Blue Collar Barbell spent this past weekend in York, PA supporting our coach Shawna Mendelson and team member Steve Acquaro!
Shawna Mendelson’s 670lb squat
Shawna Mendelson’s 405lb bench
Shawna Mendelson’s 450lb deadlift
In Shawna’s words:
“The Westside Pro Invitational Powered by Rogue was amazing! Donnie Thompson did an amazing job! Not only with the meet, but also with the amazing hall of fame induction ceremony with Ed Coan and Steve Goggins! So many incredible and unreal lifters. All time records that were smashed. 1005lb bench press by David Hoff was destroyed first time that has ever been done in a full meet that’s after he squatted 1115, then he went and pulled 800 and smoked it got a 2920 total at 278lbs bw. Christian Mello totaled 2500, Jimmie Pacifico Totaled 2500 at 220lbs! Jason Coker benched 900b at 195lbs! Laura Phelps broke the all-time 148lb world record with a 440lb bench, and Rheta West broke the all time world-record squat with a 675lb squat at 148lbs bodyweight! Gracie V scored a pro total of 1200lbs at 148lbs bodyweight! Steve Acky totaled 2300 and totally rocked!! The womens division kicked ass I am blessed to have the opportunity to be on the same platform as these strong chicks!! I want to give a big shout out to my Team Blue Collar Barbell for all of your help, support and coming down, Kellieanne Norman and Trish for making the trip down , Dean Schantz, for coming down Brian King, Christian Mello for your friendship and all of your encouragement. All of the Westside Barbell crew for all of their support and help always! Super job on the wraps Elliot Baum!! John Inzer for being by my side all of these years and for making the best lifting equipment on the planet, and last but not least I would like to thank David Hoff for being the most amazing coach, my best friend, and my very special fav! You go above and beyond I could not do this crazy sport without you!! Xoxoo
My numbers and total are as follows: I squatted 670lbs, benched 405lbs, and pulled 450lbs. Just missing a 440 bench, and a 500 deadlift. Totaled 1525 at 165.7 BW. It’s a pr squat, a pr bench for me in a full meet and a pr total. I took 1st place in the womens heavyweights. I’m happy for now thanks everyone for all of your encouragement, and well wishes!!
Steve Acquaro 940lb squat
Steve Acquaro 630lb bench
Steve Acquaro 730lb deadlift
In Steve’s words:
“So the #westsideProInvitional was an amazing meet! I didn’t get the day I wanted, but in a lot of ways it was more than I could have imagined. I got my opener even though tons went wrong that really threw off my mental game. My second squat I missed 940 but I managed to pull it all together and get it on the 3rd thanks to the legendary knees wraps of Steve lusterino. Got my second attempt 630 bench and just narrowly missed 700, with amazing handoffs of Eric Adolf. Deadlifts felt great and I got 730 real easy and bit off more than I could chew with 775. My misses just made me realize how close I am and I just need to put in more work and I’ll have them at my next meet. Judging, spotting, and loading were all on point and the meet ran smoothly thanks to Donnie Thompson. A big shout out to my coach Shawna Mendelson on her 1525 pr total at 165! Thanks #BCB for cheering on and being around to help me out all day. Thanks to my lovely girl Katelyn for the insane pump up talks leading into the meet and giving me confidence to stand on that platform. For my first all pro meet I’m proud of the day I had. I always said I’d rather be the weakest guy in the room so I can learn and grow more and after seeing some of the amazing feats of mental and physical strength yesterday I definitely learned how much more I need to grow. First step of many. I’ll be back better next year but at least I held my own in the pro circuit.”
