2024 July-The Greenville Grab recap- Zach Staniewicz

July 18

Greenville Grab 2024

Placing

Heavy Weight Men >220lb 30mm Grippers 3” Saxon 6” LBH Inch Medley

1^st Jake Fuller 170 230 205 199

2^nd Zach Mullins 145 230 190 207

3^rd Zach Staniewicz 145 235 185 187

Light Weigh Men <220lbs

1^st Matt McCall 145 190 150 162

2^nd Andrew Brogden 115 190 170 149

3^rd Nicholas Johnson 110 180 150 135

Women

1^st Gaby Delaney 50 90 85 99

2^nd Araian Toro 40 80 75 74

3^rd Laura Palmer 40 50 80 70

Events:

30 mm Block Set Grippers

3” x 4” Arm Assassin Strength Shop Saxon Bar Deadlift

6” Little Big Horn Deadlift

2 min Inch Dumbbell Medley, W- 50,75, 100, 125, M-100, 125, 150, 175

This was the first annual Greenville Grab. It was held at the TriFit Barbell in Mauldin, SC. The event was hosted by Zach Staniewicz and Andrew Brogden. We had a total of 25 competitors, 5 women and 20 men. The event was sanctioned by Armlifting USA and Grip Sport International. To see the score sheet, you can view it at Armlifting USA here https://armliftingusa.com/contest-results

This was a very competitive competition, with some amazing lifts. Jake Fuller was the hands down champion of the day by winning the Heavy Weight men’s division, but also won the body weight to strength ration with a 3.58. Jake blew everyone out of the water with a 170 rgc 30 mm block set gripper close on the 1^st event. He maintained his lead by staying in the top of the pact for the remaining events and also won the 6” little big horn deadlift with 205 lbs. He really sealed the deal when he cursed through the inch dumbbell medley and ended up lifting the 175 lb inch bell 7 times. Jake is super strong and humble, a true professional at the sport. The contest also feature his deep dish vintage plates from Fuller Barbell co. The plates added to the classic ambiance to the events that we ran. Please reach out to Jake for a set, they are designed and poured in his home state of South Carolina.

Jake was followed by Zach Mullins who can in 2^nd for the heavy weight men’s. He blew up at the end when he lifted the 175lb inch dumbbell 9 times. Zach was in the top of the pack the whole way and separated himself with the medley. I came in 3^rd for the heavy weight’s. I set pr’s on the 3” saxon and the little big horn. Some other highlights were Hunter Heather 240lb saxon deadlift, which was a pr for him and put him on the leader boards. Another highlight was Nate Powells 265lb saxon bar deadlift, which grabbed everyone’s attention. He attempted 280 but stayed to the floor, but I have a feeling he will get that soon. I developed a new respect for folks that that run competitions and compete at the same time, it is definitely a challenge.

Matt McCall was the winner for the light weight men’s division. He is new to gripsport but performed like a seasoned veteran. Matt purchased a 172 inch bell just a couple weeks ago, and already sent me a video of him deadlifting it, so he is very talented. Matt started the day off with division an excellent 145 30mm gripper close. He stayed in the top of the pack with a 190 saxon, a 150 LBH and lifted the 150lb inch bell 5 times.

Andrew Brogden was at the heels of Matt with 624 points with Matt’s 647 points. Andrew was strong through out the event with a heavy 190 LBH and a 190 saxon. Andrew was also the MC for the event, so for him to perform at this level and host the event with me was no small feat. I would love to see what he could have done as just a competitor. In third for the light weight men was Nicholas Johnson with 575 points. I believe Nick has never competed in grip, and entered the contest because it was at TriFit where he normally trains. Nicks highlight was a 180 saxon and a 150lb LBH lift. Another competitor I want to point out was Luis Ramos who had a 3.57 weight to strength ration who put up some great numbers as a 146 lb lifter. Another wow moment was when novice gripsport athlete Jack Plamer hoisted and locked out the 175 lb inch dumbbell during the medley for 1 rep. This was astonishing as Jack has never trained thick bar before, but hope he continues in the sport.

