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MN USAPL NEWS
Nick Tylutki Jr National Champion 2001 Reported July 14th 2001
Junior Nationals was a blast in 2001! It was held in Lincolnwood, Chicago at the Lincolnwood Radisson on June 23 and 24. Dennis Brady and crew did a great job of running the meet smoothly. Being a poor college student, I traveled with my parents, fiancée, and cousin in a big conversion van. Watching movies on the way down made the 7-hourz` haul seem like a trip to Jackal's. Long, but not too long and well worth it. This trip was very special for me personally because many relatives from the Detroit area, whom I haven't seen for 4 years, were going to meet us and watch me lift for the first time. Anyway, we arrived at the hotel safely on Friday night. The hotel had everything one would need to be more than comfortable including a bar/restaurant, sand volleyball courts, an indoor and outdoor pool, a hot tub (which wasn't very hot), video games, etc.
I had never lifted in a hotel before and had no idea what to expect what the lifting area would be like. It turned out to be a large conference room with plenty of good seats. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling all over the place. I couldn't believe we were going to be banging the weights around in a place as nice as this. The lifting began on Saturday morning with the 114's - 148's. Although I don't have any numbers at this time, some big lifts were made by the 148's particularly. The one that stands out is Clay Grubbs from Ruston, LA. I believe he squatted somewhere close to 480. He also had a nice total, which earned him a spot on the Junior World Team.
In the afternoon on Saturday, I recall Brad Robbins and Noah Divine fighting it out in the 181's. These guys were throwing American records at each other in the squat. Brad would break one then Noah would set a new one. It was awesome to see. I believe Brad won it on his last pull. On Sunday morning, the 198's and the 220's were up. There were 7 competitors in the 198 class, but only 2 were juniors including myself. Matt Goldin, the other junior, had a solid meet. He only went 1/3 in the squats, but after that I don't think he missed a lift. It was a lot of fun to lift against him. He's only 20 years old and he's very close to becoming a very good lifter. Matt totaled around 1600 on the day.
Since there were only 7 lifters, our flight just flew by. I was still catching my breath from my first attempt squat, just dripping sweat, when it was time to start wrapping for attempt 2. I hit a solid 640 first attempt, 655 second, and missed a 666 third. Goldin had a big bench around 385. My weenie bench, which is coming along nicely couldn't quite compete with that. I went 330 easily then 352, which I missed on my second and smoked on my third.
I had a nice lead after the subtotal and all I had to do was pull my opener. Well, I missed itJ I had never done that before! My dad looked at me calmly and said, "You've never done that before." Thanks dad. Of course, Goldin wasn't about to miss another lift so I needed my second to seal it. I smoked a 633 second and a 655 third with plenty left over. I ended up totaling 1665, which was enough for victory.
In the afternoon, the 242's - SHW lifted. One lifter that stood out was Brian Siders (SHW) of West Virginia. This guy squatted 790, benched 602 (opener) for a world record, and deadlifted around 730. This was also very cool to see. Overall this trip was fantastic! There was one heck of a lot of good lifting and I was very glad to be a part of it.
I would like to thank my family (including my fiancéeJ) and friends for all of their support. My dad was a great help. I could not have done it without him. Also, I want to thank Brad Gillingham, Gary Grahn, and all of the guys down at Jackal's Gym for all of their help. I want to thank Sandra Perron for being such a great help with advice and numbers at juniors! I look forward to being coached by her at worlds.
Lastly, I want to thank the USAPL of Minnesota and all of the lifters. We've got a good thing going on here in Minnesota!!