07.27.07
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4th Annual DeFranco's Strongman Contest
Simply put, it was the greatest event in DeFranco’s Training history…
They came from across the globe; They came from England, Canada, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio and just about every other state in the U.S. to witness the baddest high school & college athletes in the world compete against each other. When it was all said and done, the 100+ spectators that lined the length of the Garden State Industrial Park in Wyckoff, NJ witnessed what turned out to be the most exciting DeFranco’s Strongman Contest in history!
It is going to be very difficult for me to do this event justice by just writing an article; you really needed to SEE what happened in order to truly appreciate it! But, I promised the production company that’s filming the documentary about my gym that I wouldn’t reveal any video footage that was taken on days that they were shooting. They obviously covered this event for the documentary so you will have to wait for the documentary to come out before you actually SEE what happened. For now, I will do my best to recap the most competitive, intense day in DeFranco’s Training history!
Here we go…
The Competitors
Due to the large number of athletes that have been participating in our summer program this year, we couldn’t allow all of them to compete because the contest would have taken too long. So during the past 6 weeks, we have had strongman “qualifiers” at my gym. Basically, I, along with my trainers (Jeff Carr & John Impallomeni), sat down every week and “rated” our athletes based upon physical strength, mental toughness & work ethic. Every single week we rated our athletes until we were able to assemble our strongman roster. Having our athletes qualify to compete this year is one of the main reasons that I feel the competition was so exciting! Basically, every kid that competed was a stud!! There were no slouches in this group!
This year also marked the first year that we divided our athletes into 2 divisions – we had a High School Division and a College Division. There were NO weight classes in either division. For those of you that think it’s unfair to not have weight classes, here’s the advice that we gave our smaller athletes… “If you think you’re at a disadvantage because you’re smaller than your competition, you need to work out harder, eat more & get bigger!” Our athletes know better than to complain to us, so the lack of weight classes wasn’t an issue. Plus, our strongman contest is a long, grueling day that requires a lot of endurance (not just strength) so being bigger isn’t always better anyway.
So when it was all said and done, we decided to take our 12 best college athletes and our 12 best high school athletes. These 24 athletes were the “cream of the crop” that would make up the 2007 DeFranco’s Strongman Roster…
But wait! There was one more twist! A week before the contest, I got an email from my good friend and fellow strength coach, Zach Even-Esh. Zach had been checking out my strongman training video clips on YouTube throughout the summer; Zach informed me that he had 3 high school kids that wanted to enter my contest. He said that after watching my videos, a couple of his best kids said that they could definitely hang with the big boys at DeFranco’s! Actually, he said that they didn’t just want to enter the contest; they wanted to WIN the contest! Now, for the past 3 years I have limited my strongman competition to just athletes that train at my gym. I always worried about “outsiders” entering my contest because I felt it was dangerous. After all, there aren’t many gyms throughout the country that train their kids like we do. But, Zach and his crew were definitely one of the few exceptions to the rule. If Zach says his kids are ready, I have to believe him! It was on!! Team Underground was bringing 3 athletes to compete against the best that we had to offer!! As if this contest wasn’t intense enough, we now had more fuel to add to the fire! Our high school athletes were insulted that “outsiders” were coming to our home turf with the intent of taking our legendary Strongman Cup out of my gym and down the Garden State Parkway to the Underground facility. I gotta say that I respected Zach and his athletes…it took a lot of balls to challenge us on our home turf! But, you gotta give us some credit too…we will back down to NO ONE!! It was on!
Point System
Our strongman contest consisted of 4 main events. The winner of each event would receive 1 point, 2nd place would receive 2 points, 3rd place would receive 3 points, etc. Basically, the goal was to get the LEAST amount of points during the course of the contest.
The Events
Event #1
600 lb. tire flip
High School division notes…
Since our parking lot is not level, we decided to let our high school athletes flip the tire in the direction that was slightly downhill. They had to perform 3 flips as fast as possible. Athletes had the option of going twice if they were not happy with their 1st attempt.
Best high school Tire Flip
Brian “Curls” Pascal – 3 flips in 8.90 seconds!
Brian “Curls” Pascal was Team Underground’s “Top Dawg”. This kid was a BEAST! He was not intimidated by the hostile crowd at all. He showed up focused & intense…and he definitely set the tone during this first event! After making the 600 lb. tire look like a Volkswagen tire, there was definitely a buzz in the crowd about “Curls”. This kid absolutely DESTROYED the tire…the only thing he didn’t do after flipping the tire was EAT IT! Simply put, this dude was here to take home the trophy!!
College division notes…
Our college athletes were required to flip the tire 5 times as fast as possible. As if flipping a 600 lb. tire 5X isn’t hard enough, we made our college athletes flip the tire UPHILL! This was brutal, but there were some pretty impressive performances!
