2016 Portage Strength Classic Meet Report

Well the flurry of activity and lifting excitement that was the 2016 Portage Strength Classic has come to an end. I sit here beginning to compose this meet report listening to the echo of Gino Powerlifting on the live feed from the IPF Classic World Powerlifting Championships in Killeen Texas where the Master’s Women are presently competing. There is the sustained enthusiastic drawn out call of “World Record” as the plates clang, the lifters strain and the crowd and Gino scream in enthusiastic unison. Much like yesterday at the Southport Recreation Center in Portage la Prairie (although on a smaller scale) the members and friends and family of the MPA participated in the third meet of the year, screaming and cheering for their favourites with a comparable level of gusto as we can observe in Texas.

Travis Mattice and Vince Green did the lion’s share of the work to organize the logistics and the venue. This was our second visit to the Southport Rec Centre and it was again an enjoyable one. Vince and Travis had kept the MPA competition equipment since the Embark Open and brought it to the venue where they set everything up on Friday night.

The MPA is enjoying an expansion of the ranks of our officials this year so with the desire to help comes the delegation of duties. Krista Vanderwaeter, Shawn McCarthy and Mathew Bowen were asked to organize the paperwork for this meet which was the first time for all of them. Most lifters do not see this part of a meet or understand how much work goes into a well-run event however, if this organizational piece is not done, the quality of the meet can suffer. In order to uphold our responsibility to the lifters, the CPU and the IPF it is incumbent upon the officials to prepare the paperwork in a diligent and thorough manner, our “newly minted” Provincial Referees did a great job!

So, I did have a volunteer’s list at the head table but it did not make it back home! Unfortunately, I will miss some very important people who helped out all day and worked their collective buns off. Please send me an e-mail or add the names to the post when it is published. As previously mentioned Travis and Vince did a lot of work yesterday. Setup on Friday night and spotting and loading all day Saturday. The other spotters were…….several lifters from McDole’s Gym who were there to cheer on their fellow gym members, Travis’ son who was taking a video of the meet and changing rack heights, Trent Monk who helped out after benching, Kurtis Tallaire who appeared and then kept the fading crew going with his youth and enthusiasm. There was a young man at the beginning who had heard about the meet and arrived to help out lifting plates. I recall seeing Andrew Langelaar step in and assist for a bit too! On the microphone we had Portage City Counsellor, Strong Man, Arm Wrestler, Powerlifter, MMA Fighter and the originator of the PSC; Ryan Espey! Ryan is a busy man as you can see but he has a great knowledge of strength sports and a fine voice to announce an event. Joining me at the Head Table was Alexis who happened to come along to the event with Amanda Burg and was convinced to assist at the Scoretable for the entire day. Alexis did a marvelous job of keeping the information flowing and tracking all of the attempts handed in and correlating them to the scorecards. Thank you very much for all of your help yesterday as it is not an easy task when you know what is going on never mind when you are learning the ropes as the meet progresses.

Two of our Referees were also competitors yesterday. Krista Vanderwaeter and Susan Haywood competed in the Benchpress and the Powerlifting respectively. Krista set a personal best in the Bench shirt and then donned her Referee’s attire to officiate for the rest of the day. Sue began the day conducting the weigh-ins and then officiated the Benchpress portion of the even before getting into her singlet and knocking it out of the park with a solid 9/9 performance. Shawn McCarthy and Mathew Bowen shared the referee’s duties with Krista and Sue overseeing almost 300 attempts on the day. Great work everyone!

There were 13 women who came out to compete and a good portion of them were there for the first time. One of these was Junior 63kg competitor and Fiancée of Ryan Kolesar one Brooklyn Leverick. It was obvious to me that Brooklyn’s form and precision on the platform were a factor of training with Ryan and cousin Ben Langely in order to prepare. Brooklyn only missed her second Benchpress to post a solid 257.5kg total for the gold! Brooklyn also had the highest coefficient and therefore was the Best Junior Woman Powerlifter on the day.

We had another junior woman competing and she was in the 84kg class. Anastasia Iurovski did very well at her first meet too only missing a third squat and bench for a total of 312.5kg and first place!

