The 2013 Nationals: Who's Gonna Win?
Written by Peter McGough
23 November 2013
The 2013 Nationals
Who's Gonna Win?
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The prejudging of the 32nd rendition of the NPC Nationals Men’s Bodybuilding Championships duly took place at The Broward Center for The Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday, November 22. Across seven weight divisions two pro cards are up for grabs in each class, and 160 bodies rumbled forward in search of ending their amateur status. Unfortunately, as has been the trend in recent national level competitions, individuals in real contest condition were as common as a pork chop in a synagogue.
That being said, here’s a quick-fire guide to the front-runners in each class as we approach the evening finals and decision time tonight. (Finals start of 5.00pm EST, with men’s bodybuilding probably scheduled for some time after 7.00pm EST.)
- BANTAMWEIGHTS
- David Nguyen from Louisiana immediately caught the eye. Carrying a lot of muscle for a bantamweight, he’s nicely proportioned and has great legs. The other main contender seems to be James Shumpert who’s very well conditioned, especially in back and legs but is not displaying as much muscle as Nyguen. I’d take the latter for the win on greater muscle development but the judges may prefer Shumpert’s more conditioned look.
- LIGHTWEIGHTS
- Damion Rickets impressed with really good muscle shape, outstanding delts and good back detail. But Martae Ruelas may be the man to be beat as he was packing a lot of old school type muscle, with wide thick back and flared thighs. Ruels seemed overlooked early on and then came into contention. Leon Dozier will be up there also. Luis Moreno will not win or place high, but he has all the bodyparts. If he came in shape he’d walk this class. Similar story from previous outings.
- WELTERWEIGHTS
- With his greater overall development and back shots it seemed Edward Foster will take top honors here with the impressive Alfredo Prince following him home. Found it hard to understand how heavily muscle Jules Rumingan was left out of first five callout.
- MIDDLEWEIGHTS
- Thomas Anderson (shown as Henderson on official list) was the clearest winner of the prejudging. Possessor of great conditioning and shape he had crazy hamstring development and will not be threatened. Veteran Danny Hester who presented a classic physique in classical style seems to have moved into second, but my choice would have been Fraijan Texidor. He’s pretty complete and just needs to fill out his frame a little to be more competitive, but he impressed here.
- LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
- This was class was a bit of a conundrum To these peepers it seemed that Arthur Reed III was a clear winner. He was packed with muscle, complete with a tiny waist and the deepest separation of the prejudging. However the final two called were Chris Tuttlewho has a really nice proportioned look to him and Lorenzo Jones who sported a gnarlier muscle look. I would take Tuttle over Jones, but am still scratching my head over Reed’s omission.
- HEAVYWEIGHTS
- Not one heavyweight was “on”. In the end it came down to a choice of the spectacular upper body of Kevin Jordan (still to replicate his impressive form when winning the 2011 Junior Nationals), the greater lower body development of Brad Rowe, or Erik Ramirez, the hardest guy in the line-up. I’d take Jordan, but the finals offer his rivals a chance to jump ahead. Benny Brantley who will not place has tremendous muscle development throughout ad would have been a clear winner if in shape.
- SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS
- Again the big boy class was a disappointment if you were looking for 100% contest condition. It would seem that Joel Thomas, who has a great physique in terms of humungous balanced muscle (but was not in peak condition) will edge it ahead of the more cut Ryan Pateracki who brought a crazy double biceps pose to the fray.
- STILL TO PLAY
- So this Saturday evening (November 23) the seven classes will again strut their stuff at the finals. To find out who the 14 pro card winner are, and who will be the 2013 NPC Nationals overall champ, stay tuned to musculardevelopment.com your #1 bodybuilding destination. (Finals start of 5.00pm EST, with men’s bodybuilding probably scheduled for some time after 7.00pm EST.)
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