Powerlifter Kieran Kidder has added meet director and powerlifting promoter to his credits. Kieran has launched his own professional powerlifting organization, the WPO, and Saturday, May 20th was to be the inaugural big WPO meet.

The event would be contested in all the weight classes with $1,000 dollars going to the winner of each weight class. $500.00 dollars was for 2nd place and $250.00 for 3rd place. Then, Mr. Kidder created 3 Super classes, WPO Super Heavyweight, over 198 lbs., WPO Super Middleweight, 166 to 198 pounds, and WPO Super Lightweight, 165 pounds or less. Each of these winners would receive an additional $5,000.00. There would be a bonus of $1,000.00 for each world record. World records were based on the list of powerlifting marks published in the Guinness Book of World Records. There was lots of opportunity for lifters to take home some big dollars, and 14 of the 17 finishers ended up with cash, with Jesse Kellum’s $9,000.00 being the biggest payoff.

The day before the contest it was apparent that this was going to be something special for powerlifting. Lifters stopped by Kieran Kidder’s Huge Iron Gym to get their equipment checked and get themselves weighed in. The TV production company, Underdog Productions, was busy filming the lifters and recording interviews with the competitors. That evening Mr. Kidder hosted all the lifters and their friends at the Plaza Hotel. There the competitors, crew, and friends could visit and enjoy a magnificently catered evening.

Early Saturday morning the Peabody Auditorium opened up to the clang of iron as the theatre was being prepared for the event. A complete breakfast buffet was set up in the warm-up area starting at 6:30 a.m. It was open to all the lifters, helpers, officials, and their friends. As the day wore on, the menu changed to a lunch buffet with plenty of roast beef, shrimp, and salads for all. If there were any challenges over the course of this meet, they could not be laid to anyone being hungry or thirsty.

Now it was 10 a.m. and time had come for the powerlifting competition. Kieran Kidder’s Huge Iron dancers started the event. With a dance and fitness performance, the beautiful girls started the show off with a bang.

There were two platforms for this contest. All lifters had to make their opener on the backstage platform before they could make their subsequent attempts in front of the audience. If the lifter did not make his backstage opener on the 2nd attempt, he was out of the contest. When the flight had finished backstage, the lifters could come to the front stage for the competition.

The lightweight men were first. TV announcer Paul Ryden and Kieran Kidder sat at adjacent podiums on the side of the stage providing the TV commentary and Russ Barlow did most of the live announcing. With music, smoke, and pyrotechnics the lifters came on stage.

August Clark was the first lifter and he came on stage with the 430 pounds he squatted backstage. Even with an extra try, spotters touched the weights, invalidating one of his lifts, he had to settle for the 430. He tried a record bench but, like his squat, he had to settle for the 397 pounds he actually made. His 452 pounds in the DL gave him a 1,279 pound total, which gave him 2nd place in the 132 lb. class and $500.00. Hennis Washington, the other 132 pounder and the class winner, hit 518 lbs. on the squat, 298 lbs. in the BP, and 529 lbs. in the DL for a total of 1,345 and $1,000.00.

Armed with helmet and shield, the 148 lb. “Gladiator” was Tony Conyers. Tony took two tries to get 601 lbs. in the squat. He benched 408 lbs. and then pulled a world record 700 lbs. DL for his check of $2,000.00.

The winning 165 pound lifter was Wade Hooper. Wade went for a 4th attempt at a record 728 lbs. Fourth attempts do figure in the WPO totals. He made the lift for his first $1,000. He added a 435 lb. BP and a 584 lb. DL for a 1,747 total. Wade got the $5,000 for the WPO Super Lightweight title, plus $1,000.00 for winning the 165s and another $1,000.00 for a WR squat. Tony Caprari, at 19, is a look at the future. Tony is very focused and determined and has long range powerlifting plans and has a great supporter in his mother. Tony got 612 lbs. in the squat, a 364 BP, and a 667 DL for 1,642 lbs. and a check for $500.00. Brian Schwab got $250 for his 3rd place in the 165s, posting a 540 SQ, 380 BP, 551 DL, and 1,472 total.

The WPO Super Middleweight division had three lifters competing. One man took it all. Jesse Kellum went 9 for 9, and took home the biggest check of all, $9,000.00. Jesse opened in the squat with 766 lbs., then hit a WR 826 lbs. and then another WR of 849 lbs. He continued his winning ways in the bench, making a 551 opener, then 567, and finishing with 579 lbs. Just before the deadlift Jesse was asked if there were more records for him and he answered “God did not give me a deadlift.” He proceeded to pull 633, 650, and 667 lbs. in the deadlift. His all time best DL is 683 lbs. The 198 lb. Kellum wrapped up the total with 2,094 lbs. There were two other lifters vying for the Super Middleweight title. Captain Curt took the $1,000 for the 181 lbs. class win with a 601 SQ, 402 BP, 650 DL, and 1,653 lbs. total. Mr. Dondell Blue was the 2nd place 198 lb. lifter and he picked up $500.00 with a 667 SQ, 424 BP, 601 DL, and 1,692 total.

