DANCING FOOL— Lindsay celebrates the biggest USA ever Pages 240 and 243
BRAINUM TEASER Best look-alike ever? Page 242
BODYBUILDING LEG-ACY But did she pick up the check? Pages 244 to 245
Lionel Brown.
home near Los Angeles International Airport? “I’m not sure what show I’ll be doing at this point,” said Deckard, who was obviously thinking about a large stack of pancakes, followed by ice cream, Snickers bars, cheesecake or other goodies that had been banned from his life in recent months. Ditto for Ergas, who was overwhelmed with emotion after being selected to get the second pro card on top of edging Brown in the heavyweights. Like Deckard, Ergas knows far too well how it feels to place in the top five at a pro qualifier but leave the arena with nothing but pats on the back. “It feels so great,” he said, tears of joy flowing down his face. Last November, however, after he narrowly lost his class to Jonathan Rowe at the Nationals, he felt miserable. Miserable enough to seriously contemplate retiring. Close friends talked the 38-year-old out of hanging up his posing trunks, and in Vegas he was thrilled that he’d followed their advice. Adorthus So, Mike, were you worried how things would turn out Cherry. after the judging? “I was worried about everything,” Ergas said. “It was a great class, a great show. In the posedown I just gave it all I had, trying to be as aggressive as possible. You may not be in that situation again.” Brown, another Rambod client and, yes, another L.A.-area guy (Long Beach), was third last year and nearly made things miserable for Ergas once again. In early August it looked as if Ingram would be heading to the North Americans in September and Brown would be going to the Nationals in November. In both cases I predict that if the gents show up in prime-time shape, they’ll earn their ticket to the pros. The state of California dominated the largest USA in history—331 competitors—with this year’s USA class winners pose down for the overall title. Cal champ, Robert Hatch, finishing third in the superheavies, and the top five heavyweights all Alex coming from the state. Another pro-in-waiting, Adorthus Azarian. Cherry of Modesto, placed a single digit behind Brown in the heavyweights and had some folks thinking after the prejudging that he might get a pro card. Alex Azarian of Sunland swept the lightweight class, and Fernando Abaco of Rocklin won top honors in the bantamweight division. I’ve always been an admirer of Randall Chaney’s physique—Flex Wheeler-esque, I’d say—but the Florida ace almost missed out on winning the light-heavyweight crown when the crack expediting team couldn’t locate him as his class was lining up. Fortunately, Chaney was found lounging in the audience. He got his fanny backstage in a hurry, in time to best former Collegiate National champ Peter Putnam (fiancé of pro figure star Jessica Paxson) to firmly establish himself as one of the favorites in whatever pro-qualifying show he does next. The home folks got something to shout about when an impressive Gregory Peoples (naturally, the people’s choice) dominated the middleweight division, while North Carolina’s Perry McRae, who might just hold the record for the most Fernando top-five placings at national events, finally took home the Abaco. bacon in the welterweights. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ NOVEMBER 2006 241
Free download from imbodybuilding.com