2001 USAPL California State PL Meet,
 |
 |
 |
State Squat Meet and Grip It and Rip It Deadlift Challenge
 |
 |
 |
|
75 of the states finest powerlifters descended
on The Fitness Choice Gym in Modesto to find out who was the best. Competition
started off with the women.Lisa Baldridge started out with a nice 639 lb
total with perfect days in the squat and dl. Karen Polansky put in a fine
8 for 9 performance and Kathy Andrews followed with a 7 for 9 day, missing
only 3rds in the bench and dl. The star in the women's group however was
2000 National Bench and State PL Champ Tammi Callahan. A bench specialist
at 148, Tammi is getting stronger in all the lifts, hitting a 308 squat
and a 330 pull to go with her 225 lb bench press!
Masters competitor Homi Shiviae dropped weight to lift at 123 and walked
out new State Records for his efforts. Robin Gounder went 6 for 9 in his
first lifting effort. Judging by the look on his face, he is a powerlifter
for life now! Scott Layman, in a move henceforth to be known as Pulling
a Layman, ignored the advice of everyone in the building and opened in
the deadlift with 518.A mid 400 pull would have assured him of a state
squat record as well as a new total record! It's a weight Scott has pulled
before but this day it was a little too much. Scott took the miscue it
well, chalked it up to a learning experience and assures us that he will
not make the same mistake at Nationals in July! His error made way for
National Bench Champ Lance Slaugher to rack up another 148 State Title.
Lance is another bench specialist that is improving at all the lifts. After
a little trouble in the squats, Lance lifted perfectly to finish out the
benches and deads and added a PR bench of 413 to the record books!
The 165 lb class saw 11 lifters battle it out. Among the standouts was Lando Israel. Before every meet, I think every meet director gets calls from someone telling him how they are going to break records and how good they are. Well, this time I got the call from Lando's dad. Unlike most of these calls, however, this one wasn't just hot air. Lando is one strong kid. He turned 15 on the day he lifted and gave himself state records in the Squat, Bench and Total in his FIRST meet. In the Open, Shawn Dias, went 9 for 9 in his second full meet. Shawn loves the bench and got into full meets at the insistence of "Coach" Vargas! It appears he is also hooked on the sport! Frank Mulhair had a little trouble in the dealift but was able to hang onto 3rd place. The battle for the top spot came down to two perrenial top finishers. This time, a superior bench press by Allan Franks and an off day in the dead by Rich Cirigliano gave the victory to Allan. Rich, also a master competitor managed to finish with the highest total in the master 165s, though. Stephen Ridyard, a Califonian via England, exemplified perfect form in all the lifts and rode that form to first place in the 181s1. Shane O'Neill, broke a record or two and became the Best Lifter for the Masters Lightweights on day one. Day two started with the 198s . Greg "G Buff" Buffington hit his first 400 lb bench press and had a slim lead at the subtotal but Adrian Johnson used his big pull to capture the victory in the Open. Perennial top finisher Keith Kanemoto opted to lift in the Masters. He managed the highest total of all the 198ers on day 2! Keith, you're not getting older, you're getting better! The top places in the Open 220s went to the guys with the fewest miscues. Steve Pena missed only one attempt all day to capture the second spot. A perfect day equaled victory for Jerry Tremblay, Jr. Scott Waits flew in from Las Vegas to guest lift in order to qualify for Nationals. As expected, he put on a squatting display, hitting an easy 727 and coming close with 749. He'll get that in July! Mike Musto was the cream of the crop in the Masters hitting a couple of state records on the way to his big total! The Novice 242s saw Abraham Rivera and Anthony Salmon battle it out. Anthony rode a pretty 672 lb squat to the victory! The Open 242s saw competitors from Sacramento square off against lifters from San Jose. Ryan Hebeler lifted flawlessly, going 9 for 9 to take 4th place. Ken Armstrong, who gets better with every outing went 8 for 9 to capture the 3rd spot. In the end, the class wound up being a battle between members of the San Jose Deadlift Crew. Steve Silver and Russell Kitani. Russ held a 22.5 kilo lead going at subtotal, helped by his 240 kg bench. Steve pulled a 622 and just missed a 633 attempt that would have given him the win. Russ uncorked a 573 pull to ensure himself the title and then just missed a PR 589. I'm sure we'll see these two battle it out again! In the Junior 275s, David Freeland escaped the bombout ,monster in the bench press to finish perfectly in the deadlift. That set the stage for the battle in the open. Liborio Vargas went 7 for 9 to take the fifth spot. As the lightest lifter in the class, he just needs to grow into the class a little- he's got 20 lbs of room to grow! This guy must be the most popular person in Sacramento. Every time I see him he has found a new powerlifter! Riccardo Magni had perfect days in the squat and deadlift to take 4th place. First time lifter Garrett Harper showed a lot of promise as he captured the third place award. Steve Denison was a little off from his best lifting but he had enough to wrap up the 2nd place spot on this day. Big Mike Kautz was not to be denied though. Mike missed a 749 squat on his second attempt and came back to nail it on his 3rd!A 462 bench and a 710 pull sealed the victory for Mike. He's going to ride the momentum from that big total all the way to Omaha in July! Three big men and I mean BIG, lifted in the 319s.Rich Hamilton hit some PRs in every lift! Joseph Jano is one of those guys that you know is going to move a lot of weight as soon as you see him. Representing Strength and Health of Bakersfield, he didn't dissapoint.He manhandled a 661 squat and a 435 bench. The last big man of the day was L'il Franky Cable. Frank had some setup problems at our December meet and danced all over the platform. He'd corrected those problems for this meet and absolutely destroyed a 650 squat, ,which I think was a new PR for him. He missed a 672 when he forgot that we only pause THE BENCH press but he'll nail that one soon. He then put his 21" guns to work and stroked up a 529 lb bench with ease. Thanks to all the lifters and spectators that came out to lift. From what I've heard a great time was had by all. I 'd like to take a moment to thank all the refs, spotters and staff that helped out. No meet runs by itself and you guys all did a great job! Betty, Aaron, Fred, Dave, Marina, Doug, Mike, Lance Joyce, Joe, Mark, Leasha, Joe and the spotters from MJC and The Iron Crusaders! Last but certainly not least I must give a big shout out to our sponsors: John Inzer of Inzer Advance Designs (800-222-6897), Rick Brewer of House of Pain IronWear, NTI Supplements, Wes Kampen of Monster Muscle dot Com, Jake Jones of Heavywear and of course, Brenda Athletic Clubs! See you all next year - I hope to be lifting then….not promoting. |