Anticipation was running wild prior to the WPO Semifinal meet promoted by Kieran Kidder — as well it should. Kieran had been priming the pump for months, and backing up his talk with bucks — Big BUCKS — namely $160,000 in prize money — and the cost to produce the meet itself might have exceeded that amount. The Hard Rock Live venue is adjacent to the Hard Rock Cafe on City Walk at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Thousands of people frequent City Walk and the Hard Rock complex draws a lot of them. It is a resplendent facility with multi-level seating, spectacular lighting and sound systems, as well as state of the art event management and refreshment staffs. Brought into the mix was a 5 camera television crew, which included a boom camera, which creatively caught the action from a variety of angles which were displayed on the multiple monitor screens that flanked the stage. There was a pay per view ($30) internet feed of the event, and the tape will be packaged into three distinctive television shows. Lifters from 13 different countries were reportedly involved and Finnish, Icelandic, and Dutch television crews were also on hand to tape the proceedings.

The presentation was also highlighted by the presence of some of the Hooters Girls, who served as card girls, walking across the stage with a sign indicating the lifter’s name and the weight that was being attempted periodically, as well as the Huge Iron card girls, and the Huge Iron dancers. In between, bars were bent, phone books torn, and trucks were lifted by a variety of veteran strongmen. An excellent announcer, Chuck Ratliffe, kept things moving smoothly.

Orlando is a fabulous piece of real estate — there is every conceivable amusement park complex, and lots of smaller ones you’ve never even thought of — young people could keep themselves entertained in the area for weeks.

Was the speculation too high? How would the lifters respond to all this opportunity, and all this pressure? Appropriately, some amazing lifts were made. The WPO recognizes 10 weight classes, starting with 132 and ending up with the 308s, followed by the Supers. $10,000 was offered to the winner of each weight class, with lesser prizes for 2nd and 3rd places, as well as a $1000 bonus for any WPO recognized world records that were broken.

In the lightest WPO class, the 132s, Amy Weisberger earned the right to be the only woman competing here by meeting the man’s qualification standards. Having held an “open” WPO record, she did herself proud here by cracking the 1200 barrier. Chris Leverett, handled by masters lifting star Ann Leverett’s husband Earl, took his shot at glory with a 523 deadlift that was just too much. Allen Whigham of Missouri put his long limbs to work and made a nice 253 bench and 534 deadlift. Hennis Washington III makes an awe-inspiring anatomical advertisement for the health food store he manages, and he used that sculptured body of his to move some huge attempts, to the roaring approval of local fans. While his deadlifts ended at 540, USAPL Men’s champ Tim Taylor kept his going all the way up to a sensational 606, to total the same 1438 as Hennis. Tim opened his benches at 308 without a shirt and then donned the gear for 336 and his miss at 352.

Day and night, it was hot and humid in Orlando, and at one point meet promoter Kieran Kidder declared that the lifting itself was making him so hot that he was going to have to be “hosed down,” but air conditioning installer August Clark took time out from his busy practice to blast up 10 solid attempts to take the 132s. August was hot in the benches, busting WPO world records all the way up to 435, and then topping that with an amazing 446 on a 4th attempt, on which he simply would not stop pushing. The magnificently muscular athlete looks too big to even be a lightweight, and he had the best patter going with the live broadcast interviewer and fitness queen Debbie Kruck — wishing his Dad happy birthday and forgetting what amusement park he was in by answering Debbie’s query about what he was going to do next with “I’m going to Disneyworld!” NASCAR’s Amy Frantz was also on hand to do audience reaction pieces for the broadcast.

The lifters were divided into 5 flights, and for the first three flights the initial squat attempts were done in a separate meet set-up backstage, according to WPO convention, with only those making a first or second attempt being able to advance to the stage for their final attempts. This arrangement was developed to enhance the presentation for television purposes, but it seemed to cause some delay in the overall competition, which ended up being significant later on in the contest. For the final 2 flights, to save time, all attempts were done on the main stage. The attempts made backstage were not announced, leading to some confusion in the results that we were able to obtain for the competition. Any errors will be corrected in a following edition of PL USA.

