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ARMWRESTLING
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On July 29th at Redhook's WA Strongest contest, World Champion Jacob Abbot and some of his Pacific Northwest Armwrestling team will be on hand to introduce you to the sport.
Pick up some technique tips, learn about local contests, pull against a friend for fun or even buy a table for your club.
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RESULTS: Washington's Strongest Man and Woman Contest
Printable Version
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Saturday July 29th, 2006
This year at the Redhook Brewery, we had 26 athletes in 5 weight divisions all competing for the titles, awards and goodies from our generous prize sponsors: 'Quest-Nutrition'; 'Egg Whites International', 'Cupcake Royale' and 'Strong Magazine'.
There were about 7 athletes who were competing for only the first or second time and we had 3 or 4 guys making comebacks after injuries or layoffs. I particularly enjoyed seeing Mike Kromer, Lamont Campbell and Rocco Liogghio competing again. I was also really impressed by Mark Wechter's performance, as he won the heavyweight title while having actually weighed in as a middleweight. As an ex-pro, this was the first year that Mark didn't compete as a guest and he made the heavyweight group much more of a contest.
With the high number of relatively new and young athletes I maybe should have had a novice division, but otherwise I was pleased with the event weights. Hopefully next year we'll see most of these guys again and they'll be repping out on the log and deadlift. There were a bunch of WA and OR guys who hardly train events but seem to be young, athletic and strong enough to do incredibly well. Several of them asked about getting equipment, so watch out for them next year. Local newcomer, Jason Weller, won the unofficial loudest supporters contest and with some more event training I'm sure he will do very well in future.
The women's contest was a lot of fun. With only 3 competitors and with them each winning at least one event, it was pretty close most of the way. Lacy was just that bit stronger overall, winning the first three events and beating last year's lightweight runner up, Machelle, by 2 points. Newcomer, Kristyn was tied for second going into stones and with more event training, she will be a threat. Next year should see some great battles between these three women.
Jesse Marunde's Sequim crew (and everyone else within earshot) were kept motivated by John 'Sarge' Allen, with Jacob Miskimens and Breck Gault winning the men's super-heavyweight and middleweight divisions respectively. Most of the guys who train with our other local pro strongman, Grant Higa, also performed very well, with Chris Green being the standout. Chris won the lightweight division with only 3-4 event training days under his belt. It was fitting that last year's WA and US champion, Scott Hughes was one of the judges. World champion powerlifter, Paula Houston, was our other judge and between them and our loaders, Barron, Mike, Rob and Sarge, they really kept the contest moving.
Thanks also to Leandra my scorekeeper, Trish our MC, Ashley on t-shirts, Michael on photography, Terry-Lee as our expediter and several other powerlifters from Todd Christensen's gym who stepped up to help with timing the atlas stone loading. These people made it possible for me to be down on the field and be part of almost every event.
This was my third year promoting the contest and despite another late start and a few problems with wet tires, loose collars and no time to eat, it was probably the smoothest one so far. Having a good selection of tires from Phelps and Les Schwab really helped and we were able to run all of the events two at a time. A lot of people in western Washington now know plenty about the sport and our sponsors, and I've had a few people contact me with interest in giving the sport a try. With a somewhat smaller crowd than last year, I'm not sure how much we raised for the Starlight Children's Foundation, but the raffles are always fun and Rob O'Key, who did a lot of the equipment set-up, looked great in his Strong Magazine hat and Cupcake Royale t-shirt! Now I just want to see who turns up at Eastside Gym to redeem their gift certificates.
This contest wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Redhook Brewery and the incredible help I received from friends, family, athletes and spectators, who all helped with equipment setup, scoring, timing, judging and even loading the equipment back up after the contest. Even in other amateur sports I doubt that people are so willing to help make it happen. Thank you to our sponsors, supporters and to everyone who took part, and good luck to all who are heading to NAS Nationals in October. |
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