SPOILER: MHP's Kings of the Bench 4 & Clash of the Titans 3 RESULTS

[Sean Katterle]

MHP's Kings of the Bench IV & Clash of the Titans III
April 10th, 2010
Ronnie Coleman Classic Expo
Bench shirts and deadlift suits were NOT allowed.
Wrist wraps, powerlifting belts, chalk and talc powder were allowed.
Same day weigh-ins (8am and then the actual contest began at 10am)

It looks like we got 26,719 live viewers for the Just In.TV streaming video feed !

Edited replays of the complete contest video will be available on Muscular Development.com very soon. Additional video clips will also be posted on House Of Pain.com's weight lifting BLOG and on YouTube.

We'll also start posting up professional photos in about a week's time.

If you want to watch the competition video without knowing the results beforehand, then do NOT continue reading this news announcement.

For those that want to know the scorecard right now, here's the official results of the competition and the breakdown of who won the prize money and prizes:

Max Raw Deadlift

Light/Middleweight Division (250.9 Pounds & Under)

1st Place Brandon "C4" Cass 800 @ 229 Pounds Bwt $1,000 Cash

2nd Place Scott Smith 675 @ 250.4 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Stefan Oesterle 660 @197.8 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Chip Edalgo 655 @ 242 Pounds Bwt

5th Place DaMon Mayers 645 @ 214 Pounds Bwt

6th Place Jamie McDougal 640 @ 175.8 Pounds Bwt

7th Place Cardell Oliver 620 @ 215 Pounds Bwt

No Lift Brent Gossett


Heavyweight Division (251 Pounds & Over)

1st Place James "Pitbull" Searcy 805 @ 340 Pounds Bwt $1,000 Cash

2nd Place Travis Ortmayer 800 @ 310 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Holger Kuttroff 750 @ 305 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Brian Jones 725 @ 271 Pounds Bwt

5th Place Tino Czeranowski 650 @ 289.2 Pounds Bwt

6th Place Randall Harris 600 @ 341 Pounds Bwt

7th Place Billy Pierce 500 @ 288 Pounds Bwt

600 Pound Deadlift for Reps w/APT Lifting Straps

1st Place James "Pitbull" Searcy 12 Reps @ 340 Pounds Bwt $500 Cash

2nd Place Tino Czeranowski 6 Reps @ 289.2 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place DaMon Mayers 5 Reps @ 214 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Brandon Cass 5 Reps @ 229 Pounds Bwt

Max Raw Bench

Lightweight Division (175.9 & Under Bwt)

1st Place Joe Mazza 450 @ 175.2 Pounds Bwt $1,000 Cash

2nd Place Jamie McDougal 420 @ 175.8 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Eddie Webber 350 @ 167 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Carlos Huerta 300 @ 163 Pounds Bwt

Middleweight Division (176 - 250.9 Pounds Bwt)

1st Place Scott Smith 535 @ 250.4 Pounds Bwt $1,000 Cash

2nd Place Jared Cassidy 525 @ 238 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Chip Edalgo 500 @ 242 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Stefan Oesterle 470 @ 197.8 Pounds Bwt

5th Place Cardell Oliver 380 @ 215 Pounds Bwt

6th Place DaMon Mayers 375 @ 214 Pounds Bwt

7th Place Ricky Lee Durham 360 @ 229 Pounds Bwt


Heavyweight Division (251 Pounds & Over)

1st Place "Big Al" Davis 635 @ 296 Pounds Bwt $1,000 Cash

2nd Place Collin Rhodes 575 @ 295.6 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Brad Johnson 550 @ 255 Pounds Bwt