In the lightweights, Finland’s Sakari Selkainaho had a nice day going with a 611 squat and 385 bench, but 551 was too high for him to start with in the DL, and — according to the WPO rule — this prison guard bombed out after missing his first and second attempts. Rick Grayes of Florida moved some nice weights in his precise style to get his 1455 total on the books, and Brian Schwab showed balanced lifts and striking muscularity to get himself a 1526 mark. T.J. Hoerner lifted beyond his young years to take the 148 win, though he had to carefully execute each deadlift to insure his victory. Several lifters had their favorite music on hand to play prior to their attempts and T.J., uniquely, had a Christian themed song as his inspiration.

The 165s were the biggest class and had the most exciting action, and the most broken records. Ed Bridges, a roofer out of Peoria, IL and, reportedly, the famous Bridges family, only got one squat and one bench, before hitting an early WPO exit with 2 misses at 617 DL. Actuary Jeff Holzbauer analyzed his chances for this meet and came up with 1576 lbs. in this extra tough environment. Joey Almodovar, the chimney mason from New York City, was told his bench shirts were not acceptable and went at them raw. The bench was arranged so that the head referee was facing off stage, by the way. Joey, who probably could make some bucks by posing for one of those medical text vascularity charts, took his best shot under the circumstances. Gianfranco Manca of South Africa, 34, was in tough company with born-to-pull phenom Tony Caprari and Dave Contreras, who made a comeback to PL when he saw the money the WPO was offering. Levi Alday, a chiropractic student we hear, gave the bar some adjustments in each discipline, but especially the bench, where he got a $1000 bonus for his 490, and he went on to try, but miss, at 501 on a 4th. Ron Palmer was so trim it was amazing to see him handle such audacious weights, but this Indianapolis trainer is almost too real. Angelo Berardinelli is hard to bet against, especially when he almost gets a world record in the bench, but he almost made his way into the money via the deadlift. Wade Hooper missed a WPO world record 733 squat rather badly, but then returned to easily dip down deep and stand up tall with the weight — the best squat looking squat he may have ever done — and then he jumped even higher to 749 on a 4th attempt and nailed that one too! Wade rode his advantage hard through the benches, hitting another WPO world record of 496 on his 2nd attempt, and then taking a shot at a massive 518, with a different shirt, on his 3rd. His opening deadlift at 567 gave the others a sitting bullseye when he missed 595 twice. Resourceful Jarmo Laine broke Wade’s fresh squat record on his 3rd attempt with a 734, and then plotted his deadlift course to finish up over Hooper there as well, but there was another factor for him to consider, Anthony Conyers, who showed up on the platform to lift his attempts with a gladiator’s helmet and sword, ended up with a tie to Wade’s 733 when he made it just afterwards, but he followed up Wade’s 4th attempt move to 749, with a 4th attempt of 750 himself, and the mighty warrior simply would not stop pushing on the weight, and it couldn’t overpower him! He looked to be in the driver’s seat with 435 bench and 650 opening deadlift, but he missed his modest jump to 672 with an odd hitch in the lift. Anthony turned it on for his final try, with the dollars on the line, and made it strongly to win this unbelievably tough class.

Joe Doherty missed a 738 squat in the 181s, but then sealed his doom with the deadly 1st and 2nd attempt miss combo in the bench at 468, and he was out of consideration for the money. 54 years old and battle scarred, Fabian Wambsgans was battling it out with the iron and the pros, but it wasn’t easy when only 4 attempts went his way. Local legend “Captain Curt” Warren had some great Star Trek themed music to accompany his lifts, but Arnold Coleman was clearly the class of the weight class, with a ripped and sculpted body that could easily grace the cover of any major bodybuilding magazine with no complaints. He re-took 749 in the squat successfully and benched up and up and up to a WPO record bonus 545.

In the 198s, Joe McCoy ruggedly jammed up a 507 bench, but not the bold tries at WPO style world records of 606 and 628. Jon Gunnarson of Iceland also took some healthy jumps, and he made most of them pay off. Matt Zweng was a little put off when the security staff wouldn’t let him bring in outside food to the venue, but he was in great spirits on the platform, cruising through 3 excellent squats, before taking a 4th attempt leap at a WPO world record of 854 that was too much. He didn’t miss again until his final deadlift. Jess Kellum looked powerfully fit, and drilled a new WPO world record squat of 850, but couldn’t get the lights he wanted with 881. After a slow lockout with a big 595 bench, he barely didn’t get another 597 WPO record. In the deadlift, he hauled up 666 and declared he could hold it up all day before letting down under ultimate control.

