1998 Central USA Powerlifting & Benchpress Championships Cape Girardeau, MO Nov. 7th, 1998 On November 7th the 9th annual Central USA Powerlifting meet was held in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The meet was directed by Steve & Mike Cissell, the true patriarchs of Missouri powerlifting. Although the number of contestants were down from recent years, the quality of lifting has sure went up. With just 53 lifters entered, there were a total of 15 records broken, and some of them were even American records. The Cape Girardeau area has long had a great tradition of producing some fine lifters, and as this meet was proof, the beat just goes on. Anchored by the Sample brothers, Lindsay & Leonard, there has been a team from Southeastern Missouri as far back as this author can remember. Though Leonard has had some health issues and has put lifting on the back burner, the fact remains that some names never change. Lifters like Jerry Pledger, Roger Pedzolt, & Lindsay continue to carry the torch for the old Body Works / Universal Physique and now Universal Fitness powerlifting team; while lifters such as Jack Groves, Sabrina Pledger, Greg Ludwig & Kenny Garrett have stepped up to the challenge of continuing the tradition. Along with the many lifters from the St. Louis Metro-East area, which include Belleville, Granite City & East St. Louis, IL, this meet was reminiscent of the old days when there were several East vs. West clashes. How did it turn out & who won.....? Stick around and find out. And now, on to the meet! In the Women’s class, Jennifer Byrd won the 48 kg. class making all three deadlifts, with a 440 lb. total. Also having a perfect day in the deadlift, Charleen Bucheit won the 52 kg. class. Up and coming Laura Bonard had herself quite a day setting 3 Jr. State records in the 56 kg. class. Laura took the title at 56 kg, which included a nice 325 lb. deadlift. In the 60’s, Donna Kostoff missed only her 3rd attempt benchpress as she was runner up to Susan Crowe, who totaled 843 lbs. for the victory. In the 67.5’s, Tracy Fober totaled 661 lbs, to earn second place to Michelle Brubaker, who missed the only deadlift of all ladies entered. Not to be beaten for very long, Michelle came back to avenge the missed attempt and got the 352 lbs. on her third deadlift. In the 75 kg class, Christine Alongi hoisted a total of 722 lbs. while lifting unopposed. Our final lady lifter was Sabrina Pledger, of Cape Griardeau, Mo. Sabrina won the 90+ category by her lonesome, while setting two Teenage American records. Congratulations to all of our lady contestants! In the Men’s Open division, Justin Cecil took top honors in the 148 lb. class with a nice 7 for 9 outing. At 165 lbs, Kit Kitson had a rough time at it totaling 1,234 lbs for second place. Winning the 165’s was Rob Wright, who lifted an excellent total of 1,421 lbs. Moving up to the 181ers, Tom Scagliarini avoided the bombout when he finally made his third squat, and finished the day in fourth place. Just ahead was Vince Stanic, who totaled 1,355 lbs. for the bronze medal spot. Willie Agnew missed just one lift the entire day, as he cruised to second place. Greg Ludwig lifted what was probably his best meet ever putting up a 1,410 lb. total, to fend of the challenge of Agnew, and winning all the marbles. Our largest class of the meet was the 198 lbers. It seems like they literally come out of the woodworks in this division. Jamar Neal made just one attempt in each lift to come in 6th place out of a tough pack. Lyndell Lomax came in 5th behind the ever improving Nick Nieponski who missed only his third attempts. As ripped to shreds as he is, Nick has veins that could pass for a 3-D road map, complete with hills and valleys all the way up his arms. Never one to be counted out of an award, Smilin’ Roger Pedzolt placed third behind a vastly improved Kenny Garrett. Garrett totaled a whopping 1,603 lbs, giving Derrick Crass quite a run for the title. Crass, a two time member of the United States Olympic Weightlifting team, cracked the 700 lb. barrier in the squat, crushing 705 lbs. on his 2nd attempt. Crass, one of the many who hailed from Belleville, IL, took first place by a slim margin of 11 lbs. In the 220 lb. class, newcomer Kevin Nance went 7 for 9 coming in 6th place. Billy Mitchell, who missed only his 3rd attempt benchpress the entire day, ended in 5th place. Terry Stanley, of Granite City, IL, had an off day getting just his openers totaling 1,406 lbs. Placing third in a hard fought contest, Lindsay Sample went 6 for 8, passing his third and final deadlift. Along the way though, Lindsay notched an American squat record in the Masters division. With a fine 672 lb. lift, he set the 220 lb. 45-49 record. Afterwards Lindsay and I discussed his plans for the National Masters championships in New Orleans next spring. It seems as though he will be moving up to the 242 lb category to face the formidable Johnny Graham of Ft. Hood, Tx. The move will be a bold one, since Johnny Graham is the 1998 champion, and by no means a pushover. In all fairness, knowing both lifters, this will be a shootout between two great lifters. Lindsay has the utmost respect for Graham, who even lifted a time or two against Lindsay’s brother Leonard. Tying Sample to jump into second via a bodyweight decision, Rodney Lawary put together a great day making 7 out of 9 attempts. Lawary actually had the winning deadlift of 711 lbs. locked out, but lost his balance before this author could give the verbal “down” command to lower the bar. Make no bones about it, the Hot Rod had victory just 1 second from his grasp when he fell forward. I Look for Rodney to continue the rampage that he has been on for the last 3 years in his next meet. Even though he was bested