All week people have been asking me, "Who are the favorites for the North America?" to which I responded, "Ask me Friday night and I might have a clue."
WARNING: the phonetically challenged can see the PRE-JUDGING WRAP-UP VIDEO HERE with video highlights from the stage.
As the clock strikes midnight here in Cleveland, following pre-judging (part 1) of the IFBB North American Championships, I got my clue as to who the winner might be. His name? Shawn Rhoden (SEE PICS HERE). After a seven year self-imposed break from the sport, Rhoden came back bigger, harder, and all-around better. Rhoden sported a tiny waist, wide shoulders, and flaring quads complemented by crisp conditioning. He dominated the heavyweight class and looks to be well on his way to an overall victory and the accompanying IFBB Pro Card. With this guy's shape, if he can add 10-20lbs of muscle, he can be a real solid IFBB Pro.
The next story of the night came early in the show as the welterweights took the stage. To be perfectly honest, I don't expect much interesting from a show until the middleweights take the stage, but tonight I was in for a surprise. Welterweights Victor Prisk and Shelby Starnes went pose for pose in a battle of size and shape versus grainy conditioning. Victor has great lines, nice muscle bellies, and got harder with each pose. Shelby brought freaky conditioning that wasn't matched anywhere on the stage. The lines on his glutes were Palumbo-esq. In the end, I have to give it up to Prisk; he did his homework and brought enough conditioning to hang in with Shelby and then edge him out with size and shape.
The welterweights were followed by the oddity of the night: Only 3 middleweights! Usually a strong class at any National show, tonight it was not to be as the better competitors drifted downwards to the aforementioned welterweight class.
The show picked up speed with the Light-Heavyweight class, which was deep but had no immediate standout. As they hit the stage, Miguel Neil looked sharp. Great condition to go along with a tiny waist put him at the top. But the judges correctly saw that there were more quality competitors to be judged. As time passed, Miguel faded a bit, while Benjamin Muniz gained steam. Muniz got harder as he posed and his thick, dense, muscle put him at the top of my list.
Last but not least, the superheavyweight class took the stage with a strong and competitive group. I was very surprised at the depth of the first callout; each of the five guys had great conditioning that we don't always see from the big guys. I can't really pick an obvious standout; the battle was close between Abbas Khatami, Todd Jewell, Keith Williams, and Chad LaCount. Each had his own strengths: Khatami's conditioning and density; Jewell was imposing and extremely well-conditioned; Williams had the thickest muscle; and LaCount was ripped to shreds. I also need to acknowledge Brian Yerskey, likely fifth in the class, for stepping up his condition and bringing his best package in what has been a long season (he started with the Jr Nationals, headed to the USA's, and ended here in Cleveland).
There is a lot to still be decided (tomorrow) and it's all going to get sorted out at 5pm EST on Saturday August 29th. Check out RxMuscle.com for the LIVE play-by-play, photos, paparazzi, and interviews with all the winners. In the meantime, check out all the pre-judging photos HERE and get ready for the results.