At 220, Iceland’s Ingvar Ingvarson opened conservatively and jumped extravagantly, particularly in the bench press, to post his 1730 total. Another local lifter, Dondell Blue, who reminds one somewhat of Walter Thomas, put together some nice lifts. Kenny Patterson had a dreadful opener in the squat with 672, but got himself together to re-take it and 705 successfully. The WPO bench world record was his at 622, but a jump to 672 wasn’t passable. He shows where he gets his benching power when he deadlifts, where incredible musculature in the pecs, delts, and arms becomes markedly apparent. Scott Burbank used to train with Chuck Vogelpohl at the Keene, New Hampshire YMCA and he rejoined his buddies at this extravaganza this year. Ornately tattooed all over his body, Arto Rajala of Finland did some very strong squats and benches, and seemed quite dismayed with the hand problem that kept him from making his 733 deadlift attempts. Chuck Vogelpohl was on hand with his flaming watch cap and raging intensity. Boy, he is explosive in his squats once he slowly descends to the bottom of his stroke. His pulls went a little awry and that allowed Travis Mash to match his total. Harald Selsam is a sensational power athlete — efficient, muscular, and fiercely strong. His squats were excellent — and 881 came up just like the others, perhaps called a tad high. He seemed quite enthused by his success with his 727 deadlift.

In the 242s, James Jacobs made one appearance on stage with an attempt at an 810 squat. Jeff Douglas made 10 appearances highlighted by a super attempt at 870 squat, and then a bold burst to 915, but that was too much. Jose Garcia looks like he could gain a couple weight classes on his lean young frame, but lifts like he’s already there. He makes great use of his leverage and is a natural at using the Monolift style racks for squatting. He is one of APF founder Ernie Frantz’s favorites, and Ernie was on hand, making sure things went well on the platform. Janne Kymalainen, a bespectacled 28 year old from Finland, opened with a WPO world record bench of 628, but did not manage two tries at 639. Speaking of masters at using the Monolift, Paul Urchick looks like he was born doing it, nonchalantly jumping from 876 to 915 to 959 with the weight hardly seeming to make a difference. Unfortunately, Paul was in the same class as Ed Coan, who was making his eagerly awaited WPO debut. This was a special challenge for Ed, who likes things consistent from meet to meet, and who also had a still healing bicep tear to deal with. He had the great Doug Furnas on hand to help out, along with one of his training buddies, a Chicago area policeman whose bench handoffs are indispensable, and his always supportive family. His 1003 squat was solid, and after Goggins hit a new record of 1036 in the 275s, Ed went for the gusto and called for a new WPO record of 1038 at 242 and fought it out ruggedly for a success. He was benching well, but 589 went astray. Ed reportedly has an obvious deficit in his biceps when he “makes a muscle” and while he clearly could have done more, he called it a day after his 771 deadlift opener.

There was talk all over about Steve Goggins meeting up with the man he’s felt a festering rivalry with for years — Ed Coan — despite the caveat that they would be in different weight classes. Steve was definitely doing some talking of his own after coming back from a miss at 1036 in the squat to make a fine, deep success with it on his 3rd attempt. Dave Jeffrey stated that Ed went over and congratulated Steve on his squat afterwards in a less than gracious response in return. Steve opened with 562 in the bench, and then after two unsuccessful attempts, he was out of the competition. The finality of the issue hit him as he sat on the end of the bench, contemplating more than just the money involved, at this meet and potentially at the WPO Finals. Chris Taylor, with his APF classification tattooed proudly on his arm, looked like one of Ronnie Ray’s kids grown up with his massive upper body and short hair style. Long, tall Milo Mills had one of the most impressive hand off persons in the person of his wife, Jill, whose powerlifting built muscularity was hard to miss. Art Labare impressed many with his fitness, but seemed a bit befuddled at the calls that took away some bigger lifts. Mikko “Voo-doo Power” Hamalainen did virtually equivalent damage in each discipline and really separated himself from the Americans, but not from his amazing countryman Ano Turtiainen. Ano looks like he was born to deadlift, but he really knows how to squat as well, with a big smile emanating after each of his carefully controlled ascents with progressively more massive attempts — to a new WPO world record poundage of 1005. The man with long legs also knows how to use his long arms, as he steadily jammed up attempt after attempt in the BP — up to 600! In the deadlift, it was all so easy — even the 861 WPO world record he nailed on a third attempt. It should be pointed out that the contest, which started a bit after 11 in the morning, was now pushing the 3:00 AM barrier that the Hard Rock Live people said was going to be “cut the power” time, so Ano was a bit rushed to try 881 on a 4th attempt, and it didn’t go. With a proper rest, he may have gotten it. Credit where due — 2462 is remarkable — especially for a lifter this lean. If Ano ever wants to go 308, the 2500 lb. barrier and beyond is well in his hands.