Then came the WPO Heavyweight Super Open Championship. Anthony Clark was making his return to three lift powerlifting competition after a long layoff and he weighed in at 340 lbs. Big Gary Frank, in quest of the 2,500 lbs. total, weighed in at 385 lbs. Another of the big guys, J. R. Hunt, looked really strong in the squats. Rick Lawrence, at 220 lbs., was the lightest of the group and at 275 lbs., 2nd lightest, Steve Goggins was relaxed and looking ready. There were five guys at 308 lbs., Mehan, LaBare, Moore, Grove, and Robbins. These men would provide a lot of surprises. Big J.R. Hunt opened with 859 pounds and made it look easy. The judges might have agreed on the easy part, but they did not give it to him on depth. After two tries, the disappointed J.R. was out of the competition. Anthony Clark opened with 942 pounds. He took it quickly and dropped deep. On the way up he went forward on his toes and tipped to one side. The spotters had a job wrestling 942 pounds back to the rack. On his second attempt the bar fell from his shoulders during his set up and Anthony Clark was out of the competition.

Now all eyes were on Gary Frank who got himself a nice deep 915 lbs. in the squat. Gary hit 672 in the bench and just missed a strong attempt at a 705 lb. BP. Gary was still positioned for the 2,500 pound total. He had pulled a 950 lb. DL in training. All he needed was about a 913 lb. DL for the coveted 2,500 pounds total mark. He opened with 881 lbs. and ripped it from the floor. It looked easy until he tried to get his shoulders back and his hips pushed in. It seemed like minutes as the bar just hung there, only inches from lock out. Then Gary shook his head and the bar went down. His second attempt was a repeat of the first one. He was so close, but this time the bar finally fell from his hands and the meet was over for him.

There was a man ready for the big championship belt. That was the 275 lb. Steve Goggins. In the warm up room Steve took 800 lbs. for a warm up. He lost it, and dumped the bar forward, scraping the skin off the top of his head. Steve seemed fine and unbothered by what could have been a serious accident. Steve gave away a lot on bodyweight, but that is all he gave away as he squatted 926 pounds. He pushed up 502 lbs. and completed an 805 pound DL. Steve tried a 1,003 squat and was close with a WR 859 DL. He finished with a 2,232 lb. total. Steve won the 275 lb. class and WPO Super Heavyweight Championship with the meet’s biggest total. With Underdog Productions documenting each lift, underdog Steve Goggins ended the day as the top dog. Steve wanted to thank Kirk Stroud, owner of Stroud’s Gym in Dallas where Steve trains, for his coaching input. Goggins picked up $6,000.00 and the WPO Super Heavyweight belt. The magnificent belts, similar to boxing’s championship belts, were said to cost $10,000 each.

There were five lifters in the hunt for the 308 lb. class win. Al Mehan, of Canada, was king of the squat. This 26 year old Canadian has only been lifting three years and he is really enjoying himself. His goal is an 1,100 pound squat within a year. He fired up an easy 903 lb. opener, then showed the crowd what a 970 lb. squat looked like. Finally, he had them load it up to 1,009 and took it up like an express elevator for a world record. He missed a 545 bench press, 5 lbs. more than his personal best, and settled for a 524 lb. BP. He got his opener, 678 lbs., in the DL and missed two tries at his previous best DL of 705 lbs. He picked up first place in the 308 pound class, $1,000, and a WR squat, $1,000. He had the 2nd biggest total, 2,210 lbs., of the meet, just 22 pounds behind Steve Goggins.

Art LaBare picked up $500.00 with his 2nd place total, 2,072 lbs. Big bencher Beau Moore picked up $1,250 with a WR bench, 645 lbs., the biggest bench of the competition, plus a third place total in the 308 lb. class with a 2,056 lb. total. Jon Grove was 4th, followed by Shelby Robbins to round out the 308 pound finishers. Sherwin Pagtakhan tore his quadriceps on his squat attempt and could not continue.

With the lifting over, the Huge Iron girls were back on stage accompanied by smoke, fire, and explosions. Then Kieran Kidder arrived with a fistful of checks to hand out to the lifters. The TV cameras were everywhere and we will watch for the announcement of when and where this will be seen. This was a brave first start for the WPO made by a brave man who commits himself to putting professional powerlifting into the media.

After the event, everyone was invited to the Huge Iron Gym for an evening of R & R. There was a live band, a free flowing bar, and a copious supply of great food, as there was throughout the event. The gym was adorned by a vast number of lovely ladies, including Debbie Kruck, who greeted and visited with the powerlifting fraternity.

As we left Daytona, I think everyone is looking forward to the next Huge Iron event. To Kieran Kidder a big “thanks” from the whole group.