3rd Annual USAPL American Open Powerlifting Championships
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Introduction The 3rd annual USAPL American Open was again a brilliant success! This year's championship was held at the Radisson Hotel - Valley Forge Convention Plaza, located in the major shopping district/suburbs north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Radisson Hotel and Valley Forge Convention Plaza, the contest venue for this year's championship, is an extremely appealing location for business and leisure travelers, and is conveniently located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and sits directly across from the historic Valley Forge National Park. The center is located twenty (20) miles from the Philadelphia city center and the International Airport. Moreover, I would like to add that this property also sits directly across the street from one of the largest shopping and retail centers/malls in the country - The King of Prussia Mall. One unique feature to this year's championship hotel, is that it was connected to the Valley Forge Convention Center, which offers some sixty-one (61) meeting rooms and over 145,000 square feet of meeting, banquet and exhibition space, the largest available in Suburban Philadelphia. As for the history of King of Prussia, this area was settled by the Welsh immigrants who arrived in the area during the early 1700's. During this time, the land was named in honor of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. Some say that King Frederick was bestowed this honor for his assistance to the British in the seven Years War with France that ended in 1763. Some even say that it was named to in tribute to King Frederick's support to George Washington during the Revolution. Today, this is one of the finest retail-commercial and residential communities to live and frequent in the United States, and USA Powerlifting would like to thank the convention and visitors of King of Prussia for their kind and generous assistance by inviting us to their community, to make this championship a success. Overall, the Radisson Hotel and Valley Forge Convention Plaza and the City of King of Prussia, served as a perfect location for this year's championship. Overall, the hotel services and property were exceptional, and I would like to publicly thank the entire staff for their efforts and assistance to the lifters and for being such a wonderful host - great job! This year's contest doubled in size from last year by going from 80+ entries from 14 states, to 160+ entries from 25+ states with some lifters traveling from as far away as Arizona. Again, I would like to extend special thanks go to Dr. Larry Maile, the USAPL President, for traveling to this year's championship, all the way from Alaska - greatly appreciated! Overall, the lifting was exceptional, with multiple personal, state and American records set at this year's championship. There were even four (4) IPF World records set as well - Super job! The American Open Championships: The Mission The USAPL American Open Championships has been especially formatted for the intermediate and grassroots level lifter, wishing to gain valuable national-level experience, prior to lifting at either Men's or Women's National Powerlifting Championships, where they will attempt to qualify for a world team position. Important to note, all first place finishers in the open division at the American Championships automatically qualify, regardless of total, for their respective National Powerlifting Championship. Overall, the American Open Championships specific undertaking and mission, from my conception ten years ago, is to prepare lifters for the national and international platform. Specifically, the contest serves as intermediate-level 'stepping stone' for lifters to transition from the state and local level to the national championship level. Thus, the importance of having lifters follow one set of technical rules from the local to the international level - Those rules, of course, being IPF Technical Rules. In doing so, the transition time will be more efficient and less time consuming - In other words, the athletes will be much better prepared, earlier, for the "increased rigor" they shall experience on the national and international platform. As a symbol of success, many lifters from last year's American Open Championships went on to medal and place at the many USAPL National Championships his past several years, with some even setting world records, which is a clear indication that this concept, indeed, really does work As such, I would encourage local, state and regional level lifters to attend next year's event that will take place over three (3) days in the same location, on December 9-11, 2005. Event information will be available in the next several weeks. Training Seminar As part of the mission of the American Open, each year a training seminar is given as part of this concept to prepare the grassroots level lifter for the national platform. On Saturday evening, Dr. Robert Wagner presented a training seminar that discussed "Bar Speed and its application to the three powerlifts". Key and important, there was no charge for admission to the seminar. Special thanks to Rob and on behalf of the lifters, again thank you! It goes without say that Dr. Wagner's seminar proved to be quite informative and well received by all of the athletes attending the championship. Rob is one of the premier University and professional strength coaches in the USA and his expertise is highly regarded and sought after my many professional athletes. Rob served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for nearly fourteen years (14), and now has opened a commercial strength training/athletic facility in Ventor, New Jersey. If you are in the area, I would recommend contacting him for a training session. International Level Equipment The platform equipment for the contest was first rate and included the ER squat racks/bench press, calibrated chrome Ivanko bar and weights, Sorinex weightlifting platform, Barload software program, and a computerized scoring system and score-board for the spectators to the follow the competition. The warm-up room included two (2) warm-up platforms, with Sorinex and Serpa equipment, along with York Barbell bars and weights. Finally, I would encourage you to visit the official championships web-site, which can be found at the following URL: http://www.geocities.com/floridausapl/2004AmericanOpen Contest Highlights I shall begin with the ladies; however, before doing so, shall comment that there were MANY tremendous performances at this championship! This year's championship was witness to one of the most memorable and remarkable performances in the history of Powerlifting. Ms. Priscilla Ribic, from the state of Washington Priscilla sewed up, what one can only say as a simply phenomenal year, by setting not only the IPF world open deadlift (247.5kg/545lbs) and total (630kg/1388lbs) records, but achieved the highest ever Wilks score of ANY female lifter ever to set foot on the platform (654.30 points) at this year's American Open. Another notable achievement performed by Priscilla this year, is that she is the first female lifter to ever win the IPF World Bench Press and IPF World Powerlifting Championships in the same year. For the record, in the many years that I have been involved in the sport of Powerlifting (30+ and counting), no female athlete, has ever [legitimately speaking, I might add] dominated the sport like Priscilla has to this point, and there is much more to come. I personally think that Priscilla, more than likely, shall deadlift near 272.5kg/601lbs, in the not too distance future - Great job and congratulations! Special recognition goes out to Deb Hariston for winning the overall best lifter award, with an 8/9 performance. She set several American and personal records at this championship. Battling Deb Hariston for the overall women's champion of champion award to the last deadlift, was Donna Aliminosa of New Hampshire. Donna had a tough day in both the squat and bench press, but gamely hung in their and rebounded in the deadlift to set, I believe, a personal best performance in this class. My compliments to both ladies on their respective performances and I wish them both much success at the World Master's Championships in South Africa. Other notable and outstanding performances were turned in by Liane Blyn of Arizona, Kylie Morris of Pennsylvania, and Margaret Mclean of Maryland. Interestingly enough, Liane serves as one of the strength and conditioning coaches for the Arizona State University Football team, and will be relocating back to the Boston area sometime this spring to begin professional work with a professional strength and conditioning center, under the direction of Art McDermott. Liane is an all-around strength athletes and placed fifth in the World Strongest Woman championships. So, much more to come from this very strong and athletic lady! Kylie Morris, at just 16 years old, has some great potential and pulled a fairly easy 160kg/358lbs on her final attempt. She did this folks without the aid of any supportive equipment, at just 124lbs - Super job! Margaret was her ever consistent self. In the men's category, youth lifters Nate Litowsky of New York and Connor Dantzler of Maryland inspired all of us with their brilliant lifting, along with senior level lifters Jules Pellegrino of new New Jersey and Lloyd Weinstein of Connecticut. Lloyd had an awesome 8/9 day, ending with the second best Wilks Coefficient score for the championship, and Jules drove up a spectacular 145kg/319lb bench press, with an attempt at a world record total. Both Lloyd and Jules shall be difficult to beat at this year's National Masters Championships. The much anticipated rematch between national 56kg/123lb class contenders Mike Kuhns and Doc Holloway never materialized and Mike moved to the 60kg class for this championship. However, both [guest] lifters treated the audience to some great lifting, and look for them to continue their rivalry at this year's Men's National Championships that will take place this year, under the direction of Johnny Graham. The 60kg/132lb class witnessed James Kavarnos win his third consecutive American Open title, the most ever so far. His lifting has greatly improved under the coaching of world master's champion Greg Jones, at Brown's Gym in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The 67.kg/148lb class and 75kg/165lb class witness some great lifting as well. Joe Braca used this championship as a tune-up for the 2005 USAPL National Master's Championships that will take place in Palm Springs, California this May, under the direction of Lance Slaughter. Nicholas Royer of Ohio set an IPF Sub-Junior world record bench press with a super 181.5kg/400lbs, on a third attempt, made a strong and hard push that he was determined to make - Nick is a fierce competitor and at just 18 years of age, has some fantastic potential and is a lifter to watch in the years to come. Mike Cagliola lifted well, and again came close to setting the Pennsylvania State Bench Press record in the bench press. Erick Nickson from Indiana came to the contest in preparation for the Nationals. Despite being slightly injured, Erick tried some huge numbers, and was a little off of the mark - look for him