In the 308s, Rob Fusner was ready to show his 700 plus West-side benching power, but twanged something in his leg during squat warmups and could not get through the first lift. Don Thompson couldn’t get himself set right and missed his first two lifts as well. Brian “Too Big for the Apparatus” Siders could barely fit under the squat bar, but being West Virginian really likes to bench most of all, but two misses sent him packing early. Large Lou Lavarro got hurt on his 600 bench attempt, and rolled off the bench in pain, not to return. Big squatters Craig Gallo and Al Mehan had difficulties setting up in their best lift, and they both bombed with too high a start in the deadlift. Jovial Josh Bryant broke form from the heavy metal or rap genres on his theme music with what sounded like the William Tell overture and it helped him hit some quality PRs. Craig Tokarski made his recent return to three lift competition a profitable one by breaking a WPO bench record on his 1st and 2nd attempts, and the 37 year old police officer showed that he can still pull big, with a smooth 782. Bearded Jon Grove calmly marched through 3 great squats and a bench before 606 had to be re-mastered, and then he carried on through three smooth pulls. A very huge Lee Barry was good in all the lifts and put together a very commendable total of 2253 on his behalf. Looking bigger than 308, Paul Childress of Lancaster, New York could easily have had 550 more lbs. in the squat, but the velcro strap on the shoulder of his squat suit came undone, as he got under the bar, and it could not be re-rigged in time to make the meet.

In the Supers, we did not see Aaron Lawrence come out for either of his called attempts in the squat, and Mike Ruggiera — who rivals Jim Voronin for the thickest neck in powerlifting — was one of the unfortunate few who seemed to lose the knack of setting up right in the Monolift and he was gone too.

Another bombout, even more shocking, was that of the 2601 lb. man, Garry Frank. Garry seemed unusually agitated prior to his lifts — as if he was trying to motivate himself on a day when things weren’t going to go his way, no matter what. 903 in the squat was apparently high, but 914 was accepted, but troubles came up on 953, and then he missed his first two benches, looking like he wasn’t used to the shirt he was wearing, and he was out of the meet. Bob Yitts, a very tall and massive plumber from Connecticut, met a similar fate in the deadlift. Californian Master phenom George Brink was on hand to move his personal best deadlift mark up, but he started shaking too much with 810 and that was the signal for him to put the bar back down. Jim Voronin looked like he was going to bust the 700 barrier in the bench for sure, after 694 went up so cleanly in his reverse grip style, but 705 quickly fell back to his chest. He knew each time he tried and missed the 744 deadlift, that he had raised his hips too soon. Beau Moore looked very big and he showed stunning improvement in the squat, with 903 being done in excellent form, 688 was a nice bench, but 713 — for a WPO record bonus — was beyond his pull, but only on this day. A 760 pull resulted in an excellent 2352 total and the respect a top quality three lift man deserves.

It should be said that there was some excellent spotting at this meet. Several lifters were saved from virtually certain injury by some heroic efforts. In one incident, even one of the referees literally leaped to assist when one lifter was not going to get the bar back into the racks and saved the day. Dennis Burke, long time IPF Category I official, served as head referee, and — though still quite spry — he was not the referee who did the amazing spotting. Number One man in the 123s, Ken Snell also spent some time in the head chair.

Kieran Kidder was apologetic about the length of the meet, which didn’t allow time for an award ceremony at the lifting venue, but is it a sin to try to make a great meet even greater? Ambitious meet directors have always faced the dilemma of dealing with so much talent in a limited time period. Kieran’s passion for Powerlifting remains ablaze — he actually stated that if some of the top pro athletes are making $10,000,000 a year, he thinks it only right that he make it so that powerlifters — and, the sooner the better — can make twice that — or he will “die trying.” Kieran also revealed that WPO is also going to start incorporating strongman competition, with an Iceland versus the USA challenge in the near future. Magnus Ver Magnusson is mentioned as being among those expected to participate. This spectacular meet was only one step on a visionary journey along which Kieran continues to accelerate. Super Class winners from WPO Finals can expect $50,000, a valuable championship belt, and a car for their efforts. Kieran has steadily brought in a level of real opportunity that this sport has never known before, and he’s just getting started.