Hartnell ‘pulls’ his way to bronze at world showdown

Heading into his first appearance at a world armwrestling championship, Allan Hartnell knew speed and experience would be the keys to victory.
The 19-year-old Rainy River resident already had the speed and power to overtake the top armwrestlers in the world. The experience he gained along the way.
“First it’s speed because it’s so important to get off to a quick start–strength and speed really help you,” Hartnell said from his home Monday night. “But experience is a big thing to get in a lot of matches.”
Despite going up against competitors who had several more years of experience, Hartnell pulled his way to a bronze-medal finish in the 110+ kg right arm division at the world showdown in Thunder Bay last Thursday.
Gleuco Brior of Brazil was tops in that division while Earl Wilson of Canada placed second.
After getting a first-round bye, sending him to the second round of the ‘A’-side, Hartnell quickly dispatched his opponent from Bulgaria but then drew the task of facing Brior, a 6’7” behemoth who easily was the most impressive figure at the worlds.
“The Bulgarian was pretty tall but not that big so I was pretty confident I could beat him,” said Hartnell, who stands at six feet and tips the scales at 301 pounds.
“But the guy from Brazil was huge. I’ve never seen anyone that big before,” he laughed. “It wasn’t even a match.”
Hartnell then lost to Wilson, who hails from the Toronto area, to earn the bronze medal.
Ken Faragher of Fort Frances, the only other participant from Rainy River District competing at the worlds, finished 10th out of 16 in the 100-kg right arm division.
Ron Bath (U.S.), Ebarge Efov Ebergem (Russia), and Sam Cooper (U.S.) were the top three finishers respectively.
Actually, Canada’s armwrestling team had an impressive showing in Thunder Bay, leading the way with 31 medals (seven gold, 15 silver, and nine bronze).
The U.S. won the overall team title with 233 points. Canada was next with 222, followed by Brazil (182).
A total of 284 armwrestlers took part in the three-day event.
Hartnell described his first worlds as a “learning” experience, and credited many of his teammates for sharing advice to better prepare him for his matches.
“They gave me a lot of tips and showed me ways to start off,” said Hartnell, in just his fourth season in competitive armwrestling and first at the national and international level.
“They told me to get a good start and tense up.”
Hartnell placed first in his division at the Northwestern Ontario championships here in February, then finished second at the Canadian showdown in Thunder Bay last month to advance to the worlds.
He now will turn his attention to the Canadian championships next year in New Brunswick and then possibly the 1999 world championships in Japan.
But while he plans to attend the national showdown again, Hartnell wasn’t sure if he could attend the worlds unless he can round up some much-needed sponsorships to cover the travel costs.