USAPL Maine Preview: 2023
Much like traditional sports, the “pre-season”, serves as an intro of things to come for the year of play. Along with this, comes speculation on certain things that carried over from the year prior as well as a bit of hype for certain teams or athletes ready to break out and make a splash.
This article seeks to do just that, although I am not 100% affiliated with every lifter and every team, I would like to think I keep a fine eye on what is going on around me and I hope this has the impact the end of the year awards did, which, spoiler alert, I am making those a reality for our 2022 winners.
So, without further adieu, your 2023 USAPL Maine Preview!
1. USAPL Maine: The Entity
Yes, I believe the biggest storyline going into the year is the chapter itself! In 2022, USA Powerlifting Maine grew in breadth AND depth, meaning as the base of total lifters grew, so did the peak of national level representation. Years such as 2022 are so crucial to longer term growth as it shows individuals from the outside looking in that it is possible to reach heights that we might conceptually deem impossible. Important to note, USA Powerlifting Maine is still one of the smallest subsets of the federation, however, we have to keep in mind that we are also (as of the 2020 Census) the 9th least populated state in the US, meaning any relative increase we have is a win as in terms of absolutes, it just is not reasonable to expect the same level of participation as big states like Texas and California. Overall, I think by years end, you will see the chapter of USA Powerlifting Maine reign supreme as the most important rising story, above all else.
2. Who Will Be USAPL Maine’s Top Male Lifter by Years End?
Andrew Graves, 82.5kg (USAPL ME State Chair) recently competed in Philadelphia, PA putting up a 451 DOTS.
Ely Yang, 90kg, placed 2nd overall in only his second career meet and has been on a warpath since this competition with his training.
Historically speaking, coefficient values have been a poor representation of top talent, as all coefficients are inherently flawed and at least somewhat skewed via the method they are calculated. Furthermore, since 2012, the coefficient recognized by USA Powerlifting has changed from: Wilks to IPF Points to IPF GL Points to DOTS. Yes, it has changed values almost every other year, meaning, the standard of “strong”, has changed along with it. For a tangible example of this, Andrew Graves and I directed our first competition in July of 2021, a meet that used GL points to determine best lifter. The results were as follows for the men’s division:
Zachary Kang, 84.0 GL Points
Seth Hartford, 83.19 GL Points
Billy Brown, 83.15 GL Points
If this meet were to happen in 2023, the following would be the exact same performances, but calculated with DOTS.
Billy Brown, 426 DOTS
Zachary Kang, 409 DOTS
Seth Hartford, 406 DOTS
Moral of the story, we can’t put a ton of stock into these things, however, it is an interesting discussion point.
The following are the top lifters in the raw male division, each year, as well as the coefficient that coincided with the time period.
2013: Adam Lebel, 394 Wilks
2014: Ryan Montague, 384 Wilks
2015: Adam Lebel, 404 Wilks
2016: Jake Ouellette, 449 Wilks
2017: Jon Lavoie, 440 Wilks
2018: Jon Lavoie, 456 Wilks
2019: Nathan Kulas, 683 IPF Points
2020: Jon Lavoie, 97.62 IPF GL Points
2021: Jon Lavoie, 95.69 IPF GL Points
2022: Jon Lavoie, 473 DOTS
Jon Lavoie, 82.5kg, has been Mr. Pine Tree USAPL every year sans one, since 2017, will he continue dominance in the year of 2023?
So as one can see, since 2017, Jon Lavoie has had a strangle hold on the division, regardless of coefficient, with a minor upset in 2019 via Nathan Kulas, a la, Matt Stonie dethroning Joey Chestnut in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2015, only for him to return to dominance in the multiple years afterwards.
No one else got that reference huh, anyway.
Jon has been the guy, and as matter of fact, been the guy for quite some time, sustained excellence if you will.
This year, I think objectively speaking, is the most wide open the field has been in quite some time.
Aside from Jon, who by all means, is still the favorite, and has been killing his training lately, here are some people to watch who all have relative cases for finishing first overall by years end, in no order, or bias.
Andrew Graves, 451 DOTS
Yes our state chair lifts too and he is a damn strong lifter. The #4 ranked male lifter in 2022 and #6 all-time since USAPL Raw lifting was recognized in Maine, Andrew is poised to have a banner year on top of being a phenomenal meet director, extremely active referee, and meet day hander.
Michael Beaupre, 448 DOTS
The #3 ranked lifter in 2022 and #9 all-time, Michael has made substantial progress since his last meet in July of 2022 and is poised to join the 1300lbs total club as a 148lb lifter, a very select territory that only 2% of lifters in the weight class will achieve in their careers.
