April 29, 2000 | Hackensack NJ | Promoter: Bob Bonham

Whenever competitors prepare for a competition, they try to predict the outcome. They analyze everyone they know who will be competing, and rank them. Of course, everyone always starts the ranking with himself, and then works down the list. It is understood in everyone's list, there is a wildcard. There is always the possibility that some competitor, that no one ever heard of, will come from a distant part of the country. He will be in unbelievable condition, and walk away with top honors. In this show, that was Art Atwood.

Art is a 26 year old, 5'11", 235 pound athlete. He stood out as soon as he took the stage, dominating a class with several competitors much taller than he was. His size was riveting. He came in full, thick, and heavy. He was prepared to take on the competition in a class that had no limit in size. Regardless of which angle he was posing in, you couldn't help but be impressed with the size and thickness of each of his muscle groups.

From here, Art needs to watch his size. He may well be at peak mass. If he puts on much more weight, he will run the risk of looking too wide. In order to keep this in check, he needs to closely monitor his obliques, and make sure they do not widen. He should bring up his traps, and come in a little tighter and harder. Art got first place votes from all judges.

Bantamweight

1. Henderson Gordon, NC
2. Jeff Lopez, NJ
3. Gerard Murray, NJ
4. David Wilson, NJ
5. Stephan Johns, NJ
6. Tod Gilligan, OH
7. Marv Blauvelt, IN

Lightweight

1. Mark Ritter, OH
2. Joseph John Justin, NJ
3. Carlo Filippone, NJ
4. Art Suwanrnarute, VA
5. Cephas Bacon, NJ
6. Michael Donnelly, PA

Joseph John Justin is a 28 year old, 5'5", 154 pound youth worker. He says this was his best show ever, and he did look impressive. He was tight and hard. His entire midsection area couldn't look better. He could use some more depth and fullness to his muscles, which probably is the next step in his plan.

Middleweight

1. Tommy Potenza, NJ
2. RJ Dawidiuk, IL
3. Michael Davila, OH
4. Tracy Dorsey, MD
5. Jebby Thibodeaux, LA
6. Lawrence Hau, NJ
7. Vito Sala, NJ
8. Errick Carter, PA
9. John Moreira, NJ
10. Ivan Massillon, NY
11. Jack Guyette, NJ
12. Milton Ward, NC

R J Dawidiuk is a 30 year old, 5'7", 176 pound personal trainer. He came in looking tight and hard. He had full separated quads, and a hard tight abs/obliques area.

Jebby Thibodeaux is a 32 year old, 5'6", 167 pound real estate agent. You're immediately struck by how pleasing his physique is, with everything falling into good balance. His muscle bellies were impressive. His biceps were long and thick. They balanced well with the long full sweep to his quads. His arms have to be his best part. Jebby was excited about getting a trophy at a national level show. He didn't stop smiling backstage, and he enjoyed the whole experience. He's going to continue in the sport, and is now focusing on putting on more size.

Vito Sala possesses good thick muscles which have excellent fullness and shape to them. The first thing that hits you when you see Vito is how his thick traps balance with his full delts and pecs. Vito just needs to come in a little tighter and harder. The muscles may already be where they need to go. The diet needs to be worked on a little so the hardness and separation can show.

Jack Guyette has a good look of thick, full, well shaped muscles. He just needed another week to come in tighter. I think if he times the diet right, he will leap frog in the rankings quite a bit.

Light Heavyweight

1. Marion Benton, SC
2. Ron Thompson, OH
3. William Owens, OH
4. Bobby Waananen, NJ
5. Tom Jimenez, NJ
6. Frank Ferrare, PA
7. Joe Mazzone, OH
8. Brandon Eatman, DC
9. Tim Sweeney, CT
10. Ferdinand Floyd, GA
11. Rich Jacobs, NY

Heavyweight

1. Victor Martinez, NY
2. Kurt Gorman, MA
3. Sergio Allegretti, NJ
4. Wade Fix, PA
5. Clyde Norris, SC
6. Mark Machini, MA
7. George Ferrentino, NY
8. Michael DeFalco, NJ
9. David Coleman, GA

I have seen Wade Fix compete and take his class before. Wade's strength is in his relaxed poses, because of the outstanding balance between the fullness to his muscles, and his symmetry. In his front relaxed pose, starting at the top, his delts, pecs, and triceps all look noticeably full and separated from each other. Moving down, his lats taper to a narrow waist, with enough obliques to show development, without widening his midsection. However, it is not until you move down to his legs that you see Wade's strength. Each of the quad muscles have good size and separate. He has an excellent flair to his quads. It is not the leg development itself that is impressive, but how well it balances with the fullness to his delts, pecs, and triceps area. The flair to the quads is as wide as the delts. With more hardness and density, especially in the upper body, Wade will move up significantly. Wade's ranking by the judges went as high as second place.

Super Heavyweight

1. Art Atwood, WI
2. Richard Holmes, NJ
3. Sean Allen, NJ
4. Jesse Matheson, OH
5. Marty Tribula, NY
6. Tony Brown, MA
7. Roger Hale, VA
8. Bryan Hayworth, TN

1. Carla Salotti, MA
2. Donna Karr, VA
3. Antoinette Norman, OK
4. Mara Silva, NJ
5. Renee Oppedisano, NY
6. Suly Lewis, GA
7. Angela Sales, NJ
8. Stacy DeFalco, NJ
9. Sue Scheppele, DE

1. Lisa Winston, NC
2. Carla Gray, LA
3. Kerry Quinn, MA
4. Tanya Silva, NJ
5. Jill Livoti, NY
6. Danet Seely, NH
7. Deniz Odar, MD
8. Stella Krupinski, VA
9. Doris Reynolds, VA
10. Michele Salamon, PA

1. Beth Roberts, PA
2. Catherine Wilbert, LA
3. Barbara Matheson, OH
4. Michelle Falsetta, NY
5. Edith Lawson-Jackson, MD

Short Class

1. Alti Bautista, NJ
2. April Carpenter, OH
3. Angela Semsch, MO
4. Deanna Payne, MN
5. Penny Johnson, NY

1. Angel Friend, MD
2. Julie Palmer, OH
3. Heather Lackner, PA
4. Yvonne Harper, NJ
5. Doneker King, CO
6. Tracy Korecky, NJ