Category Archives: Chair’s Corner

New Co-Chair in 2021

In the month of March we typically look forward to spring which represents bouncing, start of something new, new beginnings, progress, blossoming of new things, birth, new life and business. The USA Powerlifting Wisconsin team is excited to announce our newest team member, Jordan Whipple as co-chair.   Jordan and Tonya, current state chair, are working together to maintain our awesome competition structure for the members, current and future.  Please enjoy learning a bit more about Jordan . 

Jordan has been a USA Powerlifting member and athlete since 2012 and like so many in our state, she started in the Wisconsin High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA).  In 2018 she became a certified USA Powerlifting official and has been very active at numerous competitions in all of the various duties, including meet director of the 2019 WHSPA State Championship 500+ athlete sanctioned USA Powerlifting competition spanning five platforms and 2.5 days. In her role as the meet director she has worked closely with not only Tonya but many coaches and volunteers from all across the state and saw first-hand just how much of an impact the powerlifting community has on so many people across the state. She loves being able to introduce new lifters to USA Powerlifting and wants to continue to work and build the USA Powerlifting community here in Wisconsin and beyond.

To quote Jordan ‘I have fallen in love with the opportunities and community USA Powerlifting has introduced me to and want to share that passion with others. I look forward to the co-chair role, working with Tonya and to learn more about the organization and also to give back at a higher level to a sport that has given me so much.’

Please welcome Jordan as the new co-chair of USA Powerlifting Wisconsin.

Fall cardio – leaf raking…

Fall cardio – leaf raking…
It’s nearly the end of November and the end of this year!

  • USA Powerlifting WI Collegiate State Championship is this Saturday on the UW-Milwaukee campus and is proudly hosted by the UW-Milwaukee Powerlifting Team.  Very proud of the team to propose adding this competition to the USA Powerlifting WI State Championship Series.
    • USA Powerlifting WI State Championship Series is comprised of Collegiate State, Open & Masters State and Wisconsin High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA) State.  No other state or association can boast of such an offering.
  • December has another two sanctioned competitions on the 16th.  Yes, two on the same day in different areas of the state.  Awesome.
  • Kimmy Johnson and Quintin Meyer were both representing WI on the USA Powerlifting team at the ’17 IPF World Open Powerlifting Championships.  Quintin took third place in his weight class and Kimmy took fifth place.  Amazing equipped Wisconsin lifters and it was fantastic to watch them on live stream. Congratulations to both on their accomplishments!
  • 2018 USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open & Masters Championship is January 20th in Racine and proudly hosted by the Horlick HS Powerlifting Team.  I am working with them as the meet director.
    • There are 20 slots left in the Senior State session and 16 remaining in the Rookie State session.  I wouldn’t hesitate any longer on registering.
  • State records were updated yesterday.  Have you been watching those numbers?!
  • The ’18 USA Powerlifting High School National Championship is in Appleton, WI this coming March.  Myself, Joe Lewis of Neenah, and Dennis Smits of Combined Locks, are the three co-directors for the host, the WHSPA and we have been working on the planning of this nearly four-day competition for several months already.  Let me know if you want to help out in some capacity whether it be brain-power, braun-power, monetarily or some other idea you may have.  550-600 teenagers from around the country, raw and equipped, right here in Wisconsin – again.
  • Working with several parties to add meets to the USA Powerlifting Wisconsin calendar for Feb., April, May, July, August, September.  The Badger Open is June 9th with Joe Lewis as the meet director.

Lots of information here – as usual – love it!
Tonya L.
USA Powerlifting Wisconsin state chair
USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open & Masters Championship meet director
IPF Category II official
Wisconsin High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA) voting member
Your biggest fan

From the Chair: Age is relative

‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.’ – George Bernard Shaw

These four Wisconsin master lifters are making their way home from the IPF masters world championships held this past week in Estonia. Clearly their age isn’t keeping them from having a great competition experience representing USA Powerlifting at any level.  Congratulations to all four! Welcome back to Wisconsin.

  • Rob Keyes, Pleasant Prairie took gold in the 120+kg M2 division.  Squat 275 kg, bench 232.5 kg, dead 287.5 kg, total 795 kg. His Monster Garage workout crew is very proud of his achievements on the Estonia platform.
  • Jason Johnson, Racine took silver in the 105kg M1 division (40-49 years old). He squatted 292.5kg, benched 235kg, and pulled 290kg for a 817.5kg total.
  • Joni Mach, Necedah took 6th place in the 63 kg M2 division (50-59 years old). Squat 147.5, bench 72.5 kg, dead 140 kg for a 360 total.
  • Robert Crawford, Whitefish Bay took 4th place in the 120+kg M3 division (60-69 years old).  Squat 185 kg, bench 185 kg, dead 185 kg, for a 555 kg total.

*Definition of the Masters age category: from 1 January in the calendar year the lifter reaches 40 years old. There are divisions within for 40-49 (I), 50-59 (II), 60-69 (III), 70 and up.

‘Pop-up’ meet – the USA Powerlifting Wolf PUP is Saturday November 5th in Winneconne, WI. Register here.  Great little meet for the 1st timer or someone wants to know their PRs on platform or try out a new piece of gear or get a big workout in one day.  Sign up now.  This is a fund raiser for the Winneconne High School powerlifting team.

