Sault arm wrestlers go over the top en route to national finals

Five members of the Sault’s Steel City Slammers arm wrestling club won bronze and silver medals in various weight categories at the 2024 Ontario Provincial Arm Wrestling Championships held in Sudbury during the Victoria Day Weekend in May.

Now the group is pumped to be going to the 2024 Canadian National Arm Wrestling Championships to be held June 29 and 30 in Gatineau, Quebec.    

The five include Doug Behrens, Alan Ross, Rick Hanes, Marty Dimma and Will Sayers.

Two other club members — Daryl Weisflock and son Levi Weisflock — competed in Sudbury and did not win medals, but finished among the top five competitors in their categories. 

“It feels great,” said Behrens, speaking on behalf of all the Steel City Slammers. “A lot of the guys in the club didn’t get out to tournaments during the pandemic but we continued to train.”

There were approximately 460 competitors at the provincial event. 

“I’m excited to be going to the nationals, for myself and for the other club members," Behrens said. "We train hard and we want to bring home some medals."

Behrens took up the sport during a Bon Soo event in the 1980s.

After a long hiatus, an experience with fellow local arm wrestler Alan Ross — who also medalled at this year’s provincials — inspired him to return to competition.

“Alan Ross wanted me to help him train and when I did that my muscle memory came back. I started feeling stronger and started competing again.”

Behrens and Ross went to the world championships in Orlando, Florida in 2021. 

Ross came home with a silver medal in the under 154 lbs. masters left hand division while Behrens placed fifth in the under 154 lbs. grand masters division.

At the 2022 nationals, Behrens won gold in the under 154 lbs. grand masters and bronze in the under 132 lbs. open division.

After this year's nationals, the Steel City Slammers club — which currently consists of 14 members — will be hosting an arm wrestling competition Saturday, July 13 during Goulais River Community Days.

Behrens, who also serves as the Ontario Armwrestling Association’s Northern Ontario representative, invites others to try the sport of arm wrestling.

“People come out and they try this sport and fall in love with it as I did many years ago,” said the 58-year-old Algoma Steel employee.

“You build such a camaraderie, even with other clubs. You make a lot of friends. You’ll be enemies at the arm wrestling table for two minutes but then you’re best friends again after.”

“I like competing and making it to the podium of course but I love to train new guys. That’s how a lot of our guys are. You can be really green to this sport but everybody will chip in to help and bring you to the next level,” Behrens said.  

The Steel City Slammers club is currently all male, but Behrens said he is interested in getting females to join. Anyone interested in trying the sport of arm wrestling can contact Doug Behrens through his personal social media page or by email.