for the 220 lb. title, being as light as he was he walked away with the best lifter award for the Open division. Claiming the 220 lb. prize in this dogfight was the thickly built Jack Groves of Bertrand, Mo. Groves had a stellar day squatting 633 lbs, benching 457 lbs., and deadlifting 644 lbs, with a sky high 1,736 lb. total. In the 242’s Scott McKelvey lifted unopposed in his first meet totaling 1,207 lbs along the way. Scott trains under the watchful eye of National referee Walley Strosnider at WallyWorld. In the 275’s Michael Ritter came 11 lbs from making the largest total of the meet, which included a huge 688 lb. squat, 440 lb. benchpress and 650 lb. deadlift for the victory. At Superheavyweight, Jerry Pledger was ready to move some BIG iron! And did he ever. With no other Supers present, Big Jerry squatted a massive 733 lbs, benched 429 lbs. and deadlifted 639 lbs. for a total of 1,791 lbs. The Men’s Novice division featured Nick Breeding winning the 60 kg’s unopposed; Tim Locke winning the 82.5 kg’s also unopposed. In the 90 kg. class the top three lifters from 1st thru 3rd read as follows: Matt Bauman, Mike Metheny & Rick Kostoff, respectively. The 100 kg’s had Kevin Nance ending up in third, Steve Sigmund as the runner up, and Billy Mitchell emerging as our champion. Tim Thomas of Belleville, IL continues to make great progress in his third year of competition. Thomas won the 110 kg. class going 7 for 9 on the day. In the Masters division, Gene King also went 7 for 9, winning the 220 lb. 40-44 title unchallenged. Lindsay Sample won the same weight class, but has now moved into the 45-49 age group. In the 242 lb., 40-44 class, Tim Thomas finished runner up to Mark Urbantke. Mark, who closely resembles the character “Bull“ off of the television show “Night Court”, has quite a deadlift at his disposal. The jovial Urbantke bagged himself a 600 lb. lift on his 2nd attempt. Our benchpress division had just three ladies entered. Laura Bonard won the 123 lb. class with her lift of 181 lbs; Donna Kostoff won the 132 lb. class with her 126 lb. effort, and Sherri Bertagnolli took an award for the 148 lb. class. In the Men’s class, Greg Ludwig came in third place behind Tom Scagliarini via the bodyweight decision when each man benched 341 lbs. The winner was Dana Rosenzweig, a teammate of Scagliarini’s, who ended with 407 lbs. and three perfect attempts. Dana had a tough time at this years Benchpress Nationals when he made only his third attempt. Look for him to even the score with Dennis Brady when they square off at next years contest. Second and Third place in the 198 lb. class were also a decision decided on bodyweight. Roger Pedzolt finished at the same 358 lbs. as Mike Metheny, but was a tad heavier, which meant that he settled for third place. Winning yet another title was Keith Ruble. Keith did what he needed for the victory on his opener, and after it was over that was all he would get. Keith has proved to be one of the most prolific benchers in Missouri, as he remains one of the best year in year out. In the 220’s, Jack Groves won by a slim margin of 2.5 kg’s over John Vacca with a 457 lb. 2nd attempt. This lift was also enough to earn him the Open division best lifter award. Jerry Pledger was the only Superheavyweight bencher, winning with his 429 lb. lift. In the teenage class, Andrea Cullum won the Womens 114 lb., 16-17 class with a lift of 165 lbs. In the Mens 165 lb., 14-15 class Jesse Francis lifted 231 lbs. for the victory. Winning the Masters 40-44, 181 lb. category, was Dana Rosenzweig; while Jon Springmeyer of the Wildbunch from WallyWorld set a state record at 198 lbs. with 314 lbs. The record stands for the 50-54 age class. The best lifters in the Open division were Susan Crowe & Rodney Lawary for the Womens & Mens class, respectively. Billy Mitchell was our Novice class best lifter, while Andrea Cullum one the best lifter award for the Teenage Women, in both the Open and Benchpress division. The Teenage Men best lifter award went to Michael Treat, while to nobody’s surprise, Lindsay Sample was the top Master Lifter. The Mens class best benchpresser was Jack Groves; and the Womens best lifter for the benchpress was Laura Bonard. Jesse Francis won the best lifter award for the Teenage Men, and for the Masters benchpressers, top dog was Dana Rosenzweig. And the long awaited results for the team trophy.......in second place, a conglomerate of lifters from the East side, The Fitness Zone. Winning all the marbles once again was the team from Universal Fitness. Thanks to referees Sam Greco, Lance Bargatze, James Rouse, Jim Bell, Bruce Levine, and Wally Strosnider. Congratulations to Rob Furey, who I believe is our newest state referee. Most of our referees for the event were National level referees or higher, which says a lot for the efforts of Dr. Mike to get quality refs lined up. As is the case in any sporting event, judges are human and make mistakes, and fans have a right to voice their opinions concerning these mistakes. Well I can say as far as this referee knows, that we didn’t get to many complaints, nor did we have to be escorted to our cars out of concern for our safety. Thanks to the fans for showing up, watching the meet and supporting the lifters. As usual the team that works at the head table, the expediters table and behind the scenes setting up and tearing down are invaluable. These people include Karma & Marlene; Co-meet director Steve Cissell; The voice of Missouri powerlifting, George Huber and his lovely wife Denise; and as always, Mike & Sue Cissell. Those interested in working at the USAPL Men’s Nationals next year can contact Dr. Cissell concerning advertisement for their gym. The “Gateway to the IPF Worlds” will be a show you do not want to miss!