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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-10-26, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1988. PAGE 5. Champion wants higher profile What makes Paul Engel pull? BY TOBY RAINEY Cranbrook’s native son Paul Engel is not big, tough, ugly or dumb - so how come he tried out for a part in the 1987 Sylvester Stallone muscle movie, “Over the Top?” Basically, it was because he was then one of Canada’s top arm­ wrestlers, and the movie was done to promote arm-wrestling as a sport. He figured he might have a chance at one of the $5,000 purses up for grabs in the high-profile and much bally-hoo’d promotional event staged for the film at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, where some of the flick's action scenes were shot. It also seemed like a good idea at the time to take a crack at the event’s top prize, a part of the Stallone movie and the ownership papers to the $100,000 truck rig, loaded with another $100,000 worth of accessories, that was the twin of the rig that was the top prize in the movie wrestling match. The event attracted 1,500 competitors from all over the world. Paul finished eighth in his weight class at the Las Vegas bash that day, so had to settle for a brief appearance in a crowd scene in the movie (you have to know where to look to catch him). But the whole thing, he said, was “the thrill of a lifetime, ’ ’ and he did get to see his buddy and fellow-wrestler, Kitch­ ener’s Kevin Kelly, take second place to win a cheque in his weight class, for $1,000. If the “Over the Top’’ Arm- Wrestling World Championships had been staged this past summer, Paul, who now lives and works in Kitchener, mayeasily have won one of the event’s top prizes, along with one of the bit parts in the movie Mr. Stalloneandhiscrew offered to the men’s class winners at the officially-sanctioned compe­ tition. On October 15, just 11 days ago, Paul Engel won the Canadian National Middleweight Arm- Wrestling Championship in Toron­ to, making him the best wrestler in thenationinthe 166-180lb. class, a notch above the division he usually enters, the Lightweight (151-165 lbs.) class. The victory earned him the right to advance to the World Stand-Up Arm-Wrestling Cham­ pionships in Hollywood, California on November 18, where he feels he will have a good shot at a world title. He also hopes to compete at the Sit-Down Arm Wrestling World Championships in Sweden this December. “ I’m a lot more serious about the sport now than I was a couple of years back,’’ he says. “I’ve accomplished all the goals I set for myself this year, and my main goal has always been to, win a world championship.’’ In arm-wrestling, a competitor can choose the division he wants to work in, as long as it is the one at or above his own body weight at the time of the contest. Divisions range all the way from Bantam (135 lbs. and under) to Super Heavyweights (221 lbs. and over) - the number onemaninthesporttoday is the mammoth Cleve Dean, a475 lb. pig farmer from Georgia, whom Kevin Kelly says “can’t be beat.’1’ To some extent, then, competitors can choose their opponents because they like a guy's style, or because they just want to beat a certain individual; and some wrestlers will even compete in their own division as well as the one above them at the same tournaments, Paul says. He adds that he himself has done this, but says it basically defeats any purpose if may have had, since the gruelling workon the way totwo semi-finals does nothing except wear you out, so you don’t do well in either division. “Dieters out there are going to hate me for this,” the 25-year-old says,“ but losing or gaining weight is a breeze for me. Icanlose51bs. in one hour if I have to, to make a weigh-in; and once I lost 22 lbs. in seven days so I could compete in the Flyweight Division at one tournament.’’ At his natural weight of 175 lbs. on a six foot, two inch frame, Paul looks much smaller than one would at first expect. The best and most versatile arm-wrestlers are often deceptive­ ly small, he says, because the strength needed to compete is not in mighty biceps, but in the triceps, the muscle at the back of the upper ar m, in the grip, in the wrists and in the elbow - none of them areas that show the massive muscle develop­ ment that, for instance, a weight- lifter will exhibit. Paul did go through a period earlier in his career when he spent several days a week at a Kitchener gym pumping iron, but when he found that the regime was beginn­ ing to interfere with the rest of his life without doing much for its development as a wrestler, he gave it up. Now all he does to train and keep in shape is to arm-wrestle against other champions, travell­ ing all across southern Ontario to work-out with a man whose technique he admires as he works on his ownform. Inaddition, his regular job - the one that puts bread on the table - is pretty physical, which is a big help. Paul installs aluminum siding fdr one of the largest siding companies in the world; one of his jobs this past summer was to install the siding on the new health clinic at the Seaforth Hospital. How does a guy get into this sport, which most of us think of as something truckers do with their buddies in bars? It just takes determination, the local champion says, plus the will to stick with the Paul Engel poses with a few of the more than 200 trophies and medals he has won over the past few years in arm-wrestling, a sport which he says deserves more recognition. Mr. Engel won a Canadian National Championship in Toronto on October 20, and advances to the World Championships in November. spo.: all the way to the top. Most guys get into it the same way as Paul did - by fooling around with his buddies in Cranbrook and Brussels back in his school days. It wasn’t long before the skinny youth could beat almost anybody he wrestled, including his uncle, John Engel, who had said “the day you beat me you’ll be a man.” When he was 18 or 19 years old, The Brussels Lions Club’s Polar Daze event in February featured an arm-wrestling competition, so naturally Paul entered, easily defeating all comers. At the same time, he was noticed by Blyth’s Paul Gross, who was a professional competitor at the time; Mr. Gross invited the youngster to go with