Contest report of the Strongman Competition 2 St. Louis, Mo Sept. 18, 1999 By Rick Fowler, MC for the competition
The second annual Strongman Competition was held in St. Louis, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 18 and featured 40 strongmen who came out to do battle for the Children’s Miracle Network. The CMN of St. Louis raises money each year and splits the ENTIRE amount between two of St. Louis’ major hospitals. According to CMN president Gil Engler, not one penny goes towards salaries or is skimmed off of the top for miscellaneous hidden expenses. Everything goes to the hospitals. Everything. Event promoter Jim Davis is involved heavily in raising money for charities, and the CMN of St. Louis benefited directly from his work. Before we begin the results of the competition the work of this individual should be recognized. Upon meeting Jim, you will find he is a pretty unforgettable individual- for many reasons. At first glance of Jim, I thought for sure that he could easily get a job as the official Oakland Raiders mascot. Jim stands around 6’5", tipping the scales near 270 lbs., with great big tattoo covered forearms and cannon sized biceps at the top. Jim wears a patch over his right eye, has a mustache & goatee, wears long hair in a ponytail and covers it all in a ballcap. He is something the late Lyle Alzado & John Matuzak both would have been proud of. But his rough exterior is misleading. Jim is one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. This military veteran’s entire purpose for organizing events like this one is children. His goal is to make things better for kids, no matter if it’s through fundraising or taking groups to the campground in southern Missouri. If it’s for kids he’s with it man! As for the competition, Davis did an amazing job putting this together, and honestly in this author’s opinion, by far he outdid the expectations. And now, on to the competition!

In the 220 lb. Division we had 20 strongmen entered hailing from as far away as Finland to compete. The first even was the beer keg load, in which the contestants loaded five 200 lb. kegs onto the back of a pickup truck.. The top of the pack had 33 year old Brian Duncan of White Lake Michigan placing 5th; Daniel James just ahead by a 1 second margin; local competitor Mark Slivinksi coming in 3rd; and 1000 lb. squatter Willie Wessels, of St. Louis, Mo. was the runner up to Jari Veiola, a physical therapist from Finland. Jari’s 1st place time was 28.34 seconds.

In the Yoke Walk the competitors carried a 600 lb. yoke, comprised of 2 sand filled barrels, suspended by chains at the ends of a powerbar, down a course that was 80 ft. This one gave many trouble from the beginning, and as the standings indicate, only a handful actually went the distance. The top three would stay the same as they were in the kegload, with the exception of Wessels smoking Veiola and everyone else for 1st place in this event. Willie practically ran down the course with 600 pounds on his back! Considering that Yari’s second place time of 20.54 was almost 5 seconds faster than Slivinski’s 25 second run, that’s a pretty good time. But Willie almost cut Yari’s time in HALF! His 11.77 second run down the course has to be the play of the day. Much of the day would be a battle between Willie & Yari with a couple others challenging only occasionally.

Moving onto the car flip, most of the lightweights had trouble in this event. 33 year old Jason Sportsman, a truck driver from St. Louis, managed to crack the top five with his 4th place time of 26.10. Jari was quite a bit quicker coming in third, just a second behind Willie. The top spot in this one though, was earned by 22 year old Tommy Shields, who trains with Pat Rankin and the wild bunch from St. Louis. Tommy is a plumber by trade, standing a lean 6’3" and 220 lbs. With a few more years under his belt he will be hard to beat in the light division.

For the harness pull we brought in two 18,000 lb. Ryder moving trucks. The top five ended up looking like this: Slivinski in 5th; Jari just ahead in 4th; Daniel James coming in at 24.54; Tommy Shields once again, but this time it was a second place finish for the lad; and winning the harness pull with a time of 23.84 seconds it was the standout Willie Wessels. The harness pull in this author’s opinion was impressive to the fans, but overall takes to long to get the trucks back to exactly where they need to be; not to mention fit the next competitors in the harnesses. I’m sure Jim Davis will take everything back to the drawing board and come up with something even more impressive for next year.