4th Place AJ Schroeder 550 @ 264 Pounds Bwt

5th Place Holger Kuttroff 550 @ 305 Pounds Bwt

6th Place Tino Czeranowski 415 @ 289.2 Pounds Bwt



Raw Push Pull Total

1st Place Holger Kuttroff 1,300 @ 305 Pounds Bwt $1,200 Nebula Custom Benchpress

2nd Place Scott Smith 1,210 @ 250.4 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Chip Edalgo 1,155 @ 242 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Stefan Oesterle 1,130 @ 197.8 Pounds Bwt

5th Place Tino Czeranowski 1,065 @ 289.2 Pounds Bwt

6th Place Jamie McDougal 1,060 @ 175.8 Pounds Bwt

7th Place DaMon Mayers 1,020 @ 214 Pounds Bwt

8th Place Cardell Oliver 1,000 @ 215 Pounds Bwt



315 Pound Bench for Strict Reps

1st Place Chip "Big Hoot" Edalgo 26 Reps @ 242 Pounds Bwt $250 Cash + $250 House Of Pain.com Gift Certificate + Photo Coverage in a future issue of Planet Muscle Magazine

2nd Place Jared Cassidy 23 Reps @ 238 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place Scott Smith 18 Reps @ 250.4 Pounds Bwt

4th Place Joe Mazza 16 Reps @ 175.2 Pounds Bwt

5th Place Jamie McDougal 11 Reps @ 175.8 Pounds Bwt

6th Place Stefan Oesterle 11 Reps @ 197.8 Pounds Bwt

7th Place Ricky Lee Durham 11 Reps @ 229 Pounds Bwt

7th Place Ed Brown 11 Reps @ 229 Pounds Bwt



405 Pound Bench for Strict Reps

1st Place "Big Al" Davis 19 Reps @ 296 Pounds Bwt $250 Cash + $250 House Of Pain.com Gift Certificate + Photo Coverage in a future issue of Planet Muscle Magazine

2nd Place Collin Rhodes 16 Reps @ 295.6 Pounds Bwt

3rd Place AJ Schroeder 13 Reps @ 264 Pounds Bwt



Official Event Sponsors:

Title Sponsor, MHP (MaxPerformance.com)

House Of Pain Ironwear (HouseOfPain.com)

APT Pro Powerlifting Gear (ProWristStraps.com)

MetroFlex Gym.com

Ivanko Barbell Company (IvankoBarbell.com)

Sorinex Exercise Equipment (Sorinex.com)

Official Media Sponsors:

Muscular Development Magazine

Jeff Everson's Planet Muscle Magazine

Iron Man Magazine

Powerlifting USA

Powerlifting Watch.com

Official Stage Crew:

Kenny Dinolfo (Head Official)

Rick McClung (Official)

Jim Snodgrass (Official)

Josh Winsor (Pro Photographer and Videographer)

Danny Adams (Sound and Lighting)

Brian Dobson (Tradeshow Owner)

Anthony Schlegel (Tradeshow Coordinator)

Levi Van Dyke (Alternate Official and Platform Manager)

Danielle Alexander (Card Girl Manager)

Linda Hodnett (Card Girl)

Jason Reedy (Spotter/Loader)

Gabriel Perez (Spotter/Loader)



Thanks again to The Ronnie Coleman Classic for making us a part of their awesome tradeshow weekend! We look forward to returning to that venue in 2011 for our next professional powerlifting promotion.

Stay Strong,
Sean Katterle
Contest Promoter, Producer, Scorekeeper and Contest Announcer
www.HardcorePowerlifting.com

[rob1992]

wow 405 for 19reps..although he did bench like 635 as well i guess

[fabostrong]

dang....these are some pretty crazy lifts.