to rebound at this year's nationals. Most notably for this particular session, saw former founders of the ADFPA -USAPL, Nick Theordorou and George Hummel renew their rivalry from years past. It was a pleasure to have both Nick and George attend and lift at this year's championship, so that lifters from the [modern era] of Powerlifting could meet and speak to those that not only had the vision, but the foresight to establish an organization that specifically focused on the concept of "drug-free Powerlifting". Their emphasis on Mens Sana in Corpore San, "A Sound Mind in a Sound Body", has now moved from a national phenomenon, to an international standard for all sports to measure themselves against -- A truly magnificent accomplishment. Special thanks to both Nick and George for their contribution to the sport of Powerlifting and to international sports overall. In the 82.5kg class, Anthony Joseph lifted his heart out, against some tough opponents in Ciupisnki from New Jersey and Todd Craig from South Dakota to win a trip to the coveted men's national championships. National contender Sean DiCataldo bombed in the bench press, and Rob Wagner decided to not lift. Look for both Rob and Sean to meet at nationals this year. Once the entries and applications were counted, the 90kg/198lb class, turned out to be the largest weight class of the contest with (30) lifters entering the championship. The open division was the most competitive with teen phenomenon Derek Baker taking a hard fought decision of junior national team member Mike Campbell. Russ Laitris and Julian Ulvang battled for third and fourth respectively. Joe Russo rounded the top five places. Guest Lifter John Pena came all the way from Arizona and posted some very strong lifts - He will be a factor at this year's national championships. I would highly encourage the readers of this article to review the results; the lifters were extremely close to one another, with in some cases, one attempt determining a placing amongst the top five lifters. To me, this is something the sport of Powerlifting has lost over the past few years, which needs to return - competition within your own weight category. The proliferation of not only federations but multiple contest divisions, in my opinion, has decreased the overall [individual] development and sometimes advancement of lifters within the sport in the United States. [Direct competition] against other opponents is one of the factors that causes individual improvement. As lifters, coaches, and administrators, I would ask that we review this component in our sport, and make some adjustments. In the 100kg/220lb class, Mike Delsignore and Matt Gary battled all the way to the final deadlift - some great head to head lifting by these two lifters, and look for them to renew their rivalry this time next year. Matt was accompanied to the championship with fiancée and 2003 IPF Women's World Champion Sioux-z Hartwig - Our best wishes and congratulations on their coming nuptials. Jim Nicolosi, George Davis and Thomas Ravesi battled for the remaining three spots. In the master's category, Rich Wenner, Mike Delsignore, and Jim Sullivan tussled for top position, with Tom not being able to take any deadlifts, due to having to catch a plane back to Arizona -- Some terrific lifting all around. Guest lifters' Mike Mastrean and Tony Succarotte were awesome! Tony came to the meet to reset the IPF world record in the bench press that he had set earlier this past year. His first two (2) attempts met with three (3) reds; however, was able to make the necessary adjustments to stay in the contest. Look for Tony to be fully ready to not only set the world record this year at Nationals to win nationals. Mike Mastrean, up a full weight class, crushed all of his attempts ending with a personal record total of 897kg/1984lbs, via a 357.5kg/788lb squat, 212.5kg/468lb bench press, and 327.5kg/722lb deadlift. All of his attempts were made with extreme precision and control and look for Mike to go near 2100+. Imagine this line-up for the 2005 USAPL Men's Nationals100kg/220lb class: Gahagen, Tylutki, Succarotte, Beck and Mastrean. Should prove to be quite interesting! In the 110kg/242lb class, Ray Ebner took this class on balanced lifting over injured Mike Shirey who went 9/9, on a day not nearly to his potential. Tom Skelly lifted very well, and took a solid third place in this class. IPF world master's champion Willie Morris lifted very well, and made two (2) successful attempts with 182.5/402lbs and 183kgs/403lbs, to exceed his master's 60+kg world record in the bench press. Congratulations to Willie - great job! In the 125kg/275, Don Shiffer had a terrific day by going 8/9 and totaling 885kg. Don just nipped veteran lifter Lloyd Weinstein for the overall best lifter award for the contest. Geoff Plante, the USAPL Treasurer, placed second, edging out Dan Ratchford, who has improved tremendously under the coaching of Dennis Hulslander. Guest lifter Chris Dippre rocked the house by achieving the highest total of the contest with 910kg/2006lbs, via a deep and easy 843lb squat. Look for Chris at this year's Nationals in Killeen - Great job! In the 125+ kg/SHW class, hometown hero and last year's American Open Champion Jeff Fiss locked up with EC Stumpf of New York. This very close battle raged all the way into the deadlift, with EC winning on his superb deadlifting ability. Nonetheless, Jeff achieved a personal record best 1900+ total - great job by both gentlemen! Rounding out the class, Mike D'Amore, co-chair for the Pennsylvania lifted well, and was the 2002 winner of this weight class, and battled Tony Forella for third place. This is the first year