Tourney set for February 18th in Winthrop, Maine

Troy Ladd has tentatively scheduled a tournament for February 18th at the Pond Town Tavern in Winthrop, Maine. More details to follow.

Mid-December Training Pics from Aroostook

More training pics from up north in Aroostook…..Matt says:
Getting together for our practice up in Aroostook this week were Matt Bouchard (177-198 R+L), Chad Bouchard (199-220, and very soon 198!), Cole Disy (199-220 R+L), Mike Verdecchia (199-220 L),Brian Jones (199-220 R+L), and visitor Justin Quinnones (156), and after a few weeks the camera came along as well! We’ve sparked some interest up north and have had new visitors for the past few weeks and so practices have been growing!

Maine’s Mark Vieira featured on Arm TV homepage

Check out ARM TV… Mark Vieira (Porter) is on the homepage.

Training November 27, 2011

Training at the office in Sanford, with John Cervantes (Acton, ME), Jeff Neal (Gonic, NH), and myself Kurt Howgate (Shapleigh, ME).

Maine’s Mark Vieira at Southeast Pro-Am

On Nov 19th and 20th at the Comfort Inn in Lincolnton, North Carolina. the MLA held the Southeast Pro-Am.  There was a 154lb superclass left and right with a $800 payout (400 per arm).  Congrats to Maine’s Mark Vieira who took 2nd place in the 154-lb mega-class (14-16 entries) and 3rd place in the open tournament following the mega-class.

154 mega class rt

Kris Mikels
Mark Vierra
Mike Shalhoub
Norm Devio

154 mega lt
Jeremy Fraley
Kris Mikels
Lee Culpepper
KENT Buckalew

Challenge Match R and. L Stump Burton over Clint Alwran 2-0

154 Rt
Kris Mikels
Justin Bishop
Mark Vierra
Rick Laton

176
Mike Shalhoub
Josh Bishop
Kevin Hicklin
Tony Bishop

198
James Retarides
Mike Gianelli
Dustin Cook
Chad Lowder

231
Darnel Burris
Paul Walther
Stump Burton
Johnny Edwards

Supers

Dave Marrocco
Robert Miller
Jason Otto
Stump Burton

154 lt
Jeremy Fraley
Kris Mikels
Joe Lagasse
Mark Vierra

176
Todd Immel
Robin Chandler
Bob Gianneli

198
Chad Lowder
Mike Bianchi
Mike Gianneli
George Wolf

231
Paul Walther
Chris Heath
Darnel Burris
Stump Burton

Supers
Dave Marrocco
Robert Miller
Jason Otto

Overall Right Dave Marrocco
Light James Retarides
Heavy Dave Marrocco

Overall Left Paul Walther
Light Jeremy Fraley
Heavy Paul Walther

Men’s Masters
0-198
Jimmy Venero
Jaime Fortenberry

Left Ams
0-165
Danny Mattar

166-198
James Retarides
Troy Tiegs
Jim Rhodes

199+
James Retarides
Clint Alwran
Jason Dorsey

Right Ams
0-165
Danny Mattar

198
Jim Rhodes
Chris Woessner
Greg Dunlin

199+
Clint Alwran
Jason Dorsey

Overall Left James Retarides
Overall Right Clint Alwran

97 entrants from 13 states including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, North Carolina, Idaho, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Maine.

Training Sunday Nov 20, 2011

Sunday training in Sanford with Jeff Neal (NH), Aaron Hawkins (NH), and myself Kurt Howgate (ME).

CT Fall Classic Results & A Few Pics

Even though a massive October snow-storm was on the horizon for that evening, John Cervantes, Mark Vieira, and myself (Kurt Howgate) made the trip to Bristol, CT for the 2011 CT Fall Classic.  Turnout was relatively light but nonetheless there was lots of great matches (pictured above is Ron Ermini vs John Cervantes).  Power in the venue went out during the finals so the end matches were done under flashlight power…so romantic!  LOL.  Full results and some pics below.

