USP Labs APF/AAPF Summer Power Challenge Northwest

[Casey@USPlabs]

The USP Labs APF/AAPF Summer Power Challenge Northwest was a great meet with many displays of competitive spirit and camaraderie among the athletes. The event was held at the brand new Lake Oswego gymnasium in Lake Oswego, Oregon on Saturday August 22nd making for a fantastic venue! It included such features as a weight room on the lower levels with an elevator right up to the back of the gymnasium for athlete transport from the warm-up room to the platform. An additional Monolift was brought in to provide the lifters an opportunity to warm-up off the competition floor. This allowed flights to run more smoothly, cutting a huge chunk of time out of the meet schedule.

A total of 37 lifters competed from around Oregon and Washington, and put on quite a show for the close to 200 spectators that stopped by. There were some impressive displays of sportsmanship and competitive spirit outside of just the weights lifted during the day.

Andres ‘Dre’ Valleza (of Team Extreme Powerlifters) competed in both the Raw and the Equipped division during the day. Dre competed in the 165lb class posting a 1334 Raw total and then in separate flights posted a 1664 total Equipped! A very impressive feat! Dre also won APF Raw Best Lifter for the meet and APF Best Lifter.

Rudy Kadlub (of Team Iron Horsemen) destroyed the American record in the over 60 class by 275lbs! Rudy posted a 1537 total in the 198 class, competing in both APF/AAPF. This is the highest AAPF American record in his age class regardless of the bodyweight! Rudy is closing on being the strongest man over 60 in his weight regardless of federation and is chasing that record held by Ernie Frantz.

Adrian Larsen also competed in two meets this day. He lifted in another comptition in Washington that morning and then made a several hour drive to the AAPF meet where Adrian posted up a 672lb bench in the 275lb class, just missing 700lbs on his 3rd attempt. Adrian also won $250 in cash for best bench in the over 198lb class. His teammate Ben Brizendine took the other $250 cash with a 661 bench in the 198lb class. Both Ben and Adrian of Primal Power Systems are sponsored by USP Labs.

In the Raw Category there was a total of ten lifters. The Raw category has grown, and will continue to be promoted locally as it fills the void for lifters looking for this option, as well as providing a non-intimidating entry into powerlifting. Shawn Doyle won Best Lifter Raw AAPF with a 1708 total in the 308lb class, and Vanessa Uskoski took the Female Raw AAPF with 760 @ 181.

In the Raw Bench Only John Peterson posted a 446 bench in the 198lb class on his second attempt and looked good for breaking 500 but came up short. In the Deadlift Only category Mark Wetcher did an easy 727 opener in the 242lb class but missed his second and third attempts in the 800’s.

USP Labs sponsored athlete Chris Duffin (of Team Iron Horsemen) totaled 2254 with an 849 squat, 623 bench, and 782 deadlift in the AAPF 198lb class breaking all of his previous American AAPF records. This is an 11.4xBW total and the 4th highest total ever recorded at that bodyweight. Chris also posted the highest total and the largest coefficient (638 wilks) of the meet.

An extra thanks goes to USP Labs for providing gift bags that were awarded to top ten lifters in the competition. Dave Clapp of Suck it Up Fitness did a great job as a head judge, and the members of Team Iron Horsemen were absolutely instrumental in putting the whole day together.