There were two Masters I women to battle it out in the 72kg class. Margo Morberg Berry and Amanda Moffitt stepped onto the platform again and both showed improvements to their lifting. Margo trains at the Brickhouse and is showing the fruit of her efforts, squatting 90kg struggling with her bench with one good lift of 57.5kg and showing some very good deadlifting strength with a 130kg best. As most will remember Margo solidly pulled 135kg too but in her moment of triumph she dropped her last pull releasing the bar from her hands before it reached the floor and having the lift turned down by the officials. An adjustment of the training habits should prevent this from happening in the future. Amanda was showing some improvement in technique which helped her to a best squat of 70kg, a bench of 60kg and a 115 deadlift for a 245kg total to Margo’s 277.5. This may have been a personal best for Amanda.

Susan Haywood appeared in her third meet of the year during this her 20th year of competing in the sport of Powerlifting. Sue was looking to have “FUN” and put up a solid total which would give her the provincial records in both the M2 and M3 Women’s Unequipped categories! Sue did not disappoint at all and went 9/9 with a 67.5kg squat, 47.5kg in the bench and 80kg in the deadlift for a 195kg total! I noticed in looking at the Age adjusted Wilks total it was good for a 262.588 which Susan was very happy with. As far as the “FUN” portion of Susan’s goals……………………………I think it was a success as she was laughing, cheering on and helping her fellow competitors with great joy and enthusiasm.

There was a single competitor in the 63kg Women’s Open class and that lifter was Jennie Wilson from Brandon. Jennie had competed for the first time at the Embark Open and made the drive with a new wild colour for her hair and a good performance on the platform. Jennie moved 102.5kg in the squat and went 2/3 in the bench with a best of 65 but had trouble moving more than 102.5kg for her deadlift. Jennie took two tries at 110kg but it proved too heavy on this day. I believe some time working on the pull from some blocks will aid the initial effort and help to get that deadlift moving off the floor.

The 72kg Women’s Open class had two competitors. Johanna Theroux continues to refine her technique and improve her lifting with what I believe is her third overall competition. Johanna was challenged by first time lifter Kyla Lambert. This was a close one in the squat as both ladies opened with 95kg. Kyla then went to 102.5 to Johanna’s 100. On the third attempts Johanna asked for and lifted 110kg to Kyla’s 107.5 for a 2.5kg lead. Johanna’s forte is the Bench and she happens to be the current Provincial Record holder for this class. Johanna opened up with 70kg which was 30kg more than Kyla’s first attempt. The gap widened as Johanna pushed up all three attempts for a best of 80kg to Kyla’s opener of 40kg. The deadlift only widened the gap further as Johanna finished off with 142.5kg to 115kg for Kyla. Giving Johanna her second Gold in this class with a 322.5kg total to Kyla’s excellent first time outing of 262.5kg for the Silver.

The Open 84kg class had three competitors vying for supremacy and it seems all three had an off day on the squat! Only 3 of the 9 attempts were successful for Megan Swidnicki, Dominique Slobodzian and Jessica Antony. Megan was able to get in her first squat of 110kg to Jessica’s 85kg first attempt and Dominique fighting a bout of the nerves needed three tries to eventually be successful with 82.5kg. The bench went a little better with Megan extending her lead with 72.5kg, Jessica pressing 60kg and Dominique successful with 47.5kg on her third. The deadlift proved to be much better for all three ladies as Megan showed some impressive strength finishing off with a 162.5kg/357lb Deadlift and a 345kg total for the win. Dominique steadily built on her total surpassing Jessica with a 137.5kg third attempt which equaled Jessica’s total and beat her on bodyweight! Jessica pulled 122.5 for a 267.5kg total and third place. Well done ladies! In addition, Megan was the Best Open Women’s lifter on the day!

Audrey Mifflin and Sarah Farr scrapped it out in the Women’s Open 84+ category. Although, “scrapping it out” is not a fair description as both of these ladies are very easy going individuals. This was Sarah’s first official powerlifting meet and she has been training at the 17 Wing Strength Club with Krista and Rob Snow to prepare for this. I’m not sure where Audrey trains but she proved to have a good base. Audrey was 7/9 on the day missing her second bench and waiving her third. Sarah went 9/9 and steadily built on her total smiling, dancing and having fun the whole time. Audrey had the advantage in the squat with 112.5 to 102.5 for Sarah. Sarah gained some back some ground on the bench pressing 67.5kg to Audrey’s 60kg. However, Audrey likes to deadlift it seems and she pulled a 155kg deadlift for a 327.5kg total and the win! Saran finished with a 120kg deadlift and a 290kg total for a very respectable second place finish.