Best college Tire Flip
EJ Barthel – 5 flips in 16.62 seconds!
EJ was our #1 ranked college athlete going into the event and he came out STRONG! He made the tire look effortless and he set the tone for the rest of the contest. After destroying the tire on his 1st attempt, he opted to pass on his 2nd attempt. This was a smart move as most of the other competitors opted to perform their 2nd attempt. While everyone else was busting their ass in the heat trying to beat EJ’s time, EJ was resting in the shade – conserving his energy for the rest of the day.
Event #2
50-yard Zig-Zag Farmers Walk
This was the most BRUTAL event of the contest! Four cones were off-set about 8 yards apart from each other. Athletes were required to walk around the cones (without hitting them) and then back to the starting point while holding 6’ long weighted torpedoes. The turns around the cones were extremely sharp and they required an insane amount of balance, strength & conditioning. (If an athlete knocked a cone down it resulted in a 5-second penalty.) Also note that the 2nd half of the farmers walk was performed UPHILL!
High School division notes…
The weight on the torpedoes for the high school kids was set at 172 lbs. each hand!
Best high school Farmers Walk
Brian “Curls” Pascal – 24.16 seconds!
After two events, “Curls” had two 1st Place finishes! At this point, there was a definite buzz throughout the crowd about “Curls”. It was obvious that this kid wasn’t just here to compete; he was here to DESTROY the competition and make a name for himself! After two events, everyone in the crowd, as well as every athlete, knew who “Curls” was!
College division notes…
The weight on the torpedoes for the college athletes was set at 202 lbs. each hand!!
Best college Farmers Walk
Joe Sandberg – 28.84 seconds!
Although Joe was one of the smallest competitors in the contest, he proved why he is the Ivy League’s Pre-season Player of the Year. If Joe carries the football this year as strong as he carried the torpedoes, Ivy League defenses are in for a long season!
Event #3
Log Clean & Press
The Log Clean & Press consisted of “cleaning” the log from your thighs to your chest and then pressing the log overhead. The athletes had to hold the log at full overhead lockout until the judge gave the “down” signal. The athletes had a 1-minute time limit to complete as many reps as possible.
High school division notes…
The weight for high school athletes was set at 102 lbs.
Best high school Log Clean & Press (tie)
Adam Triglia – 23 reps
After taking 4th place in the tire flip and 2nd place in the farmers walk, Adam stepped up big-time by dominating the log!
Mike Piserchia – 23 reps
Mike “White Boy” Piserchia was one of our “surprises” going into this competition. During the course of the summer, Mike made tremendous improvements in size & strength; some people even thought Mike was the favorite to win the entire event! After finishing in the middle of the pack during the 1st two events, Mike needed to win an event badly. After taking 1st place in this event, Mike was right back in the mix going into the final event!
College division notes…
The weight on the log for college athletes was set at 132 lbs.
Best college Log Clean & Press
EJ Barthel – 25 reps
EJ basically threw the log around like a rag doll and dominated the competition in this event! After 3 events, EJ had two 1st Place finishes and a 2nd Place finish. He was looking good going into the final event!
Event #4
50-Yard Backward Sled Drag
This event was simple, yet brutal! After being out in the hot sun for over 2 hours, it was time to separate the men from the boys! The athletes were required to drag the sled 25 yards backwards and then quickly turn around and drag the sled back to the starting position! After this event was completed, we would announce the TOP 3 athletes in each division and they would move onto the finals!
High School division notes…
The sled was loaded with 255 lbs. for high school athletes.
Best high school Sled Drag
Derek King – 18.62 seconds!
Although Derek did not take 1st Place in any of the previous events, he was (quietly) having a great competition. After placing 1st in the sled drag, he cracked into the Top 3 and qualified for the finals!
College division notes…
The sled was loaded with 345 lbs. for the college athletes!
Best College Sled Drag
EJ Barthel – 23.13 seconds!
EJ did not hold anything back during the final event! He ended up taking 1st Place for an unprecedented 3rd time! This gave him an unbelievable 5 points going into the finals! (The next closest athlete had 18 points!) For EJ, the finals would just be a technicality…the trophy was his and the only competition left for the college athletes was for 2nd Place.
THE FINALS!
After 4 events, we took the 3 athletes with the LOWEST points in each division and we had them perform 1 more event. In both high school & college divisions, there were athletes that were separated by only 1 or 2 points so this final event would determine the outcome of the competition!
The final event consisted of a HEAVY ROPE PULL that was attached to a sled for 30 yards! Basically, the athletes had to sit in the tire and then pull a heavy sled towards them as fast as possible. Each athlete only got one try at this event and the event was scored just like the previous 4 events. After this event was completed, we added up the scores and crowned our winners! (The high school athletes pulled a 255 lb. sled & the college athletes pulled a 345 lb. sled.)