him to an Arm-Wrestling Tourna­ ment in Goderich in a few weeks’ time, and he has never looked back. “It was Paul Gross that got me started, and 1 really owe a lot to him,” the younger wrestler says. The support has come a very long way in only a few short years, Paul says, but it still has a long Way to go. And although it is no longer thought of as just bar-room fun for big guys, he says the movie “Over theTop” didn’tgoasfaras it might have toward promoting arm-wrest­ ling, although aggressive promot­ ers in both Canada and the USA, such as Hamilton’s Gene Tatti, are doing all they can towards raising the game’s profile. Several small towns in Canada, such as Hudson Bay, Saskatche­ wan (population 2405) and Amos, P.Q. (at about 3,000) have used arm-wrestling tournaments to put themselves on the map, raising thousands of dollars locally as prize money to attract top competitors from all over North America every year; and major tournaments held now in many of the world’s largest cities are going a long way toward gaining the sport the recognition it deserves, as one of the few world-class sports nearly every­ body can compete at, if they have enough drive. Lack of sponsorship is the largest obstacle facing arm-wrest­ ling athletes today, Paul says, because the sport just isn’t visible enough yet to attract big-name sponsors such as breweries. Paul himself is urgently in need of sponsorship - he figures it costs him about $10,000 a year to compete, mostly in travel expens­ es, while he may take home $2,500 in prize money “in a good year.” “I’ve missed competitions be­ cause I just can’t afford to go to them, and that’s bad if you’re trying to stay on top,” he says. However, he points out that just a few months ago a Kitchener boxer named Lennox Lewis and his handlers were approaching just about every major business in the Kitchener- Waterloo area, trying to get a sponsorship to send him off to the Seoul Olympics. Finally, Scheulter’s Chevrolet- Oldsmobile in Waterloo decided to take a chance on the super heavyweight - and the rest, as they say, is history. Abortion will be an issue in federal campaign: Clark Continued from page 1 CPH branch formed earlier this month. “We had a nominating commit­ tee, which chose Tom, and it had determined that no other candi­ date was available on such short notice,’’ Mr. Van Den Assem explained. A former dairy farmer near Chesley and now an employee of J & H Fleming Ltd. of Hanover, Mr. Clark ran as the Grey County candidate for the Family Coalition Party in the last provincial election, gathering more than 2,000 votes in just‘over two weeks of campaign­ ing. “With five times as many people (attonight’s nomination meeting) and twice as long to run our campaign, we should be able to get ten times that many (votes) this time,” he joked. Later, he admitted that he doubted if it would be humanly possible to oust federal incumbent Murray Cardiff in the Huron-Bruce riding, but added that “with God, all things are possible.” The CHP claims tobe “Canada’s responsible alternative” for voters who are disenchanted with the mainline parties. It urges a return to “fiscal and moral responsibi­ lity’’ across the nation, and pledges its support to what Mr. Clark called “the battle... between the forces of good and the forces of evil ... being waged in the country today.” “We need a party in Ottawa that will not only rock the boat, but that will sink it entirely if (bureaucrats and politicians) don’t change their tune,” he promised. Party faithful stress that the CHP includes many persons who do not embrace the Christian faith, and that the name of the party comes from the “Christian heri­ tage’’ which is responsible for ‘ * much of what makes this country good,” embodying such values as human rights, respect for life, rule of law and democratic freedoms, concern for the poor and ill, and universal education. Abortion is the biggest issue both in this election and facing the country today, Mr. Clark said, and although his acceptance speech touched on a wide spectrum of issues, he kept returning time and again to the abortion issue, as did the evening’s guest speaker, Sid VanderHeide, president of the Perth-Wellington-Waterloo CHP riding association. “The abortion issue is going to be talked about in Huron-Bruce (during this election),” Mr. Clark said. “Abortion is the ultimate in child abuse.” According to Mr. Clark and Mr. VanderHeide, other issues on the CHP agenda will include: ♦FREETRADE- “FreeTrade is nothing but a smoke screen to keep (people) from talking about the real issues.’ ♦EDUCATION - “Humanism is the religion being taught in our public schools... it’s a religion that says there is no heaven, there is no hell, whate verfeels good, doit. This country needs more Christian high schools." ♦FAMILY LIFE - “Why not raise the baby bonus to help those in need? We want a return to our Christian heritage: the father goes outtowork, the mother stays home and creates a home for her family In conclusion, Mr. Clark told his audience to keep the faith and to Letter from the editor Continued from page 4 may turn out to have relatively peaceful endings (as this one did) but could also end up with you and your friends getting killed. With the background of having watched the Walton situation, it’s harder to make instant judgements in the Windsor case. Whenever someone innocent dies it’s a tragedy, but one can also under­ stand how police under that stress can make such an instant, deadly mistake. work hard to get their message out over the next few weeks. “Don’t sell you rseIves short - this party has a lot of appeal, and we have the power of the holy spirit on our side,” he said. “President Wood­ row Wilson said ‘I’d rather fail in a cause that will some day succeed, than succeed in a cause that will The one thingyou do know for sure is that there has been an alarming number of these situa­ tions where people with guns barricade themselves inside build­ ings. It means that TRU teams are kept busy and that means more stress for the team members and more likelihood of terrible mis­ takes being made. The only real solution would be finding a way to prevent the incidents from beginn­ ing in the first place so lives aren’t put at stake. But there aren’t easy solutions for that either.