There were five Junior Men lifting in three of the weight classes yesterday. Michael Chan was alone in the Junior 83kg Unequipped class; there were three lifters in the 93kg Junior Unequipped class and a single 120kg competitor.

Michael Chan has demonstrated some serious strength for a young man as evidenced by his 415 Wilks Coefficient Total, which by the way was the highest Wilks on the day! This was achieved by a 190kg squat a solid 145kg bench (best of all the Junior lifters) and again a 272.5kg Deadlift to top it off and a 607.5kg total to top it off! Very nice lifting by Michael on only his second competition.

There were three lifters in the Junior 93kg class. Olimar Gutierrez was back for a second time from his debut at the Brickhouse Gym Meet in February. He squatted 212.5kg to take the lead but only pressed 82.5kg waiving his second and third lifts due to an injury. This was unfortunate as Olimar possesses a very good Benchpress as he was close to pressing 400lbs in the Brickhouse Meet! Perhaps it was a strategy to allow his fellow lifters a glimmer of hope? Was this what Kurt Pili and his coaches were thinking when they noticed they were tied at the sub-total with 295kg each? Teagan Friesen was not far behind with a 167.5kg squat and a 97.5kg bench for a 265kg sub either. Mmmmm! Let’s see what the deadlift holds….well, all three did very well in the deadlift without a missed attempt! Olimar finished with 250kg; Kurt with 225kg and Teagan with 210kg. Totals revealed that Olimar was in first with 545; Kurt won second with a 520kg total and Teagan was third with a 475kg total.

Brandon Sutherland was competing against the bar and his own expectations in the Junior 120kg class. Brandon was finding this a challenging day as he was 4/9 on the day. Brandon’s greatest success was in the squat where he managed two successful attempts with a best of 190kg. Brandon benched 140kg and pulled 240kg for a 570kg total. I see a lot of potential in Brandon’s lifting, he will need to work on getting more successful attempts on the board to demonstrate his progress.

The 74kg Men’s Open Unequipped class is set to become a very competitive one in Manitoba. Adding Kevin Le and Jonathan Leung to the talent pool can only bode well for the future of the competitiveness in this class. Kevin Le managed a 5/9 day but that include two unsuccessful (barely on the 2nd attempt) at the Provincial record deadlift. Kevin’s went 3/3 on his squats with a 190kg best, a single successful bench of 130 and a 235kg deadlift for a 542.5kg total! Jonathan Leung solidly and methodically built on his total by not missing a lift and finishing with 472.5kg via 182.5, 105 and 185 for the lifts.

There were four lifters in the Men’s 83kg Open class. This class showed some very good lifting and a savvy third deadlift selection for a medal as part of the highlights. At the end of the squats the four lifters were separated by only 25kg. Dino Camire was on top with a best of 200kg, Henry de Guzman was next with a 195kg squat followed by Daniel Collette with a 180 and Daniel Santos with 175kg. The bench proved to be a challenge for all but Daniel C. who went 3/3 finishing with 117.5kg. Daniel S. finished up with 102.5kg setting the stage for the “Battle of the Daniels” in the deadlift. Henry only needed his first bench of 132.5kg to have the best bench of the class. Dino pressed 127.5kg and then took a HUGE jump to 142.5 which was not in the script for the day. The deadlifts proceeded with great success as there was only a single attempt missed for all four men. Dino pulled the largest deadlift for a 562.5kg total and the win just a week after a Bodybuilding competition. Well done Dino! Dino’s performance was good enough to narrowly edge out Devin Normandin for the Best Male Open Powerlifter of the meet too. Henry pulled his third attempt at 227.5kg to lock up 2nd with a 555kg total.

Now, back to the battle of the Daniels. With the first deadlifts Daniel Santos pulled even with Daniel Collette by pulling 190kg to 170kg. Now both men were at a sub-total of 467.5kg. On seconds, Daniel Collette pulls 180kg for a subtotal of 477.5kg Daniel Santos pulls 205kg to take a lead in the subtotal of 482.5kg. Daniel Collette goes up another 10kg to 190 and is successful for a 487.5kg total. Daniel Santos puts 212.5kg on the bar as he weighs more than Daniel C. and therefore he has to total more in order to jump to 3rd place. Well, Daniel Santos did it and he moved into third with some deft number calling and a total of 490kg for the Bronze. A well fought battle for a placing in the meet.

