2018 December - Armlifting at Gripmas - Saff

[Saff]

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend my very 1st Gripmas and unfortunately the last in Ohio. Only living an hour away, surprisingly this was the first time I had ever heard of this event. Apparently, I have been living under a rock the last decade or so. Wanting more information, I reached out to the Godfather of Gripmas Chris Rice. As we got to talking the idea of having an Armlifting USA competition emerged. This would be a last chance qualifier for the World Armlifting Championships in St. Petersberg, Russia.

 With a virtual who's who in the North American grip world going to be in attendance, Chris thought it would be a opportunity to bring Armlifting USA and NAGS a little closer together. In the spirit of Gripmas giving the fee to enter the Armlifting portion of the competition was waived and was made available to all attendees on the day.

 The three events contested were the Silver Bullet Hold, Apollon's Axle Deadlift and the Rolling Thunder. These are the three events needed for World's Qualification. The Apollon's Axle was also contested in the NAGS portion of the contest so those numbers were transferred. Several people jumped in and attempted either the Silver Bullet Hold or the Rolling Thunder, but for sake of this write up I will only cover the seven people that completed all three events.

Melissa Dingey with only about three months of training under her belt competed in only her second competition. Most impressive of all her numbers was the Silver Bullet where she held the 0.5 gripper for 36.77sec. Might be time to move up a gripper or 2,  just sayin. She is currently 6th in her class.

Nigel Blackburn, the current WR holder in the Little Big Horn came all the way from Florida to show everyone that he can put up some impressive numbers on Ironmind's other implements as well. Having to be convinced to do the Rolling Thunder he is now ranked 1st in his weight class to qualify to go to Russia. He is in the 70kg wt class.

Next up is Vincent Rivellese in the 80kg class. He put up solid numbers throughout including a 279lb deadlift. Top 3 in their perspective weight classes at the end of the year get World's invites.  He is currently ranked 2nd in his wt class.

Grip legend Andrew Duriant, 100kg class came to show his grip prowess by taking his opening lifts after most competitors had already tapped out. They may not be his personal bests but very impressive to say the least. He finished with a 428.8lb deadlift, 236.31lb Rolling Thunder and 20.16sec using a 3.5 gripper. Not surprisingly, he sits in 1st in his class.

And now we come to me, Mike Saffell and the 125kg class. I was extremely excited to hit personal records on the axle 389.9lbs and Rolling Thunder 191.31lbs but as usual the Silver Bullet is a weak spot. I am currently in 6th.

Finally we have the big boys in the 125kg+ class. It was a battle with Joe Sullivan and Jason Dingey all day. Joe edged out Jason on the Silver Bullet  holding the 3.5 gripper for 8.4 sec to Jason's 4.49. Jason then came out and blasted out 386.9lbs on the axle to Joe's 363.7. The wt class win came down to the last event, the Rolling Thunder. Jason finished with 191.31lbs while Joe came out victorious by pulling 203.7lbs. 

 Hopefully, this can be a start to bringing Armlifting USA and NAGS, two great organizations a little closer together. I would like to thank Chris Rice for his contribution to the sport and the Underground Strength Gym for the great venue. And last but certainly not least i'd like to thank Katie Leitheiser for taking charge and getting things done as well as her super sweet spreadsheet skills.
With only 2 more events scheduled before the qualification deadline on December 31st,  it is exciting to see where everyone's placings end up and who gets invites.

[JHenze646]

Where do you live? And are you planning to have future comps?

[Saff]

3 hours ago, JHenze646 said:

Where do you live? And are you planning to have future comps?

I live in Bethesda, Ohio. Not far off of interstate 70. I would like to hold 2 contests a year.

[Guest]

Great write up Mikey! I love NAGS and I love armlifting. To me they are the same thing and I enjoy them both . I want to be a part of it all and love all the options for competitions we have been having as of late . The more options we have and the more exposure we get out, the more competition will show up on the scene and keep it exciting and fresh. Thank you, Mike, for throwing this at gripmas at the last minute ,  as this was my last chance to regain my spot for Worlds as I was knocked out after some previous comps later this year that I was not able to attend.

Joe 

[JHenze646]

33 minutes ago, Saff said:

I live in Bethesda, Ohio. Not far off of interstate 70. I would like to hold 2 contests a year.

You are only an hour and a half away!! I am not much for Armlifting but keep me posted when you hold the comps.