Patrow lifts way to top spot at Minnesota meet

Dean Patrow continued his onslaught in the world of powerlifting last Saturday, nailing personal bests in two of three categories en route to being named best lifter at a competition in Kelliher, Mn.
Patrow, a native of Fort Frances, lifted 730 pounds in the squat, crushing his previous personal best of 700 pounds. In the deadlift, he lifted 600 pounds (topping his previous best by five pounds).
He also bench-pressed 410 pounds–just five pounds shy of his top mark of 415–to finish with a 1,740-pound total, easily the best in the field of 25 lifters (mostly from Minnesota).
“It was a pretty good meet,” said Patrow, who went into the competition nursing a pair of injuries.
Dave Mitchell, also from here, had a strong meet, too. He had a 570-pound squat, 290-pound bench-press, and 550-pound deadlift for a 1,410-pound total.
But he did have the best deadlift there under the “Wilkes Formula,” which takes into consideration a person’s weight when determining the top lifter in each category.
Mitchell also finished the competition with a .946 percentage, just behind Patrow’s .961 total.
And Mitchell faced an injury problem, too, hurting his back on his very first lift due to what he said were some “inexperienced” spotters.
Meanwhile, Patrow, who weighed in at 332 pounds, admitted a shoulder and knee injury may have prevented him from lifting even more as he chose to lift “light” by his standards.
“I had hurt my shoulder before and I had strained my knee so going in I was wondering how that would affect my lifting,” he said. “I opened light with 675 [in the squats] and it felt really good, then I went to 710 and then 730.
“The last two I think I could have gone higher but I wanted to make it rather than miss it,” he reasoned.
But Patrow, who won a national title at the Canadian Drug Free Powerlifting championships in Moose Jaw, Sask. last month, didn’t miss many Saturday, nailing eight of nine possible lifts.
His only miss was an attempt at 420 pounds in the bench-press.
And while Mitchell put up some pretty decent numbers, he also felt he could have–and should have–done better in Kelliher. Still, he will use that meet to gauge where he’s at when competing at the Canadian Powerlifting Consul championships in Calgary in two weeks.
He hopes his injury won’t affect him at the nationals.
“My best total is 1,480 and I finished with 1,410 [in Kelliher],” said Mitchell, a former world competitor. “But this should give me the numbers for Calgary. I want to be in the top two there. I really want to get back in the gym but my back’s hurt.
“But I’ll do good. I always do good,” he stressed.
If he does well enough on the national level, Mitchell is hoping for a trip to the worlds, which also will be held in Calgary (in November).
As for Patrow, he will continue to train at the Sportsplex here for the World Drug Free Championships in Omaha, Neb. in August.
In other news, local lifter Shane Bell also went to Kelliher to compete in his first-ever meet, finishing with a 330-pound squat, a 190-pound bench-press, and a 370-pound deadlift.
He had nailed a 390-pound deadlift but it was nullified when he was called for an illegal lift when he had stepped forward.
“[Shane] did very well but he could have lifted more,” observed Patrow. “But for his first time, we wanted to be conservative.”