The Men’s 93 kg Open class had two competitors and with a few more successful attempts this could have been a much closer affair. Devin Normandin went 3/3 in the squat to finish with 200kg to the 185 for Timothy Galang. However, Timothy missed attempts at 200 and 215kg which if he had been successful would have pushed Devin a little more. Both men had good benching sessions not missing a lift. Devin improved his lead with a 20kg higher bench of 165kg to Tim’s 145. The Deadlifts also proceeded without failure with Devin pulling 242.5kg to 230kg for Timothy. Devin wins with a 607.5kg total to 560kg for Timothy.

There was another weight class with four competitors in the 105 Open Men’s category. The squats would prove to be close as three men were within 5kg of each other after the dust settled. Jordan Wolfman had the best attempt at 210kg; Mike Noone was next with 187.5kg; Daniel (yes another Daniel) Monteverde was good for 185kg; and Gord Grimolfson was in there with 182.5kg at his first meet. This group collectively were successful with 50% of their benches. Daniel was on top with 130kg; Gord was next with 117.5; Jordan with 110kg and Mike with 105kg. The deadlifts proved interesting with Mike pulling 185kg for a 477.5kg total and fourth place. Gord and Daniel had a battle for second with Daniel going 3/3 and finishing with 207.5kg and a 522.5kg total. Gord had to re-take his second pull at 220kg so I believe that prevented him from pulling the 5kg more he needed on his third to take the win. Gord finished with 520kg. Jordan proved that having a good deadlift helps to win contests as he pulled 227.5kg for the win with a 542.5kg total.

Mathieu Kuhn was alone in the Open 120kg class. This was Mathieu’s first meet back in Manitoba since being re-posted here. Mathieu had competed years ago at the 17 Wing meets and is a MPA record holder in the Military class of the Benchpress. Mathieu had a good day going 7/9 with a 220kg squat, a 150kg bench and a 230kg deadlift for a 600kg total. Well done!

Danil Naumov was alone as well in the 120+ Men’s Open class. He very conservatively lifted a 215kg squat, a 125kg bench and a 210 deadlift for a 550kg total. I believe with Danil’s build he is capable of some large numbers if he puts his mind to it. C’mon Danil, let’s see what you can do next time.

We had three individuals compete in the Benchpress portion of the 2016 version of the Portage Strength Classic. We were playing with as many as 5 – 6 lifters for the Benchpress but there were withdrawals for various reasons. In the end injuries dictated who was going to test their bench and it was up to Amanda Burg and Trent Monk to see how much they could do without a Bench Shirt in the Unequipped division. Amanda pressed a good second attempt at 72.5kg for the win in the 84+ Women’s Open Benchpress class. Trent was nursing a hamstring injury and he mustered a 100kg first attempt for the first place in the 83kg Men’s Open Unequipped Bench. Krista Vanderwaeter proved that she is a benching demon in her Blue Katana shirt and her personalized foot blocks as she went 3/3 pressing 107.5kg and not only taking her class but also the trophy for the best Benchpresser at the meet. Congratulations Krista!!

Well, these reports are taking me longer to complete so I may try to change my format with our meets growing the way they do. It was a wonderful day of lifting in Manitoba! Our sport is growing as there were many first time lifters again at this meet. The crowd was vocal and encouraging to everyone and they stayed for the entire day!! Thank you to Travis, Vince and their respective families for taking on this meet and making it a success. Thank you to all of the spotters and loaders who helped out and pitched in yesterday. We cannot do this without the help of volunteers. Thanks to the Referees and the other people who pitched in or offered to in order to make this meet successful. We’ll see you on the wood at the Provincials in September.

