The Missouri USAPL presents... Coverage of the 2001 Mens Nationals, as reported by Patrick Anderson! Day 3, Session 1    At 242 Tony Harris moved up a class but only weighed in at 232. He went 3 for 3 in squat ending at 744 on a very tough lift. He benched nicely with a 485 3rd. And only took 2 pulls to finish at 727. Tony went 8 for 8 with a 1962 total. In 2nd was Kevin Stewart who actually led at subtotal off of a 722sq and a 523 bench. He was injured and only took his opener at 683 in the DL. 20 kilos back was current Masters World Champion Shawn Cain. Shawn went 9 for 9 and he told me that in his last 3 meets (2 national, 1 World) he is 26 for 27, now that is how you are supposed to lift. Shawn's lifts were 683, 468, 733, 1884. Steve Mann took 4th with 1829. Deron Rogers went 8 for 9 and hit a class leading DL 749 to take 5th on 1818. Tony Harris plans to move down to 220 for the Worlds in Finland. This class was packed with 14 lifters and tight battles everywhere. 3rd through 6th place came down to the pulls with 16LBs separating the 4 lifters. Greg Wagner used 3 squats and 3 pulls to take 6th with 1918. Travis Rubey came out of the 1st flight with a 1929 to take 5th. Travis hit a big 738 pull to move up 4 places. Paul Fletcher had the benefit of seeing Travis's total posted and so he match the 1929 on a 716 pull to tie and take 4th on Bdwt. In 3rd was 24yr old Georgia lifter Ryan Goldin. Ryan also was in the 1st flight but that didn't slow him down at all. Ryan only weighed 262 but he went 7 for 9 to total 1935. This was Ryan's first senior nationals but expect big things from this lifter in the years to come. Now to the top 2. Coming in to the meet defending Champ Pat McGettigan was clearly the pre meet favorite. But astute power fans were aware that 3 time Junior World Team Member Tony Cardella was no walkover. McGettigan who never seemed to get on track all day had his 1st squat turned down and then repeated it at 760. Cardella hit a nice 2nd at 733 and then a class leading 782 on his 3rd. In the bench the same trend continued with Pat only getting his opener at 473 and Tony motoring through 3 benches finishing with 534. At subtotal Cardella had what is a usually insurmountable 82LB. lead but McGettigan is a puller and you can never count those guys out. Tony opened 705 while Pat started at 777. Tony hit another clutch lift at 733 and Pat passed his 2nd. Tony missed his 3rd and so the stage was set. One attempt, 821LBs, for a spot on the World Team and a trip to Finland. The crowd got fired up and with Cardella watching from about 20 feet away McGettigan gave it a go, but was not able to get it above his knees to utilize his tremendous lockout strength. Bottom line Cardella 7 for 9---2050, McGettigan 3 for 8---2010, that says it all. Tony is the automatic selection for the World team and Pat is a top alternate selection so we might see this battle again in Finland. Pat, who totalled 2039 at last years Worlds, will no doubt be ready to go, but Tony looks like a rising star and 2100 looks right around the corner. What a class! Day 3, Session 2    Final session, day 3 and the crowd was at its peak. In one class we had 4 time Natl Champ and defending World Champ Brad Gillingham, 1999 Bronze medalist at 275 Tony Leiato, and last years natl. runner up and 5th at the Worlds Sean Culnan. In 7th was Wade Hanna with 1868. 6th was Bruce Lee with 1912. 5th was Master lifter Dan Gaudreau who set 2 world master records in the Bench at 567 and 578. Dan finished with 1989. 4th was Van Hatfield with 2028. Now the big 3. Sean Culnan took the early lead with a 804 2nd attempt sq. Tony was in 2nd with 788 and two close misses at 832. Brad also hit 788 and was turned down 2 to 1 on depth at 810 and 821. At subtotal Brad moved ahead with a 600 2nd and a miss at 617. Tony was in 2nd after a 578 opener and a narrow miss at 606 on his and a miss at 628 on the 3rd. Sean was tied for 2nd at subtotal after a nice 3 for 3 day with 562. Tony had more trouble in the pull and had to take 2 tries to get 711 in and was unable to manage anymore. For Leiato it was an uncharacteristic 3 for 9 performance and a 2077 day and 3rd place. You have to figure with another year to get used to the added weight that 2200+ is very realistic for next year in Chicago. In 2nd was Sean Culnan who opened at 755, passed his 2nd and gave 793 a run on his 3rd. Sean finished with a 2121. Finally the "MAN" in our sport for the last 4 years was the MAN and then some once again. Brad opened easily at 793, took a modest 2nd at 815 and then blew the doors off the Omaha Doubletree with a 3rd attempt EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT LB deadlift. The crowd sensing the moment rose to its loudest pitch as Brad began the pull in his patented over hand style. The drive off the floor was steady but just as the bar hit his knees and the crowd hit its peak, Brad kicked on the after burners and drove through the lockout, even holding the bar at the top for a few seconds while making sure everyone in the state of Nebraska knew he owned that weight.    Let's put this in prespective for a moment. 5 straight National titles and trips to the IPF worlds at SHW. Do you know how many times that has been done before......The answer is NEVER. The record Brad broke was 4 straight by the legendary Don Reinhoudt. The names of supers who have never accomplished this reads like a hall of fame of powerlifting. Reinhoudt, Kazmeier, Paul Wrenn, Doyle Kenady, Mike Hall, O.D. Wilson...folks that is select company. How about this...Brad's misses would have given him a 2292. Enough to win 27 out of the 30 World Championships EVER. We are in the midst of a power legend in his prime. If you have never seen Brad lift, make a trip to Chicago next July. If you have seen him lift, go next year anyway because he is flat out just getting better each meet. All in all it was a great championship, I have to wrap up now and go eat. All 11 class winners with the exception of the 123's will be automatic World Team selections once the drug tests are completed. 3 lifters who didn't win Mike Mastrean, Pat McGettigan and Sean Culnan also hit the qualifying total and will be ranked as alternates for the trip to Finland. Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. Patrick Anderson     USAPLNationals.com thanks Patrick Anderson for his excellent reports throughout the weekend!         Back to USAPLNationals.com!