Ely Yang, 421 DOTS
The #6 ranked lifter in 2022, Ely might be a darkhorse to some, however, he is on pace to make the most progress of any lifter in the state, repping meet PRs for sets of 3-5 these days. Surely, this will manifest in an improvement in ranking, at the very worst.
Evan Downing, 420 DOTS
The #7 ranked lifter in 2022 and by far that year’s most accomplished competitor, Evan has only progressed exponentially since his solidified performance in December of 2022. Although the squat is his lift, he has made considerable progress on the bench press and deadlift to round out a big total.
Erik Hogan, 458 DOTS
The #2 ranked lifter of 2022 and #3 all time, I am not talking about me, but being objective.
Honorable Mention/Darkhorse Picks
Ryan Montague
The owner of a 450 DOTS from 2018 when Wilks was the recognized coefficent, Ryan took a break from USAPL competition and is making his return this year at our state meet, where he was Best Lifter of said meet in 2018.
Michael Pinkham
The #2 all time performance in USAPL Maine history belongs to Mr. Pinkham, set in 2020 in the state of Alaska. Michael has dealt with some injuries but was still strong enough to DOTS in the mid 400s at his comeback meet last January where he was able to secure a podium finish.
3. Will 2023 Maine States Be The Best Meet Maine has ever had?
The 2023 Maine State Championships features the most loaded roster USAPL ME has ever seen.
As a co-meet director of this event, I will admit my bias, however, at least that we know of (there very well could have been an absolute supernova meet in the 1970s that had 3,000 people in an arena, standing room only) this meet features not only the highest prize pool in terms of cash and items, but is by far the deepest field a USAPL Maine meet has ever harnessed.
I have a feeling that all in attendance will at best be blown away from the presentation and at worst, enjoy the day a little bit more than most run of the mill meets that tend to bore the audience. Different strokes for different folks for sure and that is not a knock at “regular” meets, but a state championship should feature a bit more than a regular local, in our opinion.
This meet also features several former state champions on both sides including:
Miranda Derenburger (2018, 2019)
Ryan Montague (2018)
Zachary Kang (2021)
Evan Larsen (2022)
4. Who Will Be the Breakout Performer of 2023?
Logan Allaire, 90kg, had one of the most explosive debuts in recent memory. Who will emerge as the breakout performer of the year in 2023?
Every year, a competitor comes on to the scene and makes a statement, whether it be from a standout lift or for a standout overall performance.
In recent memory, it’s been:
Logan Allaire in 2022, setting an unofficial American record squat in his first meet and becoming one of only 50 total tested 90kg lifters to squat over 500lbs in competition before the age of 18.
Evan Downing in 2021, setting unofficial American record squats at every meet he attended which blended into 2022.
Marielle Opena in 2020, exploding on to the scene with a coefficient performance that still has not been topped to this day.
Nathan Kulas in 2019, finishing the year as USAPL Maine’s #1 lifter and setting several state records and winning USAPL Northeast Regionals.
Emily Grinnell in 2022, winning best lifter in her first meet and finishing the year #3 overall with a single meet performance.
Julia Wells in 2022, competing frequently and improving each time, finishing within the top 10 for 2022 as a teen lifter in the open division.
I think this year, much like the men’s raw division, it is as wide open as it’s ever been. Some people to look out for are the following:
Maurice Romanyshyn, 75kg.
A candidate for 2022 Teen Lifter of the Year, Maurice is an incredible lifter that could very easily rise to the top of the pack this year.
Emma Fortin, 56kg.
Emma made a splash in meet #1, qualifying for collegiate nationals on her final pull of 308lbs and has showed no signs of slowing down since that meet.
Jackson Penland, 110kg.
This young man is squatting over 400lbs at the age of 15, surely he is poised to explode when he matures into his leverages.
Brandon Johnstone, 100kg.
Brandon totaled just under 660kg in his first meet at the age of 22 and has all the making of being a very well-rounded lifter.
Brandon Allen, 140kg.
Brandon has put just under 80lbs on his total in about 5 months and recently has been doubling meet PR third attempts, it would not surprise me if he continues to add 70-80lbs at a time.
Although I am sure there are tons of lifters I am not aware of yet, this list would be a good start for people to watch in the coming year!
I hope you enjoyed the beginning of the year preview and wish everyone nothing but strength and performance execution in this coming year!
To Utopia,
Erik Hogan