Brock Haywood
MPA President
IPF Category I Referee

2016 Westman Embark Open Meet Report

Saturday April 2, 2016 turned out to be quite a day for the powerlifting community of Brandon Manitoba. This was the first time that the MPA has had a powerlifting event hosted in Manitoba’s second largest city…….the “Wheat City” (a theme that will be elaborated on later). By all accounts it was a successful event as the performances by the lifters was an excellent representation of how our sport is growing. The spectator turnout was very good as Embark Fitness 365 our venue and the facility owned by Carrie White proved to be a cozy, energetic and buzzing facility yesterday as 32 Powerlifters and their training partners, friends and family descended to the building at 101 Industrial Drive in Brandon Manitoba for yesterday’s event.
This event was the brainchild of Amanda Moffitt, a long time Benchpress competitor in our sport and Mathew Bowen, a young lifter who is grabbing life by the horns and wrestling with it with enthusiasm. Amanda has been making the drive to Winnipeg in the treacherous spring conditions for years and thought; “why not lift at home?” Mathew is one of our most recently certified Provincial Referees. He is also just graduated from University, competed at his first Nationals, earned his first Manitoba record for the squat (and announced the successful attempt when it was surpassed at this meet) and he chose to move the day before the event!!
As with most events there is a lot of behind the scenes activities that occur to ensure the meet is organized, well run and runs with as few glitches as possible. Amanda did a lot of the leg work of connecting with Carrie, arranging for chairs and curtains. Mathew was connecting regularly with Susan Haywood discussing the entries, paperwork, trophies etc.
The MPA competition equipment needed to be transported from the 17 Wing to Brandon. On Thursday March 31st Krista Vandewaeter, Rob Snow and yours truly met up and schlepped the weights onto my truck and Rob’s van. On Friday April 1st Ryan Kolesar and Ben Langley picked up the remainder of the weights and brought them out to Brandon. Friday was a flurry of activity as the trucks were unloaded and the venue arranged after Carrie’s last class of the day at 18:30 hrs. Understand that Carrie had to post to her gym members that she was closed on Saturday! Amanda, her husband (name?) and her brother (name?) helped with the unloading and set up.
On Saturday morning everyone was there bright and early for weigh-ins. The officiating duties were being handled by Rob, Krista and Shawn McCarthy (another newly minted Referee). Sarah Farr training partner and travelling companion of Krista (also a BIG fan of David Bowie apparently) was there to assist with the setting up of the head table and then worked the entire day running the score cards. Sarah’s presence and personality made the long day enjoyable for everyone. The attempt cards and scorecards were handled flawlessly and she kept her cool throughout the day. Sarah was also one of the last to leave as she was vacuuming the gym while Carrie was mopping after it was all over.
Rob, Krista and Shawn each took turns sitting in the head chair throughout the day. This was only the second time in recent memory where this writer was not sitting in the referee’s chair. The officiating was consistent and provided an excellent opportunity for all to build on their experience in the chair.
I know the next line is often a theme of mine in these reports but …we cannot do this without volunteers and the most important people on the platform are the spotters and loaders!! We had a good mix of experience and new blood at this competition. Portage la Prairie was well represented by the Meet Directors for our next event (The Portage Strength Classic) in the persons of Vince Green and Travis Mattice. Both were fresh off an excellent performance at the Nationals and handled some of the heavy lifting throughout the afternoon. Kurtis Tallaire was there too! Brining his enthusiasm, speed and sense of humour to the platform. Devin Laferriere worked very hard throughout the day as well. There were several gentlemen from Brandon that Mathew had recruited Eduardo, Ronnie, Matt, Elliot (Amanda’s better half I believe). I think it was an eye opener for the first timers when they realized how hard spotting and loading was/is. As mentioned on the Head Table was Sarah Farr – time cards and timer, Mathew Bowen – announcing (as well as number calling for one of his lifters), Travis Campbell sat in at the computer while I was coaching Susan other than that I was running the lifting program and doing some timing, etc. Lana Lorenco was there to assist as well both during the set up on Friday and throughout the day on Saturday. Mathew also secured some sponsorship in Katy’s Cookies as samples and gift bags were supplied for the winners of the classes. In advance, I would like to apologize if I have missed anyone’s name. Please reach out to me and I will make the necessary acknowledgements if I have overlooked anyone.
