The 2000 Snowman Challenge
by John Beatty
Jan 17, 2000 at T.K.Wendl's, ten men gathered to
compete in the first Snowman Challenge. Five heavy events and some
pretty frosty winds tested these men to the fullest. Bryan
Neese made the trip over to officiate, which was great motivation
for all the competitors.
all photos are thumbnail, click
on the image to see the larger view
Farmer's Carry started the day. The 330lb (yes,
330lbs.)implements held up to the first seven competitors, then one
snapped, forcing a restart with some unwieldy nose heavy training
implements (my old ones). Brian Schoonveld took this event with a
carry of 39'9" (83'5" on his first run). Second was John Beatty at
37'3", then Tom Shields at 31'10", 4th Tony Scrivens 22'9", 5th
Frank Grzesk 7'3", 6th Brian Duncan 6'7". The other competitors were
unable to move the implements.
Then came the Wendl Stone. Just a few pounds shy
of 400 lbs, this was a heavy & tough event. Tom Shields went 295'
for the win. Beatty followed with 278', 3rd Duncan at 138'5", 4th
Kevin Knapp 137'4", 5th Scrivens 137', 6th Schoonveld 130', 7th Tom
Krager 109', 8th 18 year old Nick Hileman 102', 9th Grzesk 73', 10th
the Mighty Staz.
Neese Stones - Brian Duncan let us use his new set
of Neese stones (they're awesome, if you don't have any, get some).
The weights were 238, 252, 285, 335, & 363, going on to a 4'6"
platform. Tom Shields was again victorious getting 3 stones in 20
seconds. Second - Beatty 3 in 24 sec., 3rd Scrivens 2 in 14 sec, 4th
Duncan 2 in 16 sec.,
5th Schoonveld 2 in 25 sec., 6th Krager 1 in 19 sec. The rest were
unable to get the first stone (none of these guys had ever tried a
round stone, which makes a big difference),
although if Kevin Knapp was a bit taller (long running joke that had
to be mentioned),
he'd have got the first one.
Log clean & press - 13" diameter 225 lb log (very
tough) was no challenge to the big pressers. Brian Schoonveld & Tony
Scrivens took 1 & 2. Schoonveld was dominating with
13 reps. Scrivens 2nd with 10. Beatty came in 3rd with 8, 4th Grzesk
with 5, 5th Staz at
3, 6th & 7th tied at 1 - Knapp & Shields.
Car lift & hold - 83 Dodge Colt with a 100 lb
plate in the trunk. John Beatty held on for 83 seconds to take the
top spot. Second was Grzesk at 70 sec., 3rd Scrivens 66 sec., 4th
Knapp 62 sec., 5th Schoonveld 46 sec., 6th Shields 44.6 sec., 7th
Duncan 40.5 sec., 8th Staz 32.5 sec., 9th Krager 19 sec. First timer
Hileman was unable to get the car up,
although for a first try, Nick did a great job on events this tough.
Overall placings - 1st John Beatty with 45 points, 2nd Big Tony
Scrivens with 38, 3rd Tom Shields 37.5, 4th Brian Schoonveld 37, 5th
Frank Grzesk 26.5, 6th Brian Duncan 26, 7th Kevin Knapp 23.5, 8th
Tom Krager 15.5, 9th "the King" Staz 15, 10th Nick Hileman 10.
A short thanks to the guys that helped out and to T.K. Wendl's
for letting us play. Special thanks to Bryan Neese for his time. It
was great to see everybody again.
