Two other Braxton teens place
By Shirley Shuman
An upcoming junior at BCHS, Joel Sigman won first place in his division in the recent WV State Championship Strongman Competition held in Morgantown. Sigman earned the championship in his weight class of the team division as a first-time competitor. Hunter Drake, coach of the Braxton Strength Training athletes, commented, “Joel handled business by placing first in every event.” In addition to a first-place trophy, Sigman also brought home an engraved dagger.
Sigman explained that he had never tried to prepare for the Strongman competition until last month. “I’ve watched it on television for years, so I thought ‘Why not?’ I’m pretty strong so I’ll give it a try.” Coach Drake noted that Sigman had come into the weight room when he, Shane Oney, and Shawn Toler had been practicing with the strongman equipment and became interested.
Also earning trophies in the WV State Championship were Kaden Nottingham and Shawn Toler. Nottingham finished second in his division, and Toler, who opted to compete in the Open class, placed fifth. Coach Drake explained that Nottingham had a problem with the first event—a block lift. “Kaden took a no-lift on that,” Drake said, “but he did okay on the other four.”
In the Open class, Toler, 17, competed against adults. Coach Drake said that Toler had competed against the teens last year and won so he decided to move up this year. He finished fifth in that competition, which Coach Drake noted “is significantly [more difficult] than the teen division.”
The four events of a Strongman competition include the block lift, the frame carry, the axel wheel deadlift, and the max stone load. The block lift consists of lifting a heavy steel block. In the frame carry, competitors have a frame and add weights to carry for a maximum distance. The axel wheel deadlift involves an axel with two wheels attached to it. For the max stone load, the competitor must pick up a concrete ball and load it onto a box.
The next Strongman competition which Braxton Strength Training athletes will enter is set for August 10 in Buckhannon, WV. That competition doesn’t have a teen division so Sigman will have to compete against adults, but he still plans to be there. Joel is the son of Doug Sigman of Birch River and Deena Sigman of Sutton.