IWF Junior World Championships Recap
Tokyo, Japan
Written By: Blake Lutz
Juliana Riotto stepped up on the world stage and clean and jerked 114kg. The lift solidified her an eighth place finish at the 2017 IWF Junior World Championships, and ended an unforgettable week for our weightlifting club, Garage Strength.
Riotto celebrates after completing a lift.
Fellow Garage Strength athletes -- Hayley Reichardt, Jake Horst, Jordan Wissinger, and Dale Loch -- teamed up with Riotto to compete for Team USA. "We take tremendous pride in having five world qualifiers," said Garage Strength Coach Dane Miller. To add some context to the feat, Team USA was made up by only 16 weightlifters.
"The accomplishment is truly a testament to the focus and work ethic our athletes embody in their training, while completing our weightlifting program," Miller acknowledged.
Miller's success at the world level is unmatched by any other club throughout the nation. Information on how to be coached by Miller and/or how to join the Garage Strength club can be found here.
Hayley Reichardt, who recently medaled at the 2017 Pan America Championships, kicked off the weekend for our club. She snatched 72 kg and clean and jerked 92kg. Her total of 164 kg placed her 7th in the world; one kilogram behind fellow American Megan Seegert.
Hayley Reichardt clean and jerks 92 kg in her Garage Strength Virus Socks.
Jake Horst continued the action by crushing a PR clean and jerk of 138 kg. Horst paired his PR with a 110 kg snatch for a 248 kg total. The national champion impressed by finishing as the top American in the 62 kg weight class.
Jake Horst flexing on the world stage.
Jordan Wissinger lifted for Garage Strength in the 69kg weight class. He snatched 126kg and clean and jerked 155 kg for a 281 kg total. The total was good enough for a 14th place finish in the world. Fellow American and Earth Fed Muscle athlete CJ Cummings won the weight class to continue his gold streak. However, the victory did not come without pressure as Japan's Miyamoto Masanori set a Japanese national record by snatching 147 kg. The record gave him a 9 kg lead over Cummings going into the clean and jerk.
Earth Fed Cummings responded by making a huge jump to 183 kg to secure the world championship.
In between Garage Strength action, Columbian athlete Yeison Lopez won triple gold in the 77 kg weight class by totaling 356 kg. He capped off his victory with an unorthodox, but confident, celebration.
Dale Loch resumed action for Garage Strength in the 85 kg weight class. He snatched 130kg and clean and jerked 154 kg. Loch's clean and jerk was a personal record, and solidified him as the top American in the weight class.
Dale Loch snatches 130 kg.
Riotto ended the week by pairing her 114 kg clean and jerk with a 92 kg snatch. Her 206 kg total was good enough to join Reichardt as a top ten finisher in the world! Together the two helped lead the USA women's team to a fourth place finish overall. The men's team finished seventh overall.