2012 IPF Raw Worlds

Since Justin was out rucking his face off last weekend, he asked me put together a synopsis of the 2012 IPF Raw Worlds. This information was compiled from watching videos of the event, various reports, logs, and accounts. I haven’t had a chance to speak to any of the lifters, so if anything is incorrect, just let me know and I’ll edit it. – Jacob Cloud

The first-ever IPF Classic Cup was held this past weekend in Stockholm, Sweden, and it proved to be a thrilling meet for drug-tested, raw powerlifting. Since many 70’s Big readers regularly compete in the American arm of the IPF, the USAPL, this meet is of particular relevance. Perhaps the best part is that one of our own, Matt Nolan, represented us and our country proudly on the biggest stage in raw powerlifting. Since this was an international meet, the international weight classes were used, which is an interesting wrinkle for those of us reading from our American couches. As these classes are relatively new, World Standards were set as baselines and literally dozens were broken this weekend, including a bunch by our favorite ‘Mericans.

If you recall from this post, Nolan had the performance of a lifetime to become the American 100kg champion last August just to get the opportunity to go to Worlds. He decided to cut to the 93kg class, which ended up being a tightly contested race amongst a lot of talented young guys. He opened on the squat at 230kg, an easy weight for him, but was surprised to see red lights for depth. When he saw them again on the second, I can only imagine his frustration at the judging, which was to be complained about by many afterwards (especially the Americans, justifiably). He buried 230kg on his third attempt to stay in the meet, but was already far behind his planned numbers. He shook this off and went 3/3 on bench, hitting 172.5 on his third to stay in the meet, headed into his best lift. His opening dead at 292.5 went up easily, and he had officially totalled. His second attempt, 312.5, was for a new World Record, but he narrowly missed it, and was followed by a Polish lifter who pulled 330kg to break the standard. Another missed attempt at 312.5 for his third, and Nolan finished a very respectable 11th in the world. Not the podium finish he had hoped for, but I think we can all give him high fives and watch him put up some huge numbers in the near future in an attempt to get back to the big stage. I expect to see a 335kg deadlift soon, and look forward to competing with him at Nationals.

Here’s the video of the entire 93kg class. To watch Nolan, fast forward to 193:00, 203:00, 213:00 for squats, 258:00, 268:00, 279:00 for bench, 325:00, 336:00, 349:00 for deads.

The other men’s class that was of particular interest was 120kg, where Mike Tuchscherer was the favorite to win. He had some of the most particular judging I’ve ever seen – getting red lights on all 3 of his squat attempts, and only staying in the meet when his final 315kg squat was overturned by appeal. There was some talk of a hamstring injury, but I don’t have details. He managed to bench well, but ran out of juice on deads (most likely due to the injury), narrowly missing his second and third attempts, and he finished 3rd due to a higher bodyweight than the second place lifter, who shared his 865kg total. In the SHW class (120kg+), Blaine Sumner ignored the tough squat judging (he received red lights on his opener as well), ending up with a 375kg beast of a squat that nobody could catch . His gold medal not only crowned him King of the North, but is a huge accomplishment considering his numbers were well below his PRs, and there’s a lot more to come from this monster. I have a feeling he’ll smash a 1000+ lb raw squat record very soon wearing only a belt and knee sleeves.

Blaine Sumner buries 375kg to appease the judges.

Other notable American Men’s performances: The US 56kg (Eric Kupperstein) and 60kg (Mike Kuhns) champions battled it out in the 59kg class. Eric ended up with the bronze and attained a new WR DL of 252.5kg (that’s 4.3 times his bodyweight, folks), while Mike scored a new WR 225kg squat en route to a 5th place finish. I assume he was injured, since his bench was much lower than anticipated. These guys are a blast to watch, so keep an eye out for them at Nationals. Alex Tertitski also grabbed a Bronze in the 83kg’s, with an amazing 8/9 performance, including a PR bench (162.5kg) and a WR DL of 310kg. It’s worth noting that his third squat was yet another example of an American squat getting red lights for depth, or his total would have been even higher.

Alex’s beastly deadlift. This guy’s an inspiration to us older guys who compete raw.

The American Men finished with a second overall team placing. Considering the extremely difficult situation of flying across the world, making weight in new classes, only to face tough judging, I commend all of these guys on representing us so well. I have a feeling next year, we’ll be pushing for the overall championship over Russia.

American women showed up strong, as expected, and also finished second as a team in the overall points standings (again, to Russia). Sioux-z Hartwig Gary went 9/9 and finished second in the 52kg class, and Amanda Padgett scored a PR total and 5th place in the 57kg’s.

What wasn’t expected was the battle in the 63kg class. Jennifer Thompson, one of the best powerlifters of any class or era, completely dominates the 60kg’s in the US, and has recently benched over 300lbs…raw…at under 132 pounds of bodyweight. Yeah, you read that right. Kimberly Walford has been a force in the 67.5kg class, and most recently won the Pro GNC Deadlift contest at the Arnolds with a 512lb suited conventional pull. Thanks to the international weight standards, these lifters competed head to head as 63s, and the results were epic. FOUR women in the class topped out their squat at 142.5kg, including both Americans. JT created a cushion in her best lift, out-benching Kim 132.5 to 105, leaving it to the deadlifts to decide the champion. It came down to the final pull, where Kim yanked a 220.5kg new world record to edge out JT by half a kilo for the world championship. Amazing.


Kim’s final deadlift to win it all.

Since the only way to qualify for the IPF World Classic as an American lifter is to win your class at USAPL Raw Nationals, I expect to see a lot of you in Killeen, TX the first weekend of August, either lifting or cheering on our country’s best, and certainly supporting our own. Nolan’s going to be there to defend his championship so he can take another crack at Worlds. I will be lifting and coaching a couple other lifters, and Justin will of course be coaching Chris, Mike, and A.C. We can all watch nervously to see if Brent Kim clean and jerks his opening deadlift attempt, and anyone who gets a 390 Wilks (for Men, 340 for Women) can qualify for the 2013 Arnolds (and you know there will be a 70’s Big party there). In addition, Nats are in Texas, so you know there will be beer, BBQ, and 100 degree weather to help us all make weight. It is known.

Full Men’s Results

Full Women’s Results

Videos of all the lifting

Edit: If you intend to lift at the meet and a) would like to be handled by me (where I coach you at the meet, not fondle you) or b) would like to be a part of the 70’s Big team, then comment on the site or shoot me a message. –Justin