2005 IPF World Master Championships
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WOMENS'S MASTERS II In the Womens's Masters II, we came in with only 4 lifters, but these four had what it takes to be Champions. Barbara Zintsmaster, is one of the most intense females lifters I have seen. Being assisted by her Husband, she moved some good weight the take 2nd in the 132 lb class. She only weighed in at 124 lbs, and that helped her collect a silver in the Squat, Bench, and Gold in the Deadlift. Terry Lee, as another lifter from the Great state of Washington, with a great smile to add to her great lifting. Lifting in the 148 lb class, this lady can Bench. Her Gold medal in the Bench, propelled her to 2nd place in this class. She was another lifter of our team, who was always there to help when needed. Her bronze in the squat and deadlift wasn't bad, either, and with more practice on her form, we will see some better lifts in the future. We will see her on many more World teams. Rita Carlsson has been a member on the Maters world Team in the past, but her performance in the Womens Nationals almost cost her a shot on this years team. After bombing out in the Womens Nationals, she was lifting in a meet, where Asst Coach Gina Stepleton was officiating, and she was offered a slot on the team, after many slots were not accepted. I guess being at the right place at the right time, does pay off, as Rita, got 3rd in the 148 lb class, and a silver in the squat and deadlift. Rita told me, that what happened at the Nationals, won't happen again. Finishing out this great group of Masters II lifters was the lady from New Zealand, now New Hampshire, Sonja McKinlay. I still cannot believe that this lady is 62 years young. Watch out for her. The lady has the power to walk away with many World titles in the future, and winning the gold in the squat, and benchpress, in the 165 lb class is proof of this. She finished 2nd overall to the great multi-time World Champion Anita Thimm of Germany, who is one of the best deadlifters in the World, and she used that lift to win over Sonja. Get ready for a change of the guards next year, as Sonja will make that Deadlift the lift for the Gold. Once again, our Ladies MI team walked away with the Team award for the 6th straight year. With only 4 lifters in the Ladies M2, they came in 2nd. With some of our best M2 lifters unable to make this trip, this team would have easily made a clean sweep if they were present. Next year will be a different story, as we will be on our home turf. MEN MASTER'S I Day two started off with the Men finally getting their turn to show off on the big stage. In the 132 lb class, we had two lifters in Kevin Jones, and the ever happy traveling man, John Bissen. They were in a tough class, and with this being Kevin,s first IPF Worlds, the nerves were there from the start. Kevin came out strong, taking a silver medal in the squat, and finishing up 5th overall. John made his second IPF World meet, and tried some lifts that were just a little to heavy. to stay in the top running. His 6th place was were he finished, but with John, just being on the team is always a treatfor him and the other lifters around him. Greg Simmons is a lifter that knows what it takes to be the best. All of his lifts are made with PERFECT form, and no lift is wasted. After making the Men's open World team last year, he came back as a Master's lifter and finally got the WORLD Title he has been looking for in the 148 lb class. After his last deadlift, Greg was proud of his Gold after 20 years in the sport. It wasn't easy for him, as Greg and two other lifters all had the same 250 kg squat. Greg got some distance between him and the lifter from France with a silver medal in the benchpress. In 2004, greg made the deadlift he needed to make the open Team, and this year, he made what was needed to win the gold in this lift, and wrap up his first of many more World Championships. Joe Braca was in one of the toughest classes at 165. He didn't have one of his better days, but 4th place was not bad for his first IPF World meet. Don't count this guy out in future World meets, because you will see more of him. After his lifting was done, Joe was always around to give assistance to the other members of Team USA. Ron Garafalo has really EXPLODED on the Powerlifting platform. After sitting down with him during the week at breakfast, he is really a very interesting person. The work he has done in Colorado helping young lifters has been impressive. Well, I can tell you that he practice what he preaches to the kids. Silver medal Squat, silver medal Benchpress, Gold Medal Deadlift, and 2005 IPF 181 lb World Champion. He wasn't finished. At the banquet, Ron also walked away with the OUTSTANDING LIFTER award for the Master's I division. Oh yeah, did I tell you this was his First IPF World meet. Lookout World, this guy has only just begun. The Battle of Battles was conducted in the 198 lb class. Greg Jones, is a lifter that has been to many ADFPA/USAPL National meets over the years. I still cant figure out his lifts. Greg told me, that I wouldn't see a repeat of 2004, where he arrived in India the day before he was scheduled to lift, and the travel really took a toll on him. He was right. This guy has power that is really deceptive, and when given a lift, he slowly moves to the platform and makes 2nd and 3rd attempts that looks easier than his first. Greg started the day with a Gold in the Squat, with a 2.5 kg lead over his main rival, Jon Gunnarsson, of Iceland. Greg lost some ground on the benchpress, as he missed an attempt that he should have gotten, and then it was down to the deadlift. Both lifters made good attempts, and Greg went to 292.5 kgs for his 3rd. Once again, he made this look easier than his first two attempts, and he had much more in him. Jon came back with a 295 kg lift, that was also a classic lift, and beat Greg out on bodyweight. This battle was also mentioned by Alan Fergurson