[Sean Katterle]

All right, so it's 10:46 in the morning, I'm working on my 2nd cup of coffee (my limit) and I've finally got time to sit down and hammer out a few reflections and recollections on this year's contest weekend. The NW crew who travelled to Texas to make up half of the stage crew was Rick McClung (a lifter from Doyle Kenady's crew who later ran Big Bear's Powerlifting Gym for years and who now owns The Village Nautilus on the Oregon Coast), Kenny Dinolfo (former PSU football player turned personal trainer at Energy in Portland and whose also won a WABDL Jr. Worlds title, the APF FitExpo bench class and who competed at BenchAmerica 3), Levi Van Dyke (APF and IPA bencher and an original Kings of the Bench competitor who's an LMT and personal trainer in Spokane), Josh Winsor (professional photographer whose photos have appeared in Iron Man, Planet Muscle and in Powerlifting USA) and, of course, myself.

Thankfully, our Thursday afternoon/evening flights from the NW to Denver and into Dallas were uneventfull and the skies were great for air travel. In the Dallas Fort Worth airport, we met up with the owner of Lynx fitness grips and straps (a friend of our's from Oregon) and he went with us to the rental car center as his business partner was driving in the following day. This year I'm happy to report that the process of picking up the rental vehicle was smooth and undramatic. Last year the website promised us an SUV for $350, which turned out to be a 4 seater hatchback that required a $300 upgrade to get to the capacity to carry 6 people with luggage.

If you've ever driven in Dallas, you'll know that you often have to take highway exits that occur before your off-freeway destination's even in sight and, if you miss your off ramp, you have to them navigate a series of byways which requires you to drive around a 5-10 mile loop to get back to where you were supposed to turn off. So, even with GPS tracking on Levi's mobile phone, it still took us 45 minutes to drive the 20 minutes to our hotel neighborhood, ha!

The waitress at the Denny's was something else. She smilingly informed us that she was working a 12 hour shift, that she didn't mind being groped by the cooking staff and that she being watched by child protection services because they caught her boyfriend with marijuana in their apartment, which wasn't so bad considering they'd just given up meth a year ago. One of our crew members (who shall remain nameless for his own protection) joked that he'd like to grope her since she was into that (this poor girl was not gonna make the next Sports Illustrated calender.) She replied that she was gonna go outside soon for a smoke! LOL At that point I got him outta there since he'd taken an anxiety medication to get him past his fear of flying and it was obvious he wasn't thinking clearly.

(Part 2 coming up.............)

[Sean Katterle]

After polishing off some greasy Denny's fare we waddled back into the Ford Expedition and rolled over to what was supposed to be our hotel (Microtel in Mesquite.) The parking lot we pulled into was virtually empty and the building was tucked away behind a diner that was alongside a service road which ran alongside the main route. I'd made and pre-paid for our reservations with Hotels.com over a month prior to our actual trip so checking in was supposed to be simply a matter of showing the front desk clerk my I.D. card. The lobby looked like the inside of a check cashing center (plexiglass window with bank teller holes in it and a lock on the door which lead into the entrance lounge.) When we pushed the service buzzer an East Indian couple came out of what looked to be their ground floor apartment. I showed him my ID and, after a moment, he gave it back to me proclaming that I must be in the wrong hotel. When I tried to explain how I'd booked and paid for the rooms, he informed me in broken English that he'd never heard of Hotels.com (which was really weird since that website had multiple customer reviews of this hotel posted.) I went round and round with him for a few minutes and then decided to call Hotels.com's 24 hour customer service line.

This phone number took me to an East Indian call center where the operator had an even stronger accent and who knew even less English than the hotel manager (isn't it great how so many big American companies are outsourcing jobs while our nation's unemployment remains high?) My experience with Hotels.com was nothing short of infuriating. Going through a repeating cycle of questions and apologizes from each operator I was transferred to, I was kept on the phone till 4:30 in the morning while my crew took a nap out in the Expedition. The only thing that kept me entertained was watching a hooker try and bypass the locked lobby door to search for a customer. I finally admitted temporary defeat (had to call my bank to make sure I got my money back) and we drove five miles away from the convention center before we found a hotel that still had rooms available. On a happy note, the front desk manager of this facility (ironically, another East Indian) gave us our first "night" free since the sun was about to come up and I told him what we'd been through.