12 ANNUAL FALL CLASSIC
ARMWRESTLING CHALLENGE
OCTOBER 29TH 2011

78 Entries 6 States CT-MA-RI-ME-NH-PA

KIDS
1) Samantha Gangi 2nd) Adoria Maxwell 3rd) Mariah Travisano

Men’s Novice Left
0-176
1ST) Danny Cheng 2nd) Doug David

177-up
1st) Mack Allison 2nd) Orin Hubbard 3rd) Jerimiah Dillon

Men’s Novice Right
0-176
1st) Danny Cheng 2nd) Doug David 3rd) Ed Morse

177-198
1st) Orin Hubbard 2nd) Bill Platt 3rd) Danny Cheng

199-up
1st) Mack Allison 2nd) Jeramiah Dillon 3rd) Phil Hought

Men’s Open Left
155-176
1st) Ron Klemba 2nd) Frank Travisano 3rd) Steve Shoemaker

177-198
1st) Ron Ermini 2nd) Frank Travisano 3rd) Jon Brown

199-220
1st) Frank Hirst 2nd) Jim Fitzsimmons 3rd) Bob Paradis

221-242
1st) Kurt Howgate 2nd) Max Maxwell

243-up
1st) Max Maxwell 2nd) Ron Ermini 3rd) Cory Bresnan

Men’s Open Right
155-176
1st) Ron Klemba 2nd) Steve Shoemaker 3rd) Mark Viera

177-198
1st) Ron Ermini 2nd) Mickey Butkus 3rd) John Cervantes

199-220
1st) Frank Hirst 2nd) Jim Fitzsimmons 3rd) Bob Paradis

221-242
1st) Frank Hirst 2nd) Max Maxwell 3rd) Kurt Howgate

243-up
1st) Tim Bresnan 2nd) Frank Hirst 3rd) Max Maxwell

Master’s
0-176
1st) Ron Klemba 2nd) Ed Morse

177-up
1st) Ron Klemba 2nd) Mickey Butkus 3rd) Bob Paradise

Referee’s
Tim Bresnan..Cory Bresnan…Ron Klemba…Josh Stark…
Ron Ermini…Frank Hirst

Training Sunday Oct 16, 2011

Sunday’s training was held at John Cervantes’ house in Acton. In attendance was Mark Vieira (154 L&R), John Cervantes (198 L&R), and myself Kurt Howgate (242 L&R).

First Training Pics From Northern Maine!

Monday I received the latest training pics from Matt Bouchard and the Caribou Maine training crew! Thanks for sending them along…keep them coming when you can. Matt sent the following commentary:
Getting together for our practice up in Aroostook this week were Matt Bouchard (177-198 R+L), Chad Bouchard (220-242 R+L), Cole Disy (199-220 R+L), Mike Verdecchia (199-220 L) and Brian Jones (199-220 R+L) We get together weekly with the same group of guys in Caribou and then proceed to pull until we cannot pull anymore.
The following gallery view is flash-based…sorry not iphone-friendly.

Training Oct 9, 2011 – Back to the office

Finally back to some training… seems like it has been forever!  Sunday at the office, regulars Mark Vieira, Jeff Neal, and I (Kurt Howgate) trained.   Also in attendance from ‘up Maine’ was 154-pounder Chad Richards and 165-pounder Paul Rotondi (sp?).   Mark and Paul had prearranged to have a super-match at the start of practice to see who was the better puller (although are not in the same weight class usually).  Paul is really only known to a few of us Maine pullers, as he hasn’t competed out-of-state much.  Nonetheless, he showed no sign of inexperience, giving Mark more than he likely expected.  After a fighting grip up, the match was started and after getting stuck inside in a hook position, Mark was called for an elbow foul in a neutral position.  Match restarted with another inside/press-type move from Paul, but this time he was called for elbow foul off the front of the pad.  Match restarted a third time with Mark gaining hand control from an outside postition, then with 2-3 hits pinned Paul to the pad.  No more matches after this, with Paul having bad elbow inflammation.   Certainly was a great match-up, one that potentially could go either way depending on the format or tournament brackets.  Paul certainly will be at or near the top of Maine’s 176lb ranking class.  Anyone else out there care to dispute?