2009 Battle at the Barn I
January 24, 2009

L to R : Andrew, Chase, Derek, Brett and Johnny

A good day for a Battle at the Barn
By Brian Radewitz
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

“It was a grueling contest for all the athletes, but they came to compete and it was a good test of mental and physical strength for the competitors,” said Lake. “It was an exciting and wild event for the spectators.”

The event kicked off with the Max Axle which forces each participant to lift a two-inch thick axle from the ground, over their head. Additional weight will be added and contestants will get three attempts to reach their maximum weight.

The lightweights, which weigh under 200 pounds, started out with Chase Wiley hitting a 240 in the max axle for the win. Andrew Babcock and Rob Agnoli tied for second in the lift with 220.

“It was a real fight for dominance in the next division (231) with Jeff Holt, Andrew Czaczkowski and Cory Clark all pressing 300,” stated Lake.

With all three competitors tied, Matt Keller suggested there be a tie breaker with 310. Clark was the one to successfully complete the lift, winning the event.

In the 265’s, Johnny Wasiczko and Mike Beyers put up 280 pounds on the Axle press. Despite the amazing displays of strength from Beyers and Wasiczko, it was Kevin Cronin who rocked the max axle by hitting 310 on his second attempt for the win. “He wasn’t satisfied with that so he finished with a huge 325,” said Lake.

In the heavyweight opens (over 265) Bud Schweder also finished with 290 on the axle, placing third in the event. Brett Sommerville took second with 320 and Justin Czapliki walked away with the win as he put up a 330 clean and press.

American Strongman Corp. Professional Strongman Derek Poundstone got the crowd going by warming up with some double overhand axle clean and presses of 300 and 330, then hit 365 for three full clean and presses. He then went up to 400, cleaning it once and hitting a triple to show the crowd how he placed second in the 2008 World’s Strongest Man Competition.

With one event down, next up was the Pipe Carry. The Pipe Carry is set up with two pipes welded together to form a small letter “t”. The first pipe weighs 250 pounds and the competitor must carry it 60 feet. He then must grab a 300-pound pipe and carry it back 60 feet to the starting spot.

Wiley again led the lightweight division by being the only competitor to successfully complete the course.

It was a tight race in the 231’s with the three fastest times within two seconds of each other. Czaczkowski, Nick Horowski and Cory Eger finished in the top three while the top seven finishers all crossed the line within six seconds of each other.

The 265’s were flying with the pipes as Wasiczko edged outs Cronin for the win. In the heavies it was Shane Romano, Sommerville and first time competitor Chris Poulopoulos who moved the fastest through the course with the pipes.

Next up was the Giant Tire Flip. Participants are required to flip six tires over a specified distance. The tires start at 565 pounds and reach a staggering 1,000-plus pounds.

All three of the lightweight athletes got stuck on the fifth tire but it was Babcock who flipped the fourth tire the fastest for the win.

Numerous fast times were put up in the 231’s, up to the fifth tire, led by Czaczkowski, Engles and Craig Pfisterer, but all were stopped by the sixth tire.

In the 265’s the top three had good times up to the fifth tire as well but Cronin, Beyers and Wasiczk couldn’t quite get it over.

In the heavy class there were also fast times to the fifth tire. “Romano, Sommerville and Schweder came very close to flipping the sixth tire, but it was not going to be flipped today,” said Lake.

Moving on, participants took to the Keg Carry and Sled Drag where each carry a keg filled with sand and weighs around 230 pounds along a course and then place it in a sled. They must then pull the sled back along the same path to the finish line.

Lightweight Agnoli was the closest to finishing the sled drag, running out of time two inches shy of the finish line for the event win.

In the 231’s Czaczkowski narrowly edged out Holt, followed by Eger. In the 265’s it was tight throughout the class with Wasiczko leading the way, followed by Beyers and Cronin.

The Heavies saw even closer action as Czaplicki clocked in first followed by Sommerville and Schweder.

With just one event to go, the aspiring Strongmen faced the daunting Atlas Stones. Atlas Stones are seven huge rounded boulders that weigh 230-405 pounds. The stones are placed at the bottom of high platforms and each participant must grab each stone, starting with the smallest, and place it atop the platform. The athlete which does it the fastest wins.

The lightweight placing was determined by who loaded the 250 pound stone the fastest which was Wiley.

In the 231’s the top three participants loaded the fifth stone which weighed 330. Pfisterer managed to complete the task at hand fastest for the win closely followed by Holt and Clark.

Only one competitor in the 265’s loaded the last of the seven stone series, which max out at 405. With a half second to spare, Wasiczko completed the Stones for the win, followed by Cronin and Beyers.

In the heavies Sommerville set a blistering pace loading the first six stones in 24 seconds but burned himself out in the process. Sommerville couldn’t get the last one on the platform, but it was enough for an event win followed by Schweder and Czaplicki.

With three event wins Wiley took first in the lightweight class followed by Agnoli and Babcock.

The 231 class was stacked with 12 competitors, but with three event wins it was Czaczkowski who came out on top. Holt took second place and Engles nailed third, edging out Pfisterer by a half point.

In the 265’s Wasiczko grabbed three event wins, taking first while Cronin had a solid performance, placing second. Master Beyers came in third for the day.

In the heavies it was “Mr. Consistency”, Sommerville, who left with the title after posting four second place finishes and one top spot finish. Czaplicki came in second and Schweder, a master, was in third.

When all was said and done the event took five hours which, according to Lake, is relatively quick for a Strongman competition.

“It was great to have a professional American Strongman Corporation athlete, Derek Poundstone out to support the show. He got the crowd going with some huge axle presses and after the show he signed autographs and took pictures with fans,” said Lake.

The top two competitors in each of the four weight classes are now qualified to compete at North American Strongman National Championships held in the fall.

“It was a heavy competition and there were some outstanding performances. The eight guys that qualified for Nationals definitely earned it at this show,” Lake added.

Lake has already started planning another event which he hopes to hold around the same time next year.

“By next year I hope to have some local competitors. If anyone is interested in training for strongman they can contact me at cyberlake1@aim.com, we usually train on Saturday mornings,” said Lake.

“My thanks to the helpers that loaded and reset the implements, Brian, Ant, Zack and Mike, the girls that sold the food and shirts, Jessica and Kay, Hank the grill master, Lou and Little G for keeping time and score on the events. Thanks to Tammy who tallied up the scores, Joe Farino for helping get the event going in the morning and also loaning me some of the equipment to use. Matt Keller for helping judge/score/run the events and help both me and Tammy figure out the scoring. Thank you Loni Jo for helping me put on this show, Aunt Patty for doing the flyers, brochures, sponsor mailings and everything else. Everybody else that helped the day of the show and leading up to the show, the sponsors that donated money or product for the show, Derek Poundstone, American Strongman Corp. HW Pro for coming out to support the show and bringing MHP product for prizes, and last but not least thanks to the competitors who came out and made this show and helped me to introduce the sport of Strongman to Coxsackie,” stated Lake.

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