Onto the meet! I will try to keep it briefer as there are a lot of competitors to keep track of. The women made up Flight A and the lightest lifter was Jennie Wilson in the 63kg class. Jennie had a very good day going 8/9 only missing one squat. She had a nice cheering section of Nieces who were yelling and encouraging “Auntie Jennie” onto to success. Jennie totalled 272.5 for the Gold.
The 72kg class had a sequel to the battle in February at the Brickhouse meet. Kristine McLean and Johanna Theroux went head to head in February and again here in April. During the first encounter Kristine came out on top, at this meet the positions were reversed and Johanna was the winner by 2.5kg. Kristine has the bigger squat, but Johanna has the stronger bench, and yesterday they were equal on the deadlift which left Johanna’s bench as the deciding factor as she held the 2.5kg lead she had at the subtotal through to the end. Congratulations ladies! I’m sure you will entertain us with more close contests in the future.
Megan Smith has a solid debut in the 84kg class missing only a single bench to achieve a 240kg total and first place. Well done Megan!
Alyssa Amanda Burg and Lexie Elias were set for battle in the 84+Kg Women’s Open class. Both ladies also competed in Regina at the Nationals. Amanda achieving a Gold in the Benchpress and Lexie fought it out in the very competitive 84+ Women’s Open class placing well. Yesterday, Lexie had the advantage in weight on each of the lifts totalling 410kg to Amanda’s 340kg total. Both only missed two lifts to get there and Lexie was pleasantly surprised that she had won the Gold after the dust settled.
There were four Benchers at this contest. Two were Unequipped and two lifted Equipped and each one was in a weight class on their own. Co-Meet Director Amanda Moffitt was going for a Provincial Record in the 72kg Women’s M1 Benchpress. Amanda was successful with two of her three attempts for a 57.5kg total. Susan Haywood was looking for redemption from her performance at Nationals. There was a solid game plan with Sue opening in her T-shirt and then donning the Bench Shirt to take a crack at her own M3 84+ record. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as there was difficulties touching the bar to her chest. So, a total was achieved but her goal was not met. John Skeavington risked an almost due pregnant wife’s ire as he came and lifted well in the Men’s Open 105kg class going 3/3 and taking home the Gold with a 112.5kg bench for the new baby to be. Robert Waller was stepping over to the “Dark Side” by lifting for the first time in a Bench Shirt. Rob did well achieving a 157.5kg total in the 93kg Open Men’s class and qualifying for Nationals. Rob was the Best Benchpresser and achieved the “Wheat Thins” award to go with it!
We had a good mix of Junior lifters at this competition. There was some solid competition in several classes. The Best Junior Lifter or “Mini Wheat” was none other than Ben Langley!! Ben was on fire in the 74kg Men’s Junior Class and was fulfilling the anticipated battle between another 74kg Open lifter Nhan Nguyen. Both gentlemen had been using Social Media to call each other out and challenge each other to higher totals. Ben went 7/9 totalling 637.5kg and achieving a Wilks Formula Total of 466.778!! Ben’s last deadlift would have given him possibly the highest Unequipped Wilks in the Province but it proved a little too heavy.
There were three lifters in the 83kg Men’s Junior class. Riley Bertrand, Mikal Thrones and Michael Chan. There was some excellent lifting by all three. I believe Riley destroyed the aforementioned 83kg Open Provincial Squat record with a very easy 220kg after some nerves and forgetting the signals on his first attempt. Riley played it conservative on his Bench and took a single deadlift due to a nasty scrape on his thigh that was bleeding through the medical tape. My understanding is that Riley did enough to qualify for the Westerns which was his goal. Mikal squatted well but ran into some difficulty in the bench and then pulled opener at 227.5 but re-aggravated an injury preventing a second pull, he waved his third for a 542.5kg total and a second place. Michael Chan also missed his first squat but then settled down until missing his third bench at 145kg, he was good for 140kg on his second. The deadlift proved to be Michael’s lift as he solidly went 3/3 finishing with a strong pull of 275kg and a total of 607.5kg and a 413 Wilks at his first meet! A very good weight class of lifting!
The 93kg Men’s Junior Class had two lifters Nicholas Thrones and Teagan Friesen. Interestingly, both young men had difficulty with their respective benches. Nicholas getting his first and subsequently missing the next two. Teagan really needed his third bench to stay in the meet and when he sorted out the technical glitches he got it! Deadlifts proved easier as Teagan pulled 3/3 for a best of 187.5 and a 440kg total for the Silver. Nicholas pulled 237.5kg in the deadlift and totalled 547.5 for the Gold.