After getting some much needed sleep we got ready and headed over to The Mesquite Rodeo and Convention Center. As soon as I walked into the building I could tell that this year's expo was going to be the best one yet. They'd added arm wrestling, strongman and dog sled racing to the line-up of events and the number of companies setting up vendor booths had tripled from 2009. The locals working with Brian Dobson were simply top notch. I've been to tradeshows all over the country and only the Arnold Classic rivals the efficiency of this group of individuals. This was the first contest where I've been able to completely focus on setting up the weigh-in, DJ, scoring and trophy tables without ever having to stop to build any part of the stage or warm-up area. So, a huge THANK YOU to A-1 Lighting and Sound, to the Hardcore Powerlifting crew and to all the guys working for Metroflex Gym. All the equipment was properly loaded, all the signage set up for display and all the stage items were cleaned and their metal polished and touched up. This allowed me to leave the contest hall that night completely prepared for the 8am weigh-ins (in the past I've been awake and bleary eyed hours beforehand, rushing to make the deadline.)

(Part 3 coming up.................)

[Sean Katterle]

In the mornings the weigh-ins went smoothly. Only a couple competitors had to head to the fitness room to drop an extra pound so we had the whole line-up ready to go by the planned 9am weighing in wrap up. As the lightweight benchers started warming up, the seats were already beginning to fill up so I got the show started off with a lot of real confidence and enthusiasm.

The battle between Mazza and McDougal was outstanding. Joe had come into the show as our 2006/2007 champion and Jamie was our current title holder. While McDougal opened up with a safe 390, Mazza went right for 430, which was his competitor's winning number from last year. McDougal let the crowd know that he was in range to shoot for the win with his 420 second lift. In the third round, Jamie made a solid run at what could have been a winning 445 (and which would also have tied our federation's record) and Joe Mazza finished off the flight by breaking his own record with an incredible 450 pound press at 175 (don't forget they'd weighed in just 2 hours earlier.) This has to be one of the best pound for pound raw benches ever for the 165 class and above.

Though the middleweight flight had 7 benchers, it was really a three man race between Smith, Cassidy and Edalgo. Scott Smith's experience paid off for him as he made all three attempts and nudged the close competition by 10 and 35 pounds respectfully.

With the heavyweights, the fans knew they were watching the elite compete when 550 pounds was what it took to get 5th place! The best technician of the group had to be Collin Rhodes, who's got the best arch I've ever seen for a lifter weighing over 242 pounds. But Al Davis came with his A game on that day. Earlier this year, at the RUM, Davis had put the heavyweights on notice that he was rested and ready to rumble. Big Al had been frustrated with his 2009 winning performance (a severe head cold had knocked his numbers down from 605 in 2007 to a 565 and he wanted to prove that that decline was only due to his not being in good health.) His 635 winning, record bench was right in line with his 633 push at Eric Talmant's meet. The video will show that he's getting very close to the 650 as well. If he hadn't already taken two heavy singles, he might have been good for it this time around so look for Davis to PR again when he next takes to the stage.

The bench for reps rounds of competition were super charged. The Coleman Classic crowd consisted of as many bodybuilding fans as were powerlifters so this group really appreciated the displays of repetitive power lifts. For the light and middleweight, the benchers with the lowest number of reps were still strong enough to turn heads in any health and fitness club (11 reps with 315.) But the stand outs in my mind were Joe Mazza, who hit 16 reps with 315 @ 175 pounds bodyweight and then Cassidy and Edalgo who rocked 23 and 26 full range reps with the burden! In the heavyweight round, Rhodes set the mark very high by getting 16 reps with 405 pounds, but Davis was on a record breaking roll and he topped his 2007 effort with a count of nineteen! Keep in mind that this guy's 6'4 in height and a lean 296 pounds, so his ROM is considerably more than most in the sport.

(Working on Part 4 later today.................)