2nd Annual Sonny Comly Memorial Meet Recap
How I did last weekend at Nittany Barbell!
Meet day has came and went, and I am happy to report I did not bomb out! It didn’t go exactly how I thought it would, but I came out with the total I wanted for the day.
Squat
Honestly, squats were an absolute dogfight. I opened with 730 and got it on my first attempt. I then took 785 on my second and missed in the hole. Then for my third, I got it but jumped the call. However, I went back and watched the video then saw the squats that passed right after mine and asked to appeal it to the jury. In the IPA, the director can overturn a call. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask- the worst they could say is no- and to my surprise they did overturn it.
The main reason I asked is because when I asked the judges why it got called high and was told that it looked in there, but my handler only got to a 2 count. I then thought “so do I need to get deeper or work on my sales pitch?” No shade to the judges- but I wanted to see if I could get that one in there because I felt it was no different than other squats I saw get passed.
I was pretty miserable all through squats. I really had to piss the whole time, I was also mad I missed on my second and had to actually take a third. Also, I was very confused as despite my gear getting on super easily; my legs were purple after my opener. It was a weird time.
Bench
Thankfully this went much better. I opened with 635 and got it, took 675 on my second and got that as well. Both felt pretty easy despite not moving super fast.
For my third I swung for 705. It would’ve been a 5lb PR (675 was a 25lb full meet PR already, but I thought it was in the cards) and I knew to do it I ought to get a little more collar involved like I did when I benched 700 at the VIP Spring Classic. I accidentally gave myself a bit too much shirt and almost dumped it on the way down, then saved it, but smoked myself and couldn’t press very far. Oh well- know to not go as crazy with the shirt next time!
Deadlift
For the first time in my equipped career, I went 3/3 on deads. I opened with 545, then pulled 605 on my second. Both moved alright. 605 got me to. 2065 total which was a 15lb PR. However, I really wanted 2090 to take the number 2 junior spot and number 38 in open. For this, I would need to pull a 30lb PR.
I called for 630. I just told myself I wasn’t going to let go until I either ripped a hand, blew something, or finished. I got absolutely stopped at the knees but just fought that bar until I eventually, slowly and unevenly, locked the bar out. I didn’t technically ramp/hitch, but boy was it ugly. Who cares, I finished the rep and got it on the books for 2090.
I was blown away that I managed to fight my way to a 30lb PR here as deadlifts sucked all training cycle being bottlenecked by trying to make hook grip work. I had to go back to over/under at the very last minute so I wouldn’t bomb, and despite my overall pull not being as technically sound, the infallibility of my over/under made up for it on meet day.
This was a short and fast prep. I didn’t really have the time to do a lot of the things I normally do going into a full meet. I only got one real squat wave in, and was only in my shirt twice. However, this was the last meet I could get to that would make sense to do between now and a meet I plan to do in the fall. For a “tune up” meet, I didn’t do half bad!
I must extend the greatest thanks to my main training partner Zach Santangelo for coming out to handle me through squat and bench, and my girlfriend for being there all day and getting me through deads.
Chicken Salad vs. Everybody
On to the next one!