Guest Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) Ahhhhh my first, And apparently not the last Gripmas, thanks to @Tank Andrade picking up where @climber511 has left off after all these years. Where do I begin? Well, an hour and a half into the 8 hour drive I had to pee. Sped up to 70 in a 55 zone to get to a rest stop and got nailed by a sheriff who gave the kid a ticket on his 40th birthday. I offered to do some hammer feats for him as payment, as my trunk was filled with them, but to no avail, he was not amused. First stop was to pick up the boys @Lucasraymond @Jedd Johnson @Tank Andrade And @Nigel Blackburn and headed to our stay at Paul Knights house the night before, who was gracious enough to invite us to stay in his beautiful home with his lovely family. We cooked some steaks and did some grip feats and gripper closing in Paul’s garage. Probably not a great idea before a competition. On the morning of gripmas I got to meet so many people I wanted to meet. @apantke @anwnate @temmmeeee @climber511 @Anthony C. @Anton.Torrella @Saff@Donc101 @Squeezus @acorn @DAVE101 @Tom Flesher James Retarides @Bryan Hunsaker Who I missed in Syracuse last time, and so many others where we all broke bread after weigh in to a delicious breakfast provided by Chris and Mrs. Rice. Before the contest, Andrew Pantke showed me a row of various inch dumbbells. I had to lift a few of them. I couldn’t resist, just like I can’t resist levering hammers in the hardware stores! Also before the contest, my buddy Bryan Hunsaker slammed a COC #3 cert as easy as closing a trainer, Don Cummings bent nails in succession for David Horne, and @PITTisKING certified on not one, not two, but THREE RED NAILS IN A ROW!! I won’t post my lift numbers as they are listed in the results write up and I don’t want to bore you with numbers. I was very pleased with my placing 3rd behind Bryan Hunsaker and Arron Corcoran in the 120+ class consisting of a field of 6 competitors and taking 6th overall out of 29 total competitors in the gripmas Portion of grippers, axle and euro pinch. Next up was the armlifting USA portion. This was to reclaim my placing in the top 3 in the 125+ class for a spot at the armlifting world championships in St. Petersburg, Russia 5/2019. I took 2nd overall with Andrew Durniat taking first in Saturday’s contest . This put me in 2nd place in my class on the rankings list for the 125+ kilo class behind 1st place ranked @ClayEdgin. I accomplished exactly what I had come for. I also contest PRd on every event of the day, I believe, except for the 20mm blockset, because stubborn me doesn’t do block sets. Post contest was feats of strength. Too many to list and so many going on at once. My buddy Lucas Raymond increased the world record on the LBH and FBBC anvil handles respectively for the records list. All in all I am so glad I came. I actually had to cancel earlier in the week due to unforeseen issues. Things turned around for the better and I was thankfully able to attend. Thank you to all that made this possible. If I forgot to mention anyone I met for the first time, I am sorry. Good luck in your training all! Can’t wait for the next competition. Joe This pic of me and Bryan is hilarious. First time I had to look up to anyone in years. I am 6’4 keep in mind, for perspective of how tall big Bryan is!!!! Edited December 12, 2018 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PITTisKING Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 It was an honor to meet you Bro. Til Next Time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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