***Before I reveal the TOP 3 athletes in each division, I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to them & EVERY other athlete that competed last Saturday! There were definitely no losers on Saturday! All of you guys are truly an inspiration and you all represent what is GOOD with athletics!
Now finally, what you’ve all been waiting for…THE TOP 3!
Let’s start with the College Division…
3rd Place
Jon Dunn – Monmouth University
Jon went into the finals in 3rd place. He ended up taking 3rd in this event and 3rd in the entire competition. Jon only started training with us 3 weeks before this competition, but his body responded quickly to the strongman training! Jon is extremely athletic for a 300-pounder and adding strongman training to his routine this year made him even more dangerous. Keep an eye out for Jon & the Monmouth University football team this year…we expect them to do some BIG things!
2nd Place
Luis Altamiranda – Stony Brook University
Luis took 2nd place in this event and 2nd Place overall in the competition. For those of you that follow my website, you are well aware of the progress that Luis has made training with us this summer. This kid has packed on almost 20 lbs. of muscle, he has broken our trap bar deadlift record 3X and he destroyed our box squat record…and he’s only going into his sophomore season! With 3 more years of training under our tutelage, the sky is the limit for this kid!!
1st Place
EJ Barthel – University of Massachusetts
No surprise here…EJ was ahead of the competition by so many points that he didn’t even have to perform this event. But, not only did he perform the event, he WON it…AGAIN! I guess he wanted to get an extra pump in his biceps & forearms for his trip down the Jersey Shore!
2007 DeFranco’s Strongest College Athlete
EJ Barthel
Here’s what happened during the high school finals…
3rd Place
Derek King – Ramapo H.S.
Derek entered the finals in 3rd place. He ended up placing 3rd in the Heavy Rope Pull which put him in 3rd Place overall for the competition. Derek had a great off-season of training and it showed in this competition. He will be following in the footsteps of DeFranco’s Training legend, Miles Austin, as he reports to Monmouth University for football camp next week. (Hopefully Big Jon Dunn will take it easy on the frosh during camp!)
2nd Place
Adam Triglia – St. Joe’s (Montvale) H.S.
This is where things got interesting…Adam went into the finals in 1st Place by 1 point. Simply put, if Adam would have won this event, the competition would have been over and he would have taken home the Strongman Cup. But, although Adam completed the rope pull in an impressive 14.09 seconds, “Curls” wasn’t about to go home without a fight…
1st Place
Brian “Curls” Pascal – Edison H.S.
Just when everyone thought that the competition couldn’t get any more exciting, “Curls” performed the heavy rope pull in an amazing 13.22 seconds to take 1st Place in the final event! This meant that Adam Triglia & Brian Pascal were TIED after 5 grueling events! After 3 hours of intense competition in the brutal heat, we were going to sudden-death overtime!!!
OVERTIME!
Overtime consisted of a Prowler sprint…WINNER TAKE ALL! We loaded the Prowler with 140 lbs. and each athlete had to sprint 30 yards (while holding the low handles) & then immediately grab the poles and sprint 30 yards back to the starting line. This would be the ultimate test of strength, stamina, speed – but most of all, MENTAL TOUGHNESS! The atmosphere was absolutely electric!
Here’s what happened…
“Curls” was able to block out the hostile crowd and he exploded with the Prowler and completed his run in an impressive 19.19 seconds!
Would Adam Triglia be able to find the necessary energy to keep the Strongman Cup at DeFranco’s???
I gotta admit, I LOVE competition, but I actually felt bad for Adam; the pressure on this kid was INSANE!! Over 100 people were watching…he was DEAD tired…everyone was in his face screaming at him to “keep the Strongman Cup at DeFranco’s”… and as if that wasn’t enough pressure, there was a documentary camera crew in his face recording his every move which will be seen throughout the WORLD in a couple of months! They say that “big-time athletes step up in big-time games”; this was a big-time “game”. Could Adam put together a big-time performance?
The start of an epic Prowler push…
Adam gets a little help from some friends!!
The Strongman Cup is staying at DeFranco’s!!!
Adam completed his Prowler run in 18.41 seconds to win the Strongman Cup!
2007 DeFranco’s Strongest High School Athlete!
Adam Triglia – St. Joe’s (Montvale) High School
That just may be the most well-deserved trophy ever held by an athlete!
Once again, I want to congratulate every single athlete that competed in this event. The intensity, competitiveness and good sportsmanship that was displayed was truly a sight to see. You guys are, without question, the “best of the best” and any coach would be honored to have any of you on their team!
Joe D.
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