Silver Spring Maryland was SCN's next destination and debuted at Knox Power Company to a SOLD OUT crowd! The event sold out in a mere 5 days after registrations opened as there was a ton of excitement, not only because this was the first SCN meet in Maryland but because it was an Arnold Qualifier!
The date was set, the athletes trained long and hard to get to this point, and were ready to do battle at the KPC, hosted by meet directors Bruce and Emily Knox! Bruce, as many of you in the Strict Curl world know, is Maryland's ALL-TIME strict curl athlete, holding numerous world titles, records, national and state titles, and now has quite the stable in the Knox Power Team, and is one third of the Curling Avengers, along with John Cooper and Max Zart (two of the top curlers in the world as well) so we were so excited to have Bruce on board with the Strict Curl Nation as our newest meet director!
The athletes arrived early in the morning, hungry to get on the "King of Kings" Strict Curl Platform that is seen on Instagram on Bruce Knox page, one of the coolest looking platforms out there, and were ready to do battle to not only take the top spot in their respective divisions, but also to qualify for the 2022 Strict Curl Nation Arnold Invitational!
Before the curlers competed, they were greeted when they walked in the door with gift bags from KPC and their sponsors, including a limited edition KPC Curl Off meet T-shirt, a Monster Band, a gym drawstring bag, among other items for the lifters! Also up for grabs, was a total of $400 to the best lifters, male and female, both for Wilks and the heaviest curls, upping the ante for all athletes to give it their all!
The meet was nearly perfect in all aspects, from the 100% loader accuracy, to the awesome and professional judges, to the record keeping, announcing, to the social media presence, along with a professional video created which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6JSrlb9rZ4
Congratulations to the best lifters of the day, including newcomer and now strict curl athlete Angela Hoyos and elite strict curl athlete Ray Jones who both put on a show that day, with Angela curling 64 lbs at 113lbs bodyweight, and Ray Jones curling 176 lbs at 193.6 lbs.
Not too far off from the top curlers were Georgianna Orseno (this is the 2nd meet in a row where she's come in 2nd for the top curler award, an incredible feat, we just know she's poised and ready to take the top spot next time) and Antonio Collins who curled the same amount as Ray Jones (176 lbs) but Ray beat him out by Wilks score, we know Antonio is already back on the curl rack training for his next meet, and all four have qualified to compete at The Arnold in 2022.
Also qualifying for the Arnold was elite curler Dottie Sosnicki who had the highest curl of the day at 84 lbs (she also attempted a 4th and got 87 lbs) while Ray and Adam both hit 176 lbs in the curl!
Young athletes were well represented at the meet including elite curler Adam Taylor, a multi sport athlete who is not only a great competitor but one who strives to be, as The Rock says, "the hardest worker in the room" who curled a very impressive 75 lb at 120 lb bodyweight, almost hitting a 3rd attempt of 85 lbs which would have put him in contention for best lifter award that day! Adam will be representing his age group and class at The Arnold as he too qualified with his curl of 75 lbs on his 2nd attempt!
Returning veterans Steve "Massive Power" Orseno and Gary "Easy Peasy" Teeter joined the fray and hit huge numbers, also qualifying for The Arnold, Steve with an impressive 143 lb curl at 158 lb bodyweight and Gary with an equally impressive 115 lb curl at 148 lb bodyweight.
Danny and his brother Pat Clark both did excellent as well, Danny having not curled in a few years, impressed everyone with a 175 lb curl at 213 lb bodyweight, being one of the most impressive lifts of the day and signaling that he is officially back as one of the frontrunners in his class!
We want to thank all of the sponsors of the event, Bruce and Emily Knox for hosting the meet and being our newest meet directors, the judges, spotters and loaders, as well as the friends and family of the lifters, and last but most certainly not least, the athletes who came from near and far to compete at the KPC CURL OFF in Silver Spring Maryland!
The Strict Curl Nation now rolls into Austin Texas in November (13th) sign ups are still available and this one is going to be BIG, as everything is bigger in Texas, including the curls! Also coming in November is The Battle of the North in Connecticut (Nov. 20th)