The final even was a Medley consisting of four objects. At the beginning of the course the contestants did the Farmer’s walk with 200 lb. concrete suitcases in each hand. After approximately 25 feet they dropped the suitcases and pulled 3 kegs of beer weighing 700 lbs. After the kegs it was onto a 600lb. tire, which had to be flipped at least 2 or 3 times to cross the line; and from the tires it was onto the wheelbarrow push, which consisted of a motor-less S-10 pickup with handles protruding from the bed. By far the hardest part of the Medley was completing the final step, the S-10, especially considering the Farmer’s walk was the very first portion. Vermont state weightlifting champion Brian Duncan wrapped up the 5th place points with his 42.69 second time. "Kid Dynamite" Tommy Shields held off most of the pack placing fourth, just a little ahead of Duncan. Third place went to Wessels, who was bested by Jari Veiola for the runner-up points. Top honors in the Medley went to Mark Slivinski, the 34 year old mechanic from nearby St. Peters, Mo.

In the Final standings it was closer than most had thought. Willie Wessels walked out with the 1st place trophy and cash after a fine day. Willie you will remember was one of the top 242 lb. powerlifters in the world, totaling over 2,400 lbs! Though he looked good from the start and ended up on top, Jari Veiola was just 3 points back. A better time in the Harness pull certainly could’ve changed things in his favor. Jari is built like a brick, carrying very little bodyfat on his heavily muscled frame. He trains 10 times a week back in Finland, which even includes an hour of swimming twice a week. What a sight it was on the Thursday before, watching Jari and his partner, Open class competitor Sami Heinonen, walk through the grocery store with Pat Rankin. Pat had the pleasure of picking the guys up before the TV interviews were taped that day. A testament to their healthy way of living, they were dead set of getting enough egg whites, chicken and rice. At one point while waiting for the them near the checkout line, your starving announcer was even scolded for knocking of a quart of chocolate milk. These guys were really great to meet and were a pleasure to be around. That same day the 2 from Finland were a big hit at Pat’s daughter Raquel’s gradeschool. And the guys ate it up as they had the kids point to their homeland on the map. With their English being somewhat choppy though, they were a little confused by Pat as to what day he thought it was. As we left the grocery store that Thursday, Pat offered each of them a cold one once we were on the road. As one would guess, coming that far they declined with the reply of "Sadudaynite, Sadudaynite ". Of course anyone who knows Pat, knows this guy can put’em away. I couldn’t stop laughing at the confusing look on their faces as Pat seriously replied "Hell every night’s a Saturday night for me." Third place went to Mark Slivinski, which was pretty amazing considering he did not even place in the 2 car flip. That being known, Slivinski pulled off a major feat in this author’s book. Not to be forgotten though, is Tommy Shields. In only his second year as a strongman, look for him to only get better. His 4th place finish is probably the biggest surprise of the 220 lb. division. One final note here: Our thoughts were with Dennis McGee when he went down in the 2 car flip due to a serious knee injury. After being carried off the playing field he went to the hospital later that evening. Fortunately, from what I understand, he is going to be fine and there is no serious ligament or tendon damage.