that the SHW has not gone to a Pennsylvania lifter and we are determined to get it back next year. After the final awards were given to the lifters, Team Pennsylvania was presented with the 1st place team trophy in state category, and was delivered to team Captain Jimmy Kavarnos. Garage Ink won the open division, and McCaskey High School was awarded the High School team title. Congratulations to each team on their participation and placing in this championship - great job! Drug-testing Resume This year we tested sixteen (16) lifters - 10% of the total participants. Twelve of the samples were sent to Quest Laboratories in Las Vegas, Nevada and four (4) samples went to the IOC lab at UCLA in California. Once the tests are complete, and the results returned to the USAPL National Office, athletes, coaches and administrators will be able to view the examination results, on the newly created USAPL Drug-testing database. The URL is as follows: http://www.usapowerlifting.com/committees/ drugtesting/drugtestingdb/index.php As of the writing of this article, there are currently some 750+ test results logged into the database. Special recognition is in order to Dr. Larry Maile, and Tony Cardella, as well as to the USAPL Executive committee for making this concept a reality. This will eliminate the ongoing speculation of who was and was not tested and the results to the tests being performed at the meets within the USAPL - No other drug-tested organization in the USA offers such a service. Being a transparent and democratic organization, I applaud the efforts of USAPL Administration for making this database a reality. Great job! Special Thanks to the following People To close, the American Open Championships would not have been as successful as it was, if it were not for the following people. They are as follows; Dr. Larry Maile - USAPL President/IPF Regional VP, William "Red-Light" Clayton - IPF Cat I Official/USAPL EC Member, Terri Kunsman and Mike D'Amore - USAPL Pennsylvania State Directors, Robert Wagner - USAPL Coaching Committee Chairman. I would also like to thank the following referees and staff members, whose expertise ensured both the seamless, flawless and error free direction of this event. They are as follows; Jack Marcus - IPF Category II Referee, Eric Steiner - USAPL Category II Referee, Nick Theordorou - USAPL National Referee, Fred Glass - USAPL National Referee, Regina Hackney - USAPL National Referee, Steve Mann - USAPL National Referee, Bill Keel, USAPL National Referee, Ervin Gainer - USAPL National Referee, Dennis "Niko" Hulslander - USAPL State Referee, Don Wilson - USAPL State Referee, and notwithstanding, Bob McCloskey and Sean Cosgrove and the Glen Mills School Powerlifting Team for their excellent and professional job spotting and loading during the event. Not one misload during the course of the entire event. I would also like to thank Carl Showers for providing security and Dr. Robert Buchanan for his medical expertise. I would also like to thank Jimmy the K for taking his pictures. Special and many thanks to each of you! Sponsor Contributions I would also like to sincerely thank all our sponsors for there generous donations to the contest. More times than not, sponsors are overlooked, and not appreciated for their significant contributions back into the sport of Powerlifting. As such, I would like to especially thank Titan Support Systems as our Gold Medal Sponsor, who made a most generous donation to the event - much appreciation and many thanks. I would also like to recognize Peter Thorne and John Inzer from Inzer Advance Designs; Nick Theordorou - Nutritional Technologies; Josh Hofstedt - American Belt Company for their generous financial contributions as well. I would also like to recognize Dave Follansbee - USABodybuilding.com; Dan Wagman - PurePowermag; Steve Mann - Purepowerlifting.com; Mike Laird - Barload Software; Adam Auerbach - Ivanko Barbell; Rich Fowler - Graphics by Rick; Erik Rasmussen - ER Equipment (Denmark); Jim and Janelle Brown - Brown's Gym (Scranton, Pennsylvania), Priscilla Ribic - USA Women's National Powerlifting Team and Joe Pulcinella - PhotoJoe (official contest photographer) for their assistance. Each was significant in the overall success of this championship and would call upon the lifters of USA Powerlifting to support them in return. On behalf of USA Powerlifting, and the lifters - Thank you and much appreciated! Special Note Official Contest photographs can be found at the following web-page: http://www.photojoe.com Final Thoughts As I close this article, I would like to personally thank all of the athletes, their family members, and sponsors for their support of this championship. Also, like last year, I would like to request that each state chairman within the USAPL, encourage their lifters to attend this championship in 2005 - Especially to those lifters, wishing to gain valuable experience, before proceeding onto the national platform. The experience at this championship is invaluable -- Please spread the word! On a final note, it goes without saying that I am truly blessed to have the privilege to work with such fine people within USA Powerlifting and the Pennsylvania organization -- Thank you again for your assistance and support in making this championship the success again this year - I am deeply grateful and could not have done it without each of you! On a final note, I would like to take this opportunity and wish everyone the very best of luck in their endeavors during 2005, and I look forward to seeing you next December! Robert Keller Contest Director 2004 USAPL American Open Powerlifting Championships |
Contest Photos                          |