2010 New York Pro Prejudging

Springtime in New York means one thing to us bodybuilding fans – the New York Pro! There’s nothing quite like a New York audience, and this show (formerly known as the Night of Champions) has a great history of amazing winners including Victor Martinez, Branch Warren, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, Kai Greene, and Markus Ruhl. It’s now grown to include women’s pro bodybuilding, the 202 pro men’s division, and this year for the first time, Pro Bikini.

Open men

This year’s show was hyped up to be a three-way battle between Dennis Wolf, Toney Freeman, and the dangerous newcomer and latest addition to Team MD, Roelly Winklaar. They were all in the hunt for first, but few expected Japan’s Hide Yamagishi to come on as strong as he did. The lineup this time was fairly small at only fifteen men. Here were my initial observations on each as he came out to start the judging with a 60-second routine.

1. Marius Dohne – South Africa

This was the first time I had ever seen or heard of Marius. He has good size and shape, though he lacks the mass to fight with the top men at this level. His condition was pretty good, but a slight film of water blurred him out. What really hurt Dohne was his awkward posing, which needs work.

2. Erik Fankhouser – USA

The year that The House took off from competing to make renovations paid off, big-time. Previously his freaky lower body overpowered his upper body, but now he’s added enough mass to almost balance it out. He still needs more chest and arms, but Erik’s condition was spot-on, and he should be in the top six.

3. Toney Freeman – USA

This was not the best I’ve seen Toney, but he wasn’t too far off. I thought he looked flat, and got even flatter as the judging wore on. With a man that large, it has to be tough to maintain fullness. When he isn’t full, his muscle separations aren’t as deep. I personally have Freeman fourth.

4. Jeff Long – USA

In his pro debut, Jeff was bigger than when he won the Nationals a little less than six months ago, but lacked the crisp, dry detail. He also sported new blonde hair in a ‘faux hawk,’ which made him look like a mini-Cutler. I know Jeff had a bad flu just a couple weeks ago, and he may not have had time to recover fully from that.

5. Cesar Mendible – Venezuela

Again, first time I’ve ever seen or heard of this man. Big, not huge, and smooth. A little thick around the middle.

6. Eugene Mishin – USA via Russia

Eugene was one of if not the hardest men on stage, which is saying a lot considering he goes about 280 pounds. He was thick and wide, and his glutes were carved out with striations. Not the prettiest overall shape, but it’s the best I’ve ever seen Mishin and he could be up there around sixth or seventh.

7. Ben Pakulski – Canada

Pak Man had a productive off-season and really brought up his back since last year. His quads and shoulders are his most striking bodyparts, and he has a great overall shape and structure. Ben also nailed his condition. He won’t be battling for first place as hoped, but it was still a very respectable showing.

8. Manuel Romero – Venezuela

They call this guy ‘El Baby’ on account of his baby face. His legs are huge, but he needs more back and better condition.

9. Daniele Saccarecci – Italy

Daniele has good mass and nice shape, but he’s not massive enough to threaten any of the top men here today. Specifically, he needs to bring up his arms and legs, and sharpen up his condition.

10. Sergey Shelestov – Russia

This former Red Army soldier has really good legs, but his arms don’t match at all (I totally sympathize with the guy, trust me). Also, his choice of Dream Tan blurred out his definition a bit, as he was in great shape.

11. Mike Van Wyck – Canada

270-pound Van Wyck was in great condition for his pro debut, but his upper body totally overpowers his legs. His rugged back and shoulders got some points with the crowd, but he needs to really hammer those wheels.

12. Roelly Winklaar – Curacao and Holland

Roelly has turned out to be the biggest surprise of the 2010 spring season. At 5-7 and 240

pounds with a small waist and round, full muscle bellies, names like Flex Wheeler and Kevin Levrone were being mentioned in the same breath as his. Roelly showed up in great shape, and his posing is already much better than it was just a little over two months ago at his pro debut at the Arnold. In certain poses like his side triceps and hands-clasped most muscular, nobody touched him. Most people I talked to and overhead have Roelly winning this show tonight.

13. Dennis Wolf – Germany

The big question leading up to today was, would Dennis look great again as he had at the

2007 and 2008 Mr. Olympias, or would he look like crap as he did at the ’09 show? Wolf definitely redeemed himself here by returning to his old form, or at least close to it. His glutes were in, and he didn’t show up flatter than a pancake as he has before on occasion. His lack of upper chest and hams were glaring weak points, which is why I didn’t see him as a threat to win. Honestly, I have him in third place, though I bet he gets second.

14. Hide Yamagishi

Hide is my pick for second after Roelly. Considering how many shows Hide does, he has managed to bring up his back and triceps since the Arnold, a credit to Hide and his coach and training partner back in Venice Beach, Eric Di Lauro. Hide was thick and shredded at 5-5 and 220 pounds, and his hands-on-hips most muscular pose is one of the best I’ve ever seen – the guy’s shoulders look bigger than his head in it.

15. Johnnie Jackson – USA

“The World’s Strongest Bodybuilder” was in better shape than I have seen him in a very long time. His chest, back, and shoulders were crazy thick, and I would not be totally shocked if he creeps into fifth or sixth place tonight.

CALLOUTS

1. Fankhouser, Freeman, Mishin, Winklaar, Wolf, Yamagishi

2. Fankhouser, Pakulski, Jackson, Mishin

3. Freeman, Winklaar, Yamagishi, Wolf

4. Dohne, Long, Shelestov

5. Van Wyck, Saccarecci, Romero, Mendible

202 Division

Twelve men vied today for this title, and as expected, the toughest challenge came in the form of defending two-time champ and reigning 202 Showdown champ Kevin English. Kevin was looking phenomenal, but got a very strong challenge from Jose Raymond. Jose was the only man to match Kevin in terms of muscular thickness. Kevin ‘s superior X-frame structure, with wide shoulders and a tiny waist, did give him a big edge over Jose. Jose began working with George Farah just four weeks ago, and already his condition has improved dramatically since the Orlando show. New Jersey’s Jason Arntz and Mike Sheridan from the UK also looked very good. Overall this was not a very strong lineup once you got past the top five or so guys.

It was good to see the comeback of Arizona’s Sean Jenkins, who turned pro back in the 1980’s. He actually was pretty massive, especially in the arms and back, but was not in the best condition. Based on the callouts, he will still make top five. The judges had a pretty easy time sorting out the 202’s with only two comparisons needed.

CALLOUTS

1. English, Raymond, Arntz, John Frederick Arendz, Jenkins, Vincent Wawryk

2. Steven Burke, Eric Castagnet, Anthony Finocchiaro, Sheridan, Milton Holloway, Emro Karadjuzovic

Women’s Pro

With thirteen women, this was a pretty decent lineup. It came down to two-time defending champion Cathy LeFrancois and former USA winner Sheila Bleck. Both were in great shape, though only Cathy had striated glutes. Sheila is taller and more massive overall. The judges didn’t seem to have an easy choice, as the final callout saw them back up front and center.

Other notable competitors included Debbie Bramwell, New York’s Heather Foster, Nancy Lewis, Kristy Hawkins, Colette Nelson, Finland’s Marja Lehtonen, and Dayana Cadeau. Switzerland’s Rahel Ruch was also very good, and along with Foster and Bramwell will almost surely be in the top five.