USAWA

A mere one month after putting their fingers through the Two Fisted Challenge, 14 lifters from four clubs decided to put their hands through the wringer again! This includes four women and 10 men from Clark’s Gym (7), Frank’s Gym (5), Habecker’s Gym (1), and Dino Gym (1) that competed in this years event.

On the women’s side, the competition was strong and every female tied or broke records in 9 events or more. Lisa Gore edged RJ Jackson by 22 points. Lisa Gore lifted more than one ton, setting 10 new standards at age and weight. RJ Jackson set 12 new records with a second place finish. Jessica Hopps finished third with 8 new records, including a sweep of all four fingers, and Allison Lupo was not far behind setting 8 new records as well. Allison was the only returning lifter and improved over last year by hoisting nearly 25% more weight. The women certainly excelled.

The men’s side was equally tough, and featured three returning lifters (Jeff Wenzel, Toby Ortega, and Tony Lupo). Jeff Wenzel (Clark’s), Dan Jones (Frank’s), and Toby Ortega (Clark’s) took the top three spots. Jeff not only took the title this year, but improved in weight lifted by close to 15%! Toby was up by about 2% in total weight over last year as well, but he set 8 records. Dan Jones set 6 new records and along with Toby set all four records in the finger deadlifts. After the top three, there was a lot of great lifting as Wade Marchand took fourth (including big numbers in the index and middle fingers), and Frank Ciavattone took fifth at the young age of 70. Among the men, Frank showed the field how to get it done by setting the most records at 10 and was in a virtual tie with Tony Lupo for third in raw weight. Riley Wenzel finished sixth, but showed some real moxie by getting a field-best 360 lb Hack Lift and a top three Heels Together DL. Tony Lupo finished seventh lifting 3% more weight than one year ago. Nils Larson set 8 new records, and along with Dan Jones was over 300 lb in the Reeves Lift! Nils L and Tony L swept through the finger lifts with new records as well. Jerome Licini entered the field as the newest lifter and made a respectable showing in a long event filled with grizzled veterans. He put up some good numbers in the Jefferson and Heels together DLs. Check out the record day lifts as well. There was a lot of additional strong lifts! Note: Jeff Wenzel’s Reeves Deadlift was 287 not 237. It was an age / weight record.