Spotlight on Junior Lifters

Junior lifters are usually introduced to All-Round weightlifting by a family member and our individual record books have the good fortune of featuring (225) Junior Record Holders in the 13 and under; 14-15; 16-17; and 18-19 age groups. There are only (760) Record Holders total. It surprised me to learn that 1 in 3 record holders was a junior lifter.
Clark’s Championship Gym started hosting a Stars of Tomorrow event for Junior lifters. The 2024 event featured (5) athletes and 2025 featured (5) athletes. The only other recognition for Junior athletes is at the National Championship. In 37 years of the National Championship, (11) junior women and (32) junior men have been crowned. Jeff Ciavattone and Robbie McKean share a distinction of being the top junior at three different nationals.
Top 10:
- Phoebe Todd – 109 records
- Aidan Habecker – 102 records
- Logan Wenzel – 85 records
- Everett Todd – 82 records
- Joshua Monk – 80 records
- Spencer Wenzel – 72 records
- Robbie McKean – 67 records
- Lillian Todd – 65 records
- Jeff Ciavattone – 62 records
- Misty Fritz – 55 records
It is no surprise that most of the kids have at least one family member in the Hall of Fame. Eric Todd (Phoebe & Everett, niece Lillian), Denny Habecker (Aidan), John McKean (Robbie), Frank Ciavattone, Joe Ciavattone Sr (Jeff).
Most Active 2025 to Date:
- Logan Wenzel – 63 records
- Tim Market – 26 records
- Nisha Gupta – 22 records
- Everett Todd – 17 records
- Elijah Conley – 12 records
- Diya Gupta – 11 records
- Isaac Bankens – 10 records
- Lilian Jones – 10 records
- Lillian Todd – 8 records
- Alexandria McDonald – 4 records
Hat tip to Phoebe and Aidan for making the Century Club before their 20th birthday. Things get difficult from ages 20-39 and then get a little easier again. I found it interesting that the overall Top 10 features 3 ladies, while the 2025 most active features 5 ladies. This bodes well for the future of All-Round weightlifting.
In regards to Team Lifts things change quite a bit:
Top 10:
- Nisha Gupta / Diya Gupta – 11 (2025)
- Tyler Cookson / Matt Cookson – 4 (2011)
- Draven Kressly / Austin Brewer – 4 (2015)
- Matt Van Fossan / Sean McKean – 3 (1996)
- Steve Beck / Joshua Monk – 2 (2005)
- Sam Myers / Riley Clauson – 1 (2005)
- Kyle Achenbach / Justin Achenbach – 1 (2005)
- Robby McKean / Sean McKean – 1 (1991)
- Joshua Monk / Kyle Achenbach – 1 (2005)
- Justin Achenbach / Joshua Monk – 1 (2005)
And just when I thought I had come up with an original idea, I found Al Myer’s website post from 2012 which featured the top 20 junior lifters.
- Joshua Monk – 95 records (now 5th with 80)
- Robbie McKean – 79 records (now 7th with 67)
- Jeff Ciavattone – 73 records (now 9th with 62)
- Sean McKean – 68 records (now 18th with 44)
- Misty Fritz – 58 records (now 10th with 55)
- Joe Ciavattone Jr. – 47 records (now 12th with 52)
- Cale Demille – 47 records (now 19th with 43)
- Kohl Hess – 47 records (now 13th with 46)
- Elizabeth Monk – 46 records (now 15th still 46)
- Kyle Calcote – 44 records (now 17th still 44)
- Abe Smith – 39 records
- Frank Ciavattone III – 36 records
- Molly Myers – 35 records
- Adam Geib – 34 records
- James Loewer – 34 records
- Mike O’Brien – 33 records
- Jon Blockston – 31 records
- Jeremiah Schmidt – 31 records
- Kirstie Griffis – 29 records
- Jonathon Ciavattone – 26 records
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