Thursday March 28th, 2024 5:56AM

IronDawgs finish strong in Finland, win medals at world championships

By staff
TAMPERE, Finland -- The Georgia IronDawgs mined plenty of gold at the GPA World Powerlifting Championships in Tampere, Finland, over the weekend.

Five different IronDawgs claimed championships, as R. Garry Glenn, L.B. Baker, Svetlana Baker, Russ Tripp and Dana Tripp each won gold medals. IronDawgs member Tyler Cummings also earned silver at the meet, each competing for Team USA.

Team USA also picked titles through Ernesto Milan of Houston, Texas, and Lucila McMahon of Galveston, Texas.

The 76-year-old L.B. Baker, of Bogart, who also serves as president of the IronDawgs, won his class in full-power in the master's men's 75-79-year-old, 90 kilogram (kg) / 198.41-pound class with a total of 380 kgs or about 837.75 pounds.

He was joined on the winner's podium by Svetlana Baker, who took gold in the master's women's 55-59-year-old, 52 kg / 114.64-pound weight class with her total of 254 kg /559.97 pounds in the three lifts of squat, bench press and deadlift. Baker also set a world record for her age and weight class with a bench of 51.5 kg / 113.54 pounds, which she raised to 52.5 kg / 115.74 pounds on a fourth lift.

Cummings, meanwhile, engaged in a spirited back-and-forth battle of 22-year-olds in the junior men's 110 kg / 242.51-pound weight class with Teemu Tulonen of the host country. Cummings, who played football for North Forsyth, had to settle for silver when he was edged out by 5 kgs, or a little over 11 pounds, on the last lift of the deadlift for the evening. Cummings totaled 772.5 kgs -- just over 1,703 pounds -- to Tulonen's 777.5 kgs.

Cummings took a long-shot gamble that Tulonen would miss his last deadlift of 310 kg /683.43 pounds when he opted to go for 300 kgs or about 661.38 pounds on his last lift -- instead of going for 305 kgs / 672.4 pounds for a tie in the total and a win by virtue of lesser body weight. He said 300 was about all he had left, plus he really thought Tulonen could have done more.

"I think he only did five (kilos) more to be nice, basically, " he said with a laugh.

Although he was hurt by a miss on his last bench press attempt, Cummings said the 1,703 was a personal best by 20 pounds.

The Irondawgs opened the meet Thursday with three golds when the husband and wife team of Russ and Dana Tripp of Lawrenceville set World Records and IronDawg bench division team captain R.Garry Glenn of Oakwood all won their respective divisions. The IronDawgs, a local weightlifting team, is headquartered at Iron Beast Barbell gym in Gainesville.
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