The 105 Junior class had three competitors. Ali Jasim, Theodore Farough and Dominic Picard. These three chose their attempts wisely as between the three there was only a single failed attempt in the 27 attempts. Ali missed his last bench with Theo and Dom going 9/9. Dominic was the winner with a 602.5kg total to Theo’s 460kg total and Ali’s 452.5. An excellent display of lifting and I think it bodes well that we have competitive Junior classes in Manitoba now.
There were also two 120kg Junior lifters in Colby Falk and Brandon Sutherland. Again, as in the 105 class above there were few misses with each lifter missing only a single bench. Colby had the edge in the squat which proved enough to stay ahead of Brandon’s stronger Bench and Deadlift. Colby earned the Gold with a 610kg total to Brandon’s 580! This too should be a rivalry to watch in the future.
In the Men’s Open Unequipped classes there was also some excellent first time competitors showing off their hard work. Nhan Nguyen was “alone” in the 74kg class buts as previously mentioned he and Ben Langley have been pushing each other to better performances and have been trading the MPA Open records back and forth for the past year. Nhan looked to be slightly off yesterday as he struggled in his squat only getting his opener. Benches were easier and he was able to pull 2/3 of his deadlifts for a 612.5kg total and a 443 Wilks which made him; “Cream of Wheat” as the best Open Male lifter of the meet.
The 83kg Open class had FIVE (5) lifters vying for a spot on the podium. Chad Walls had gained some weight and confidence to lift at his second event. Chad improved on all of his lifts totalling 452.5 and fifth place in this full class. Adrian Theroux came to lift at his first meet sporting a fiery red beard and some solid training to help him go 8/9 and totalling 565kg for fourth. He was not far away from the podium as there were two lifters above him with identical 572.5kg totals! Dino Camire and Reuben Doerkson finished with identical totals. Dino had a 2.5kg lead after the squats and a 7.5kg lead after the benches. Reuben was the lighter man and he pulled 7.5kg more than Dino to snatch the Silver medal by tying and beating Dino by being the lighter man. Quin Ferguson returned to the platform sporting a “devil may care” haircut and a smart mustache. Since last year’s Nationals in St. John’s, Quin has been injured. Quin went 7/9 achieving a 605 total and a 417 Wilks for the Gold medal in this close weight class.
The 93kg Men’s Open class had two newcomers battling it out in Tynan Friesen and Devan Normandin. Tynan went 8/9 missing only his first Bench for raising his head off the bench. He totalled 537.5kg for the Silver. This was an excellent first performance for Tynan, brother Teagan and their gym mates. Devan displayed some serious bench chops by succeeding with 160kg on his third for a 577.5kg total.
John Williams had some real challenges with the technical aspects of the lifting yesterday. John was alone in the 120kg Men’s Open Unequipped class but could not secure a squat to the satisfaction of the judges. He also found the bench a challenge as he took three tries to nail his opener. John then made two solid deadlifts before failing with his third. Therefore, John did not achieve a total and did not place. I am sure that he will learn from his errors and return to the platform to show us what he is truly capable of. Good luck next time John.
Jericho Belmonte needed three tries to get his opening squat before he settled down to take control of his nerves and achieve a total and the Gold in the 120+ Unequipped Open Men’s category. Jericho looks like he has a lot of potential and a good sense of humour as he completed a lovely “hair flip” (Avi Silverberg should have been watching) during the final deadlift of the day where Jericho pulled 250kg for a 587.5 kg total.
We only had one Equipped lifter in the powerlifting event and it was Jeremy Lundgren from Saskatchewan. Jeremy has been a long-time friend of the MPA and has come here to compete in the past. He was able to squat 260kg, bench 197.5 before being humbled by his deadlift only succeeding with his first at 240kg and failing with 250kg twice. This was good for a 697.5kg total and the win. Jeremy was close to a 400 Wilks as well. The sky is the limit Jeremy……………………….you decide.
So there you have the synopsis of yesterday’s events. Tear down was quick with help from everyone and another powerlifting convoy took the equipment to Portage la Prairie for the 2016 Portage Strength Classic on June 18th. Again, I cannot express enough thanks to the owner of the venue Carrie White for allowing the MPA to use the facilities at Embark Fitness 365 for a very successful first time meet in Brandon. We will see you on the wood in Portage.

Brock