Bencher of the Decade

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I'm a heavy so I'm a little prejudice there! Both Ryan Kennelly and Scot Mendelson are awesome. But I give the edge to Scot because of the fact that he has both the top raw press and formerly top shirted press (still 3rd best) and now the top 275 press ever.

Kennelly. If the judges at Scot's meet were at Kennelly's meet, the all time WR would be 1100 right now. Hands down, Kennelly owns this all the way.

Joe Mazza should really be on this list:

BenchAmerica on Fox Sports Net (double ply and untested) he won the 165s, beating Lance Kirchner, Joe Luther, August Clark Jr. and Erwin Chang

BenchAmerica 3 on Comcast Sports Net (single ply and tested) he won the 165s, beating Ray Hickman, Wade Hooper, Erieck Nickson, Jon Mouzon and Mark Richmond

MHP's Kings of the Bench I (Olympia Expo) Mazza tied for 1st place against Joe Luther with a 420 @ 165 raw bench. At that competition he also proved his conditioning by hitting 225 x 29 reps AFTER warming up and taking 3 max bench attempts.

MHP's Kings of the Bench II (Olympia Expo) Mazza got 1st place in the 175s, raw benching 445 @ 175 and beating Ray Hickman, Joe Luther and Chase Martin

Plus he placed in the Top 3 at multiple WPO Arnold Classic benchpress championships and he's got the multi ply and untested biggest shirt bench of all time for his weight class.

For the benchers weighing over 200 pounds I gotta go with Mendelson (715 raw bench at SHW), Kennelly (for consistently being at the top of the multi ply shirt game thru the denims and new age polys and hitting a 600 pound raw opener to prove his legitimacy), Laslo Mezharos for raw benching 661 @ 275 (breaking Arcidi's 20+ year record) and Jeremy Hoornstra for his 615 @ 240 all time raw bench record (breaking MacDonald's marker.)

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Rychlak, first to 900, first to a 1000. He broke down the door and very few have walked through since!

I nominate Rychlak for the Osama Bench Laden Award:

1) Did a lot of saber rattling but hid from the American and Eastern European superpowers when the challenge was answered.

2) Conducted multiple low budget interviews where he spent most of his time complaining about the controlling powers and individuals in his world.

3) Has a minor but vocal group of partially illiterate and uneducated followers.

4) Also looks like he lives in a cave, shack or bomb shelter.

5) Was partially/fully funded but had his funding taken away due to lack of ethics, popularity and credibility.

6) Proclaimed leader of a world organization that really only holds power in a few states and regions.

I HAVE SEEN DONALD ROBBINS WEIGH 178 AND DO RAW LIFTS 495 FOR 3 AND 405 FOR 13 AND 225 FOR 34. HE HAD WON THE ARNOLD CLASSIC IN 2001 WITH ONLY 540 BUT HE GOT VERY LITTLE OUT OF HIS SHIRT

Dennis Cieri. Nobody could beat him at raw 198's. I saw him do reps with 405 and Singles with 500 like it was nothing.

I nominate Juan Laija.

Kennet Sandvik. IPF bench champ four or five times in a row.

Scot currently holds two raw bench press records 308 and Shw and the latter being the all time world record. He has held and broke multiple gear world record's threw the decade. To me being totally unbiased he is the best Raw bencher of the decade and arguably the best gear lifter. This is a no brainer!!!!!!!! Best Bencher of the Decade is Mendelson.

Kenneth Sandvik all the way.

Why isn´t Sweden´s Marcus Hirvonen on that list? He is the only IPF bencher that has held IPF bench world records in two different weightclasses at the same time both as junior and open lifter.

Meszaros best lifts have been beaten by Hirvonen in both the 242 and the 275 lbs class and still Meszaros is on the list but not Hirvonen? Also Hirvonen has hit the best IPF bench by wilks formula ever, with a 771@266.

It was an oversight. He is there now.

FREDRIK SMULTER ?????

Meszaros did 660 raw @ 275, an all-time world record. Harvonen has no all-time record. Hes on the list now anyway.

