2006 IPF Junior World Powerlifting Championships
 MEN'S COMPETITION -52.kg class* Japan and Poland got off to great starts in the first two weight classes. Japan's Yuki Ozeki defeated Poland's Robert Tracz by 20kg(425-405kg) to win the lightest class. No USA lifter in this class. -56 kg class* Japan and Poland flipped placing in this class in a very tight battle with all four finishers. 515kg total for the winner from Poland Tomasz Zambrycki. Japan's Yasumasa Oishi finished with 510kg total. 3rd place went to Kazakhstan's Turar Tenelov with a 507.5kg total. Host country Bulgaria had their first male finisher not far out the overall medal hunt by totaling 495kg. No USA lifter in this class. -60 Kg class* The U.S. team got off to a great start with standout lifter and US Team Captain, Mike Hafenbrack had a great day with balanced lifting to win the GOLD MEDAL! Mike strung together 8 consecutive successful attempts after missing his opening squat. Mike kept the pressure on France's Remi Bhang to keep upping his deadlift attempts to beat Mike. Both lifters have one more year of eligibility left in the junior division. -67.5-KG* No US lifter in this class. Poland's Rafal Ziemiakowski easily came out on top with a 652.5kg total to Germany's Marc Bielau with a 615kg. -75.kg class* The U.S. had two lifters in this class who have battled it out for several years. Ohio's Josh Rohr and Texas' David Hammers stepped on the platform as juniors for the last year and what a great battle it was. Both guys were unable to catch Fairushin from Kazakhstan who totaled 735kg. Josh & David both went 6 for 9 and highlights included Dave's 195kg bench and Josh pulling 282.5kg to move into third over Japan's Toru Miyake. Miyake made a nice 230kg bench and nearly set an open WR of 243kg! Continued success to Josh and David as they enter the open division. -82.5 kg class* One of the largest classes with 12 lifters saw Kazakhstan's Dmitry Zinovyev win with a 790kg total. Another 30kg behind was Germany's Andre Hentschel with 760 kg. The next several places were separated by 20 kg. Coming in third was Poland's Symkowiak with a 725kg total. U.S. lifter Travis Godawa was in his first World Championship and learned a lot from his experience. Travis made 4 lifts and finished 6th with a 702.5kg total. Travis' 287.5kg squat finished 4th just missing the bronze. -90 kg class* The largest class and the last wt class contested on this long day. What a battle that ensued which included some controversy with the last deadlift changes. Host country Bulgaria got their first and only win of the meet by Christov Christo moving down from the 100's. The US coaching staff thought he might move back up when we notified the Technical Committee that US lifter Jeremy Hartman was unable to make the trip. Christov went 805kg with Czech's Tomas Urban coming in 2nd at 800kg. U.S. Newcomer Dan Williams had a rough day by going 4 for 9 but he still nearly locked out the go ahead deadlift at the time. Watch for this lifter as he enters into the Open division. The U.S. also had LA Tech's Jonathon "Box" Albritton who was elevated from the coaching staff to representing our country on the platform. He finished in 8th place. -100 kg class* Another deep class that eventually went to 20 year old Swedish lifter, Magnus Onerud. He totaled 840kg to win by 35kg. Bulgaria's Vasil Ivanchev was 2nd with 805kg then Canada's John MacDonald at 790kg. USA's Derek Brixius put together 6 balanced lifts to finish 6th. Derek's could quite finish his last pull which would of moved him into 4th place overall. -110 kg class* Poland's Lukasz Toczylowski came through for his country and lifted Poland overall into the team lead(plus 3rd in the best lifter award). His total of 910kg out him ahead of USA's Jessie Betzinger lifted well- 2 good squats, 2 easy deadlifts and gave us a bit of a scare on benches. But Jessie came through and gave this Wisconsin lifter the easy overall Silver. Norway's Erik Jorgenson was third. -125 kg class* The U.S. men had its 2nd GOLD medalist with Michael Tucscherer easily out distancing the field scoring his first 2100lb total(955kg). Michael also earned GOLD in squat and deadlift while winning silver in the bench. He also finished 2nd in the Champion of Champions award! 2nd place went to Finland's Sami Pullinen which included a gold medal benching effort of 282.5kg. 3rd place went to U.S. Jon Krogman (862.5kg). The intense man from Minnesota earned a sliver in squat and bronze in deadlift. Both U.S. lifters are very young (21 & 20 respectively) so many more years of great lifting are to follow! -125+kg class Jewgenji Kondraschow from Germany made 8 perfect lifts in his last IPF JR. Worlds showing. He claimed gold medals in all three lifts & total and wound up with a total of 1010-Kg. He was followed by South Africa's Chris Dranias with 930kg and Iceland's Sigfus Fossdal with 840kg. USA's Men's Team finished 2nd overall this year. Poland narrowly defeated the US by only 2 pts. Fantastic job by our guys. Good Lifting to you all! |
Contest Photos
Thanks to Greg Simmons and Pamela Bartz       |