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Eric Fankhouser, the man with the freakiest
calves in bodybuilding, finally did what some people thought was impossible; he
brought up his upper body to balance his tremendous leg development. As a reward for this monumentous effort, the
judges bestowed him with the heavyweight and overall title at the 2007 IFBB
North American Bodybuilding Championships held at the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland,
OH.
BANTAMWEIGHTS:
Juan Martinez easily took
this class with a combination of symmetry, shape, and conditioning. Let's face it, how much size can you really
hold at 145lbs? Nevertheless, Martinez
wowed the judges with incredible polish and presentation.
LIGHTWEIGHT:
Isaias
Guzman, direct from Mexico, wowed the judges with mature, dense muscle that was
painted in an incredlbe brown finish.
This year, the Mexican contingency showed up with 20 top notch
competitors and Guzman did his country proud by bringing home first place.
WELTERWEIGHTS:
Carlo
Filipone from the Garden State of New Jersey brought his best game to Cleveland
this Labor Day weekend and was rewarded with unannymous first place votes for
his effort. His ripped, striated, muscle
was just too much for the other competitors and Carlo proved that he's a worthy
contender for Pro Card status when the Nationals role around in early November.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS:
The
middleweight class was a battle between two Mexican countrymen, Angel Rangel
and Luis Fernandez. Fernandez had a
tighter, more muscular, package; while Angel proved to be the superior showman. The judges opted for the more professional "look"
and went with the more polished Rangel.
Both of these guys were great competitors and I'm sure that there are a
lot of American middleweights letting out a sigh of relief that they'll never
have to face these two guys at the NPC Nationals.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS:
For the
first time in his bodybuilding career, Mark Perry put it all together and
brought an unbeatable package to the stage.
His polish and professional-level presentation sealed 1st
place and a trip to the overall posedown for this hard-working veteran of
national-level bodybuilding. Mark's
great back and leg development pushed him into another league when compared to
2nd place MontyMabry and 3rd place Brad Davis. If Perry can bring this same package, minus
the Dream Tan, to the Nationals in 10 weeks, he'll be smiling his way into the
IFBB Pro Ranks.
HEAVYWEIGHTS:
In the
toughest class of the night, Eric Fankhouser defeated two worthy opponents-Darrell
Terrell and Michael Liberatore.
Fankhouser's incredible leg development and overall freaky hard muscle
proved to be too much for the more balanced and classic physique of 2nd
place Darrell Terrell. Terrell, a
veteran of the national-level, brought his best package to date; displaying a
ripped, shapely physique, that would have walked away with 1st place
had it not been for the peaked Fankhouser.
Michael Liberatore, the 2006 NPC Pittsburgh Overall Champ and 2007 MD
Cyber Classic Champ, brought a symmetrical, freaky-ripped, package to the stage
and was rewarded with a deserving 3rd place. If this kid adds another 10lbs of lean mass
to his physique, he'll be unbeatable!
SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS:
In a rather
unspectacular class, the 2007 NPC USA Super HW runner up Gregori Atoyan
snatched the number 1 spot with a combination of sheer mass and good
conditioning. The surprise of the class
was Canadian Ben Pakulski who in only his second bodybuilding competition managed
to wow the fans as well as the judges with his awesome shape, huge back and
legs, and beach boy good looks. If this
guy brings up his arms and improves his conditioning just a tad, he's going to
be a real force in the iFBB. Kirk
Defrancesco moved up a weightclass from the USA and managed to snag 3rd. Adorthus Cherry also jumped up in weight but
his lack of conditioning left him in a disappointing 4th place. Cherry needs to go back to the drawing board
and reevaluate his precontest regimen before he attempts to step on a national
stage again.
FULL CONTEST PHOTO GALLERY OF ALL COMPETITORS
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