Mike Womack?

Rychlak is a great. He has accomplished a lot and you are trying to take it a way from him. Not to mention all he has done with his health issues.

I would have to go with Jesse Kellum.
He was kicking ass in 2000 in the WPO/APF.
He is still kicking ass 2009 RAW and GEARED.
At the top of the game EVERY YEAR for the
last 10 years.

How many times did he win the Arnold?
Fit Expo? Bench for Cash? Raw meets?

IMO

Are you sure about that?

Its called a benchpress.

1st, I'm just joking around.

2nd, I'd never make fun of Rychlak's health problems.

3rd, He was one of the best things to ever happen to the classic/raw lifting movement. When guys like Rychlak and (even more so) Meeker match #s with Kennelly and Mendelson, the gym world goes "It's gotta be the shirt" which inspires more people to keep da lifting old school and more legit.

def think that Mazza, Hornstra, and Winters should be up there. Mazzas got all his records, Hornstra broke a 30 year old record and got the lb for lb, think is over 675 or 700 now? WInters is over 700, just not in a meet. My thoughts.

Rychlak was the first to 900 and 1000

Last champion of the last legit wpo bench bash 876 which took Kennelly 3 years to beat.

Held the all time from 2003 till 2008 then all the bull shit 1000"s have passed. Gene's first 1000 was paused and locked out none are even close.

Seanzilla your hate for gene is unreal do you really believe he can get 500 pounds out of a bench shirt, and not press 600 raw.

Gene gives back to the sport and lifters what are the rest inputs.

WHO"S SANDVICK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

Sandvik is 5 times Ipf world champ. And former world record holder.

where donnie thompson's bench on this? he holds the all time full meet bench at 910.

Apparently theres a massive campaign on some finnish fan forum to vote for Sandvick, thats why hes winning.

Hardly ever heard of the guy until now :/

If a full meet press were to be included it likely would be Shawn Frankls.

That says more about you than anything else.

People here always cry foul whenever a non-american lifter gets a lot of votes. It was the same way when Hirvonen was voted Bencher Of The Year.

Sandvik is a popular lifter, not only in Finland but in Sweden as well. For good reason too, the guy's got a very big list of achievements.

In IPF SHW division:

5 times IPF World Champion
6 times Finnish Champion
2 times European Champion
8 world records
23 european records

I think all of those are during this decade, so they're relevant.

Now quit bitching, if he wins he's worth it. Not to diss Kennelly though, he'd be a worthy winner as well. May the best man win!

All are great candidates and well deserving. One of the most consistant and reliable benchers, especially in competition is Brad Klinger.Besides all the state and national titles won you've got to be impressed that since 2001 he has won eight(8)IPF master bench world championships and holds the world record in his division.Granted the weight is not that of some of the other great lifters here but the consitancy at which he lifts well deserves to be considered.

first to bench 4X bodyweight. the only reason he doesn't dominate this list is BECAUSE he is full power.

Frankl smokes 550 before he put his shirt on, EVERYTIME he shirts up... Not to mention he's done 870 in a full meet.

How is this even a comparison here, guys?

I'd say that Kenneth Sandvik has one of the best looking lifts out there. No hand off, fast and smooth and he is all time drug free...

Have a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUKooJUcFXc

Just a clear statement of fact here- Gene Rychlak is the BENCHER of the decade by far. His lifts of 900 and everything over are clean and theres no doubt. No other lifters have even come close to hitting these numbers with the authority and control that he does. No disrespect to anyone else nominated, most of them are true greats. Going waay back in case anyone forgot Gene was the first to hit 800 as well but got screwed out of that lift after the fact. Gene is also a first class individual and demonstrates it constantly. In a sport where there are fugazis Gene stands out as a true legit lifter and person.

Becca Swanson, biotches !

personally i agree that frankl is the better bencher of the two, but i can see where others might feel differently, it's certainly not the open and shut case you make it out to be. the two aren't on an equal playing field. cieri lifts to a much tighter standard than frankl and he has to pass a drug test. not hating on him, i'm juiced to the gills and don't lift in the usapl, butt facts are facts.

