Matt Jones’ 30-kg lift, it appear he used two 10kg plates, a 12-18 inch metal rod and 2.5 kg and 1.25 kg change plates along with collars.  Our best lift was 35 pounds (16kg).  Joshua attempted 50 pounds (23kg), but the weight slipped and went crashing to the floor.

Complete Results:

USAWA Grip Championship
High Country Vigour
Lakewood, Colorado
April 4, 2026
Meet Director: Sanjiv Gupta
Scorekeeper: Sanjiv Gupta

Officials: (1-official system) Sanjiv Gupta, Jarrod Fobes, Kim Van Wagner, Nisha Gupta

The Lifts: Pinch Grip Deadlift, One Hand; Deadlift, Fulton Dumbbell, One Hand; Vertical Bar, 1 Bar 1”, One Hand, Deadlift, 3” Bar

Bodyweight and Lifts in Pounds

WOMENS DIVISION

Lifter	Age	BW	Strict Pinch	Fulton	V-Bar	3” Bar	Total	Points
Kim	58	127.6	27.5 (R)	81 (L)	86 (L)	154	348.5	661.3
Nisha	17	87.3	22.5 (R)	61 (R)	76 (R)	88	247.5	610.7

MENS DIVISION

Lifter	Age	BW	Pinch	Fulton	V-Bar	3” Bar	Total	Points
Sanjiv	54	208.5	120 (L)	126 (L)	156 (L)	315	717	719.2
Jarrod	48	206.5	100 (R)	141 (L)	161 (R)	305	707	675.8
Joshua	41	257.1	120 (R)	136 (R)	161 (R)	305	722	575.7

Pinch Grip Clean & Press, One Hand [Exhibition]

Lifter	Age	BW	OH Pinch C&P	Lynch
Kim	58	127.6	24 (R)	45.5
Nisha	17	87.3	17.5 (R)	43.1
Sanjiv	54	208.5	28 (R)	28.1
Joshua	41	257.1	35 (R)	27.9
Jarrod	48	206.5	28 (R)	26.7

4^th Attempts for Records

Kim Van Wagner
Pinch Grip Strict, One Arm, Right – 30 pounds
Vertical Bar, 1”, 1 Bar, One Arm, Left – 91 pounds
Deadlift, 3″ Bar – 164 pounds

Nisha Gupta
Vertical Bar, 1”, 1 Bar, One Arm, Right – 86 pounds

To determine the overall winner, the meet director decided to take the Age-Weight-Gender Lynch Totals of the three lifts performed to the same rule set:

1. Kim Van Wagner – 321 total pounds – 609 Lynch points
2. Sanjiv Gupta – 597 total pounds – 599 Lynch points
3. Jarrod Fobes – 607 total pounds – 580 Lynch points
4. Nisha Gupta – 225 total pounds – 555 Lynch points
5. Josh Guerin – 602 total pounds – 480 Lynch points

RECORD SESSION:

Sanjiv Gupta – 54 yrs – BW 208.5 lb / 95 kg class

Apollon’s Lift – 125 pounds
Curl, Cheat, Dumbbell, Left – 62 pounds
Curl Cheat, Reverse Grip – 115 pounds

Joshua Guerin – 41 yrs – BW 257.1 lb / 120 kg class

Dumbbell to Shoulder – 132 pounds
Bavarian Deadlift – 469 pounds

While the competition was a live only event, inquiries from remote athletes allowed for record session lifts.

Jeff Wenzel – 51 yrs – BW 228 lb / 105 kg class

Piper Squat – 320 pounds
James Lift – 125 pounds
Pinch Grip Strict (L) – 67 pounds
Pinch Grip Strict (R) – 87 pounds
Pinch Grip Strict 2 H – 167 pounds

John Carter – 67 yrs – BW 200 lb / 95 kg class

Deadlift Fulton One Arm (L) – 160 pounds
Deadlift Fulton One Arm (R) – 170 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell (L) – 150 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell (R) – 170 pounds
Deadlift Finger Middle – 205 pounds

Tony Hose – 57 yrs – BW 215 lb / 100 kg class

Vertical Bar 1” One Hand (L) – 222 pounds
Vertical Bar 1” One Hand (R) – 182 pounds
Vertical Bar 1” 2 Hands – 285 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell (L) – 170 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell (R) – 170 pounds

Travis Luther – 33 yrs – BW 177 lb / 85 kg class

Vertical Bar 1” One Hand (L) – 232 pounds
Back Extension – 225 pounds

Tony Lupo – 60 yrs – BW 242 lb / 110 kg class

Pinch Grip Strict (R) – 51 pounds
Vertical Bar 1” One Hand (R) – 142 pounds
Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell (R) – 140 pounds
Deadlift 3 Inch Bar – 300 pounds
James Lift – 28 pounds

Clark’s Gym Officials – Bill Clark, Jeff Wenzel, John Carter, Tony Lupo