at the awards banquet. Scott Roberts: Gentleman, Team Player, Lifter, Quiet Killer. This is just some of the things you can call this man on the platform. He doesn't talk much, just leaves what he has to say on the platform. I forgot one, 220 lb, IPF MASTER'S WORLD CHAMPION, again. Another lifter that knows his goals, and just goes out there and do them. Scott knew he was coming into a fight, and like a great coach, had scouted his opponents before the meet. After taking a 22.5 kg lead in the squat, he was in auto pilot. He lost a little ground on the benchpress, but the other great benchers wasn't in the squat fight. This gave him the leadway he needed to make a great 290 kg deadlift, and another World title to add to his resume. After watching him lift in the Masters National in Palm Springs, I knew he was back. Scott told me before the meet that he was feeling good, and when Scott feels good, the other lifters are in for a long day. Brian Callahan came back to defend his 2004 242 lb World Title. Last year was a dog fight, and this year was no exception. Brian, was always there during the meet to assist the other lifters, and cheering them on when he wasn't helping. When it was his time to lift, he was a nervous wreck. With no one from the Jersey connection to calm him down, "yes we missed Bill", he was ready for battle. Brian's squat was off a little, but he made up some of the pounds with a 210 kg, silver medal benchpress. Remember, I said Jersey connection, so when it came time for the deadlift, that's where the trouble started. In 2004 Brian had to sweat it out, with two lifters following him and both missing there 3rd attempts for the win. This year, he had to do it again, but they both made the 310 kg pull to beat Brian out. His 3rd place did put us back in the fight for the team title. We had two Big guys in the 275 lb class. Ken Ryder came with his lovely wife Sherree, and when she wasn't on a shopping trip, looking for shoes, she was always a happy glow to be around. I don't know who was more nervous, Ken, who was doing the lifting, or Sherree, who was doing the sweating. Once Ken start to working more on his squats, I see GOLD around his neck. A great 240 kg bench, got him a bronze, and he just missed the last deadlift to give him the Bronze overall. He also picked up the silver in the deadlift, and this was with a sore back. The other big guy was defending Champion Bill Collins from Wyoming. Bill was really off this day, missing lifts that he usually handles easily, and this cost him. A 292.5 deadlift, got him the bronze in this lift, and a 5th place overall, just behind Ken. Deron Rogers is a powerhouse of a man, and has some lifts that are just as powerful. The bad part, he was competing against an unbelievable lift lifter from Norway, in Olav Hulbakviken. Deron wasn't out of the fire, as he was going against some guys who could squat and bench out of this world. Deron stayed in the fight, getting a bronze in the squat and benchpress. How many times have we heard that the meets doeasnt start until the bar his the floor. Well, Deron is "The Man" when it comes to this lift. 335 kg Gold medal deadlift, jumped him from 3rd to Silver in this class. He had lots more, and we will see that World record fall soon with Deron. MEN'S MASTERS II Our firsr lifter in the Master's II, was the always camera flashing Jimmy "K" Kavarnos in the 132 lb class. Yes, Jimmy was another "Newby" on the World Team, and he also gave us some good scares. Jimmy missed his first two benches on some technical errors, and didn't have room to spare on his 3rd. After a good butt scolding from the coaching staff, he came back and made his 3rd. After multi time world champ Hiro Isagawa from Japan missed his benches, this meet was Jimmy's to loose. Jimmy came back and made all three deadlifts, and walked out with his first World Championship. Brendon Rohan is one of those quiet lifters, whos stays with the others in the Squat, and then just sweeps them away in the Bench and deadlift. Brendon was behind by 20 kgs in the squat, but took a 20 kg lead and the gold in the benchpress, and then went on and got a silver in the deadlift for the winning GOLD medal in the 148 lb class With our first two lifters winning gold, we were ready to make this class a good one. We had a long break before we had another lifter in this age group competing, and then the horrors started. We really felt we had a chance at 1st and 2nd in the 220 lb class, but the unfamiliar food of South Africa struck us. Mike Musto, won this class at the Nationals, and was primed for this meet. The night before he was scheduled to lift, he got food poisoning. After going through several IV's, and having Malinda Baum, who is an EMT, and Dr Carllsson looking in on him, we decided to pull him from the contest. This now put the hopes of this class on the always present video recording Floyd Givens. Floyd is one lifter, that he will do whatever you put on the bar for him to win. Now what makes this even better, Floyd had a clean sweep of all the gold medals in this class, and had much more in the deadlift, if it was needed. During the banquet, Floyd also won the 3rd best lifter award for the Masters II division. We had once again 2 "Newbies" in the 242 lb class. What makes the Masters Team so pleasing, is all the family members that travel with the team. This was also the case in Crayton Taylor, and Bill Sindelar. Crayton had his lovely wife with him, and I think Bill brought the entire family from Nebraska with him. Bill's wife makes the best cookies around, and I had to fight some of the team members off of them, so I could have some for me. Both Crayton and Bill didn't have their best days, but gave their best in getting a 5th and 6th place respectively. Bill just came off of surgery from a torn Biceps he received at the Nationals, so expect to here more from him when he fully recovers. Roger Hendrix is one fierce looking, but very nice guy. This guy has