The Open class brought 20 men who weighed a minimum 221 lbs. to the playing field. We had guys ranging from the 250 lb. Joe Routh, a 25 year old tirebuilder from Des Moines, Iowa; to the 6’8" 390 lb. mammoth from Ft. Wayne, Indiana named Doug Ahr. For this different breed of strongmen, the implements were slightly heavier than what was used for the 220 lbers. The differences were the kegs at 250 lbs; The 700 lb. yoke walk; and in the Medley the suitcases were 250 lbs. Initially, the Open class was scheduled to pull 13 ton Budweiser Beer trucks instead of the Ryder trucks. But each time the truck was backed up, the pressure in the brake system made the trucks impossible to pull. So, due to circumstances out of our control the Bud trucks were foregone for the lighter 9 ton trucks. In the Keg Load, Chad Coy cracked the top 5 with his time of 33.50. Just ahead in fourth was the gigantic Phil Pfister of Charleston, WV. Folks, if you haven’t heard of Phil yet, lookout. This guy is our newest rising star in Strongman competitions. Pfister finished fourth in the 1998 Worlds Strongest Man competition last year in Morocco, which is the highest finish of a US competitor since 1990! At 6’5" and 315 lbs. he has a huge frame sporting mega wide shoulders and paws bigger than catchers mits. 3rd place went to 22 year old Whit Baskin, who had just arrived after competing in this years WSM. Whit displays an unbelievable amount of muscularity and has potential practically oozing out of him. 2nd place went to Karl Gillingham of Northfield, MN. Had he not dropped the final barrel, he may have won with the top time. Karl placed earlier this year in the Beauty & the Beast out in Hawaii. Traveling to St. Louis with Karl were his youngest brother Wade, who also entered the Open class at 275 lbs; his younger brother Brad, a 6’5", 320 lb. monster who is the reigning superheavyweight champ in the USAPL; and their father Gale Gillingham, (seen at this link doing a partial squat with 1500 lbs.) a former great for the Green Bay Packers who played during the Lombardi era. Yessir, you can say this family is loaded with genetics! Brad was even a great interview between events, commenting on the contest and level of competition. Finishing a second faster than Karl was 4 time World’s Strongest Man winner from Iceland, Magnus Ver Magnusson. Magnus was a major hit with the crowd, many I’m sure who heard the radio advertisements all week promoting Magnus heavily.

In the Yoke walk, only three competitors were able to complete the course. The top five were rounded out by St. Louisan Vae Mafuli, who went a distance of 44’ 7". Fourth place went to 25 year old Allen Pyburn from Huntington, TN. Whit Baskin duplicated his placing in the kegload by also placing third in the Yoke walk. Runner up was Pat "Crankin" Rankin, who ran down the course at an unbelievable time 19.59. Even more impressive though, was Phil Pfister’s time of 16.94 seconds to take 1st in the event!

The Open class had quite a bit more success with the 2 car flip than the 220 lbers. There were only a couple strongmen weren’t quite strong enough to flip both cars. 26 year old Sami Heinonen of Rauma, Finland used the leverage of his 6’5" structure to aid in his 13.12 second, 5th place finish. Whit Baskin, once again cracked the top 5, this time he came in at 4th place with a time of 13.11 seconds, just one hundredth of a second faster than Sami! The persistent Pat Rankin hung in there once more for another high finish by coming in third. Magnus Ver Magnusson turned in a pretty good time himself with 12.74 seconds and second place. The winner for the car flip was Phil Pfister, who between flipping the cars and running down the course, looked like a complete madman on the loose! He was really psyched!

In the Harness pull we had a bit of difficulty early on but were able to get the bugs worked out. After a couple pulls, one of the tires on the Bud trucks blew out due to the starting block that was used. It was then decided to use just one Bud truck and each man would pull by himself. But after a few strongmen had pulled, Karl Gillingham got ready to pull and the truck did not move an inch. This was where the problems were encountered with the build up of pressure in the brakes. It was impossible to pull the truck, so the big guys would settle for pulling the 9 ton Ryder moving trucks. Indiana’s strongest man, Big Doug Ahr, was just three hundredths of a second from cracking the top five in this one. His time of 20.50 seconds was good enough for the 6th place points. 5th place was sewed up by last year’s runner up, Allen Pyburn. Sami was just edged into 4th place, by 3rd place finisher Pat Rankin, who was merely 2 hundredths faster. The runner up was 28 year old Wade Gillingham, who ironically had to race against his older brother Karl. The winning time though, was 18.59 seconds by Phil Pfister. It was pretty clear to most by this time, that Pfister would probably walk away with the whole shooting match. After winning three of the first four events, he was clearly in the driver’s seat. At the end of the Harness pull the top five were as follows: 1. Pfister, 36 pts.; 2. Rankin, 28 pts.; 3. Baskin, 24 pts. 4. Magnus, 23 pts. 5. A tie between Sami & Wade, both at 18 pts.