The USA Powerlifting raw nationals in Atlanta is only four days away.  30+ lifters and referees will be representing Wisconsin during this four day, five platform, 2-3 session per day event.  Here is the competition schedule and roster.

UW-Milwaukee now has a collegiate powerlifting team as of this past Wednesday thanks to the efforts of current students Bobby Teel and Lauren Lent.  We look forward to seeing UWM team members on the WI platforms and beyond – yet this year.

All the best in training and health,
Kat K. and Tonya L.
USA Powerlifting co-state chairs – Wisconsin

Mid-August Update

Greetings!

Second annual Wolf Open is next Saturday in Winneconne. 60 competitors on two platforms.  Early thank you to Ron Burmeister and the Winneconne HS powerlifting team for hosting.

Take a look at the schedule for our state:

  • 2016 USA Powerlifting Pure Fitness Open September 24, Mequon – registration full
  • USA Powerlifting Western Wisconsin Open October 29, Hudson– registration full
  • USA Powerlifting Blizzard Classic December 10, Necedah – registration to open soon
  • 2016 Winter Pure Fitness Open December 17 Mequon – registration opening Oct. 9th
  • 2017 USA Powerlifting Wisconsin State Open January 28, Greenfield (Milwaukee) – – registration opening Oct. 23rd

The 14th Annual IPF/NAPF North American Regional Powerlifting Championships will be starting soon – August 14-19, 2016 in St. Croix, US Virgin Island. WI members competing: Erik Kasabuske 93 kg open class equipped, Remington Trewyn sub-jr 63 kg raw/classic, Rebecka Cook juniors 84+ kg raw/classic, Kat Kasabuske 57 kg equipped, Brittany Rabe 72 kg equipped, Carlie Walker 84+ kg equipped, Dakota Irek 84+ kg equipped, Jordan Whipple 57 kg junior equipped, Lacey Winters 84 kg junior equipped, Joni Mach Women Masters II / 50+ Equipped – 63 kg  My apologies if a name was missed – wasn’t intentional.

The NAPF sub-junior / junior coaching team is led by Joe Lewis of Neenah and two of the assistant coaches are also Wisconsinites, Dennis Smits and Steve Zahn.  Good luck to all!
Time Schedule

Live stream links:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

I am happy to share even more great news with you. As of September 1, 2016, Wisconsin will have a co-chair for the first time in all the years of being an established state within the ADFPA / USA Powerlifting association. This role will be filled by Katherine (Kat) Kasabuske, a competitive and active member since 2006. Kat’s enthusiasm, energy, experience and interest along with a fair amount of notoriety in the country will be most welcome as a ‘colleague’ / co-chair here in Wisconsin. Please welcome Kat to this new role. I am certainly excited about this latest growth aspect within Wisconsin.

Tonya L.
USA Powerlifting co-state chair – Wisconsin
IPF Category II official
Wisconsin High School Powerlifting Association
Your biggest PL fan!

Wisconsin Strong!

At the end of June, Classic (Raw) World Championship national team members from Wisconsin returned home with gold medals:

  • In the Open 83 kgs class, current college student John Haack with a 813 kgs world record total!
  • Recent high school graduate, Stephanie Rattunde in the 43 kg class.  She returns to the platform at the upcoming IPF Sub-Junior / Junior World Equipped Championships in Szyczyrk, Poland in less than five weeks.
  • Andy Askow had a 116 kg lead over the second place competitor in the 120+ kg juniors weight class!

The Wisconsin High School Powerlifting Association (WHSPA) Raw State Championships this past Saturday was the first for the association.  Fifty-eight competitors competed and despite the heat, there were so many smiles and raw records broken.  WHSPA is the first in the entire country to offer equipped and raw state championships as sanctioned USA Powerliftng competitions.  We should be proud of our 20+ years of providing drug-free powerlifting to so many teens in the state and with the inclusion of raw competition, even more can compete with their peers on the platform.  ***I approved 87 state level records today for this competition alone!***

The 920 Open held in the Green Bay area by meet directors Scott Lade, Matt Gunville and Eric Destache was a fun, smooth-running raw competition.  Could not have asked for a better crew and setup to work with.  The competitors had a great experience on the platform.  We may see another announcement from 920 CF to host another.  Fingers crossed.

We have received our 14th sanction approval for the 2016 calendar year with the Necedah Blizzard Classic on December 10th with teen, open and master categories.  Working to add two more, at min, to the schedule before year-end.  You are asking for more and working hard to deliver.

Another competition opportunity is the USA Powerlifting Mid-West & Central Region Championships in Columbus, OH November 5 & 6. So far, Wisconsin has the highest number of registrations.  Link for more information.

The registrations for the Sept. Pure Fitness & October’s Western Wisconsin Open are both closed as they are full.  Will make the rosters available as soon as possible.  Watch for posts on the USA Powerlifting Wisconsin Facebook page.

There are many WI members training for either the NAPF Regional Championships in mid-August in St. Croix or the IPF Sub-Junior / Junior World Championships the first week of September in Poland.  Serious summer days!

One final note: You can find all recent USA Powerlifting results and records on the database.

Keep cool, be healthy and get out into the sun!  Please excuse the grammatical errors as I am hurrying to get outside myself.

Tonya L.
USA Powerlifting state chair Wisconsin
IPF Category II official
WHSPA voting member
Your biggest fan!