power, that we don't know about yet. And once he finds it, expect to see a lot of gold medals around his neck. Roger was assisted by his new wife Lea, who also one strong lady. Many lifters asked if she was lifting, after seeing her get a workout in, and was relieved to find out she wasn't a master's lifter. Roger was competing against a powerlifting legend in Volodymyr Ivanenko of Russia in the 275 lb class. Roger won the silver in the squat and benchpress, and came back and got the gold with a 310 kg deadlift. His 835 kg total was off his mark, But there is more to come from this man. Curtis Wainwright kept the ladies in the restaurant singing new songs every morning, and they wanted him to stay longer after the meet. He was a pleasure to be around with his wife, and there was never a dull moment when he was present. The bad part is,that didn't carry on to his benchpress. Curtis does not to have anyone to lift off for him, since he trains alone, but this time, it took its tool on him, as he was unable to get a successful bench in the finish the meet. MASTER'S III The Master's III class had some "new" and "old faces back for another shot at the team title. "New" guy Robert Sainati, and "Old" guy Dan Goodwin started off the showdown in the 165 lb class. We knew going into this division, we will have a fight for the team title against Japan. The good thing, is that most of their lifters were in the lighter classes, and we had time to make some adjustments. Robert and Dan didn't let us down, as they got a 5th and 6th place finish for us. Once again, Dan is the most Muscular 73 year old guy I have ever seen. We are still trying to tslk him into wearing tighter lifting gear. Dan, a wrestling singlet for all your lifts is not enough. When it came to the 181 lb class, we knew Japan had no more lifters, so this is where the planning for the Team Gold went into effect. Charles Schuller and James Lyons, who is the father-in -law of Kevin Jones were our hopefuls in this class. Charles got a bronze in the squat, and a silver in the deadlift with a 200 kg pull, to jump ahead of James for the Silver Medal. James got a silver in the squat, and a bronze in the deadlift for the bronze overall. These guys needed everything they could get in their lifts, Because only 7.5 kgs separated the 2nd-4th place lifter. They got us much needed points going into this class. Bill Helmich can win any weight class he wants to compete in, weather it be the 220 lbs class as he did this year, or the 242 lb class from 2004. He's just that damn good. This guy can lift with the best, and he is not only the best in this class, but also the World Record holder in the benchpress. His 165 kg BP broke the record, and he then went to show that he can do more than just bench, and won the gold in the deadlift to cap off his overall gold in this class. Expect to see him on the Gold medal stand for many more years to come. Stan Chatis and Bill flipped classes this year, and with this being probably Stan's last full powerlifting meet it was a pleasure to see him go out with a bang. Stan was scheduled to have both knees replaced after the meet, and we wish him a speedy recovery. Also, Stan said to don't count him out yet, because if there is way for him to return, he will be back. Anyone who has had the Honor of knowing and being around Stan, always come back home with nothing but respect for him. Stan, if you don't know it now, add me on to that list. There is not a person on this team, who has more support for the lifters than Stan shows. When he not lifting, he's in the warmup room or in the audience supporting the lifters. We are going to miss you my friend. Oh yeah, Stan also walked away with the Silver in all events, and 2nd place in this class. Will Morris has owned the 275 lb class M3, for the past 4 years. Well he owns it again. Three gold individual medals, one world record, and Gold overall. Enough said. This guy seems to rewrite the World Benchpress record at every World championship. And what a great place to do it at, the World Championships, under the hardest judging. A 556 lb squat is something to be proud of also. Now that he has retired from Law Enforcement, maybe now we will see more records fall. The unbreakable Robert Grisham was back again this year, for another great showing for us. I'm still amazed and I must say, a little scared whenever I see Robert squat. In 2002 Robert couldn't move after arriving in Argentina, and had back surgery after returning to the US. He came back to the worlds in 2004 with a second place finish, and got that silver medal again for us. Harry Heyman finished up our team lifting for us in the 125+ class with a second place finish. Harry also came home with a gold in the squat and deadlift. Once he overcomes some injury problems, that hurts his benchpress, he will also have the gold around his neck. When you get a group of lifters who work this great as a team, its hard to depart from them. I have had the honor of working with some of the GREATEST Masters lifters in the World for the past 6 years, and this years team was by far the hardest working team we have ever assembled. Thanks to the hard work that Gina did it keeping everyone informed, and the great support from Gail at Bastrop Travel, this was an easy long trip. Many things must happen to prepare a tem to make a trip of this distance, and everyone was very supportive of us. The Masters team is the largest of all our World teams, and IMO the easiest to handle. EVERYONE worked together to make this a success. Four World Team Championships, and second place with only 4 lifters. That is the strength of this team, TOGETHERNESS. Thanks to all the lifters, coaches, family members, and friends, who have made this a wonderful journey. JOHNNY A. GRAHAM USAPL Masters Coach   
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Contest Photos
Thanks to Jimmy K, shown below with a few new friends, for all photos on this page.                     |