Going into the final event the crowd attendance was at it’s highest as people were surrounding the entire course, several persons deep. Many even stood on whatever they could find to get a better view. Just before the Open class began the Medley we even had an on the spot interview with Rankin and Pfister, built up much like a pre-fight interview. This author first interviewed the local boy Pat Rankin, getting his comments on the day’s competition and the challenge of squaring off against Pfister for all the marbles. I then went to Pfister, who like Rankin, didn’t need much coaching on what to say. It was a hit with the audience as each guy held there attention during the interview. At the conclusion, in a Mills Lanian tone, I told the guys that they both knew the rules, and to shake hands and come out fighting! The final line before beginning our Medley was a real stern "Let’s get it on!"

Just before the Medley kicked off, Magnus had relayed to me that he may drop out of this event due to some pain setting in down in his knees. Once things got going though, it was a different story. The true warrior he is, he gave it all he could on that particular day and turned in a 6th place effort for the Medley. 5th place went to Wade Gillingham, who conquered the 4 implement course in a little over 50 seconds. Sami Heinonen took 4th with his time of 47.45 seconds. Chad Coy suddenly came to life in the end with his miraculous 3rd place finale. Second place went to Phil Pfister, who by this time was sitting pretty far out of everyone’s reach. The winner of the Medley was 22 year old Whit Baskin, who used this finish to vault ahead of Pat Rankin in the final standings.

Going into the competition most agreed that it would be tough to crack the top 10, and for the most part they were right. The competition was pretty stiff, especially for a second year event that wasn’t expected to be this big. It was a foregone conclusion that Pfister would take the cake by the end of the day, and he did so by a major margin of 12 points. Whit Baskin may have been able to challenge had he not entered the WSM the previous weekend. 3rd place went to 280 lb. Pat Rankin, who despite being outweighed by many of the strongmen, gets a lot of mileage out of his own will to push himself. After it was all over, we did another interview, this time with Magnus Ver Magnusson. A 4 time winner of the WSM competition, Magnus should be honored, regardless where he places. As he indicated, had just entered another event the prior weekend to this one. And despite having some aches and pains, after getting a call on his cell phone, he decided to come at the last minute since it benefited the Children’s Miracle Network. Our hats are off to you Magnus, you are a true champion! Afterwards, medals were given out for the top three placings in each event; as well as giant trophies and some cold hard cash for the top ten. One of the highlights were the kick the guys got from receiving their awards from the beautiful Budweiser girls presenting awards. But more importantly, the real fun was had by a few of the Children’s Miracle Network kids, who also gave out awards.

This contest had just about everything you could ask for. Jim Davis did an outstanding job. The local news stations were out on Thursday to film for their later broadcasts; there was a film crew covering the whole contest; the monster truck Bigfoot was there on display; 97.1 The Rock was broadcasting from the venue; There was a custom motorcycle show with more Hogs than you’ve ever seen; John Brookfield and his crushing grip was on hand to attempt a world record for Guinness Book; the Omega Force power team was on hand doing some 800+ lb. massive log squats; there were pony rides for kids; a Bible quiz booth was even set up by one of the sponsors; heavy music pounding all day; on top off all of that, there was even a sleepless, over caffeineated announcer at the helm. You name it and Davis had it there at the parking lot of "Incahoots", a spacious country & western bar located in the west part of St. Louis. And of course, Bar-B-Q and cold ones sold very well all day! I would not even begin to try thanking everyone who helped out at this event. The staff was enormous. Between the muscle crew provided by Rankin & Wessels; and the crew of bikers brought in by Davis, there were near a hundred people that played a part in this production! I understand that next year’s even is already in the works. Harrah’s casino, a major sponsor of this year’s event, is looking to hold it there possibly. Until next time, keep on gettin’ strong!

Rick Fowler Back to main page