For the Greenville Grab we had 5 phenomenal women competitors. Gaby Delaney won the division with no real experience with any of the implements. She closed a 50lb 30mm block set gripper, a 90lb saxon bar, a 85 lb LBH and lifted the 75 lb inch bell 13 times. Ariana Toro came in second with 269 points and was at the heels of Gaby the whole day. Laura Palmer came in 3^rd with 240 points right behind Ariana. Laura was a last minute sign up with no prep work and performed very well. I was very encouraged by the competitive spirit of all the women. They were so inspirational that some of the women that were watching as spectators showed interest in competing in the event next year by trying out some of the implements when not in use.

For the competition t shirt we paid homage to the original athletes that paved the way for the events that we hosted. On the front of the shirts top to bottom we had Sorin, Saxon, Jowett, and Inch. Richard Sorin for being the first person to certify on the #3 IronMind Gripper, Arthur Saxon for his mastery of the one hand snatch of a 90lb 3” plank, George Jowett for cleaning a 168lb anvil, and Thomas Inch for his 172lb 2 3/8” globe dumbbell lifts. These are the men that paved the way for the sport, and hope to keep pushing the boundaries of human performance.

I want to thank all of our sponsors for the event. To make a event special it takes a team of support and we were not shy of that. Matt Cannon at Cannon PowerWorks was gracious enough to lend out his set of competition grippers with RGC rating from 30lbs all the way up to 220lbs in 5 lb increments. I have a handful of grippers, but not the whole range that Matt offers with his competition set. This event was not possible without Matt, so thank you Matt.

I want to say another special thank you to Jacob Wright from Some Prix Piercing’s in Greer, SC who donated over $300 to have the metal craft inch lifting figures fabricated. The trophies were of a lifter lifting a inch dumbbell and were ascending in size and coated gold, silver, and bronze for the different places on the podium.

We had a long list of sponsors that donated gift cards to there business for different podium placers and some gift cards just for competing. These prizes are part of the reason that bring people out and motivate people to put the work climb the ranks. These sponsors included Luke at Arm Assassin Strength Shop, IronMind, Andrew at Nemesis Grips, Shaw Strength, TriFit Barbell for hosting the event, Devin at Eat Chalk Get Big, Jake at Fuller Barbell, my equipment co Staniewicz Strength Equipment, Zach at the Grip Show, and Jedd at Diesel Crew. Prizes ranged from $20 gift cards for all competitors, 50% off at Diesel Crew, $50 gift card for top performers, overall there was about $1000 of prizes spread among the competitors. We are very grateful for our sponsors and hope to continue this for next year.

I want to put another special thanks to Mark Kamibayashiyama who is a photographer who just so happened to be at the competition. I believe he was there supporting a friend, but brought his camera with him. He was gracious enough to take some awesome photos and put together a hype video on social media highlighting some awesome moments at the event. We are so grateful for Mark. Thank you

I also want to say thank you to our volunteers Rob, Brent, Mike, and my wife Alexis who filled different roles as plate loaders, excel spread sheet score keepers and judges. These jobs were essential for this event to run well and they killed it. Thank you so much.

This competition conceptualized one day when Andrew Brogden cam over to my home gym. I could see the passion Andrew had for strength sports and grip, so I said to him “we should host a grip competition”, and his face lite up. From that day forward we shared text messages and conversations with what we wanted to bring to the sport. I am grateful to have Andrew as a partner in this project, and look forward to next year’s Greenville Grab.

This years Greenville Grab was better than Andrew and I could have imagine, but have high hopes for next year. I hope to bring in more sponsors and more competitors, but want to keep this event for new folks and seasoned veterans. Andrew and I hope to post a date and list of events this fall for next years event. I hope everyone’s training goes well, and would be honored if you came out and joined our event next year.

-Zach Staniewicz