It say's the Best Bencher of the Decade. It could be just the way I interpret it but to be the best Bencher you must be great Raw and Shirted. So if someone is just raw or just shirted I don't see how that can compare to someone who excels in both. Maybe there should have been a separate Raw and Gear category. I respect Raw bench records more so I lean towards Raw records but I am sure a lot of people on here hold Gear records in higher regard. So the true Question should be who is the best Gear and Raw bencher of the Decade.

I think Hoornstra should be there, Meszaros is there with a 617 at 275 and he hit 615 at 242. I know Meszaros has done more but so has Hoornstra, 675 I believe is on his dvd?

I'm a heavyweight so I'm gonna chime in and say there are 2 guys on the benchpress
Big Gene Rychlak first man to bench 900 & 1000
and
Mr. Scott Mendelson simply owns the "sport" of benchpressing with a raw 715 & multiple shirted benches of 1000 +
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Mezaros has benched 661 at 275 this year. An alltime record that had stood for over 26 years. Also Mezaros won a couple of IPF worlds and held a couple of world records in the IPF during this decade.

Hoornstra broke McDonald's alltime record at 242 which stood for 30 years. He also has USPF world records.

Do you think Sandvik might be No. 1 because he lifts in feds that actually enforces the rules (believe it or not there are feds that enforce the rules) and do not accept bullshit circus lifts. Plus he is a smooth technically clean lifter who leaves no doubt about his lifts.

Schick...he won everything under every condition in every federation. wpo, wpc, ipf, arnold, all-time records in a lot of classes. wr records in every federation. youngest ipf open world champ, champ of champions in every federation............
did 235@75 raw in exhibtion...

no doubt: the best ever!

That is exactlly why I am casting my vote for Gene as well.

I totally agree! My vote goes to Sandvik.

I vote Gene and Mendy at heavy weight, but I would also put in Ryan and Meeker. Ryan for having the ALL-TIME, but Meeker like Gene was the first at 900 and 1000, but Meeker did 800 and 900 in a single. Say what you want about shirts, only 2 other lifters have ever hit 900 in a single. Meeker has also won many World Championships in quite a few different Federations and different weight classes. And he holds the record in reps at 600, 700, and 800. In the 80's and 90's it was Anthony Clark and Jamie Harris. And then Gene with his many 900 + benches to 1000. After that everyone switched shirts to the Super Phenom and then Mendy and Ryan took it to the next level. In the lights I have to say Frankl, Jesse K, and Coker. We are voting on the decade, so I have to go with Gene and Mendy at Heavy and Jesse for the lights.

Schick... First 4xbw bp

frankl, burdette, kellum can all do over 500 raw.

It is for the decade, not 1 year.

Gene is the man of the decade. 1st to get 900 and a grand within a years time almost to the exact date!!! What is interesting about this is that he did it in the same state on the same road almost exactly 50 miles apart.

He hit more mile stones than any of the other guys on the list. Granted the other lifters are great and deserve a lot of respect but did they hit 2 major milestones? Gene has.

Hillarious that Mendy has so few votes. He was one of the first over 800, 900, and 1000, with a CLEAN 1025. All the while benching over 700 raw on multiple occasions, including the biggest raw bench ever.

Am I saying he's the only choice, NO... But to have that few votes is just crazy.

Couldn't agree more

IPF - whether you like it or not - is still the biggest venue and has the most countries involved.

The judging is also really tight. Not to mention the aspect of drug testing of all winners - as well as some out of meet testing.

For whatever reason, Mendelson didn't try his luck there.

And Sandvik won in the IPF - not once. But 5 times.

That's a pretty solid argument for Sandvik being the top bencher over a long period of time.

Maybe not in one particular year.

But over the decade as a whole - nobody rivals Sandvik.

Kenta is a worthy winner. His track record speaks for itself. He has been at the top for so many years and also won the WC 5 times. Unbeatable.