L.A.W.C set to host arm wrestling provincials

By Lethbridge Herald on May 26, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Arm Wrestling Club is set to host the 2023 Provincial Arm Wrestling  Championships today for the first time in the club’s history.

“So the whole club got together (and) did some fundraising, and everything and … able to put on this awesome event at the Sandman in the Alberta Room,” said Mike Schaaf, L.A.W.C member.

L.A.W.C will host approximately 300 to 400 arm wrestlers from across the province.

“The sport in the last few years has just come and skyrocketed and everybody’s interested,” said Schaaf.

“We were able to find a new clubhouse and everybody who is involved heard we had the opportunity.  We were like really we could have everybody in the province come here and it meant the world to us. So everybody’s been busting their butt to make this happen.”

There will be world-level arm wrestlers at the championship.

“(We) ourselves have a club member that’s No. 4 (Dustin Houghton) in the world right now,” said Schaaf.

“He’s (a) nationally ranked champion (and) provincial champion. We’ve got a couple of provincial champions in our club. Our coach (and) our founder, Len Houghton, he’s (a) three, four-time world champion. He’s got countless world medals (and) podium finishes. I think he stopped counting how many Canadian titles he has. It’s a pretty big deal to everybody. Everybody trains all year for this event.”

Schaaf thinks there are about 10 clubs from across the province that are coming, as well as individual arm wrestlers.

“Like Red Deer and Edmonton, they’ve got some monster clubs with some monster pullers, and there’s some big dudes and some world champions in their own right,” said Schaaf.

“And there’s some guys that are hiding up in Hinton too that nobody really gets to hear from, unless there’s a local tournament ,that are coming down. And it’s just going to be a who’s who I think in Alberta in arm wrestling who’s going to be there.”

There will be four youth classes categories, five Open classes, three Grand Masters and Masters categories, three ladies classes and the super heavy weight 242 and 243 plus classes.

“I think we’re going to podium in every weight class for sure I think,” said Schaaf.

Schaaf hopes with the provincial competition that it will get L.A.W.C more members.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Schaaf.

“This’ll be the first time that Lethbridge has been able to host an event of this calibre.  And I just can’t say enough about the team and how everybody banded together to make it happen.”

Competition will begin at noon today at the Sandman Hotel on Mayor Magrath Drive.

Top wrestlers will vie for the Canadian championships out in Cape Breton through this tournament.