The Grow Build

NPC USA Overall Champs

How They Did As Pros...& Other Stuff

First ever USA overall champ in 1982 was middleweight Dale Ruplinger.

Over the weekend of July 25-26, Las Vegas will be invaded by a swarm of individuals committed to getting totally ripped by a means other than chugging liquor at a casino bar. This due to the 2014 NPC USA Championships being staged over that weekend at the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall on the UNLC Campus.  This will be the 33^rd rendition of the Championships and just for the “let’s poke it in the eye and see if it blinks” hell of, in this column we pick out a few factoids from the contest’s illustrious history and provide a review of the 31 winners of the men’s overall title and how they fared as pros.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!
 A review of the ensuing pro careers of the 32 USA overall champions.
  Year     Champion         Division        Best Pro                                                    Best Olympia
1982   Dale Ruplinger        M/W              8th: 1983 UK G.Prix                                     12th: 1983
1983   Ernie Santiago         M/W              Never competed as a pro.
1984   Phil Williams           (L/H)             1^st: 1988 Chicago Pro                                    Never competed
1985   Dave Hawk             (L/HW)          4^th: 1986 LA Pro & World Pro                      Never competed
1986   J.J. Marsh               (L/HW)          1^st: 1991 Ironman                                          12^th: 1993
1987   Mike Quinn             (H/W)            4^th: 1988 German, French & Greek G.Prix      6^th: 1988
1988   John DeFendis        (H/W)            12^th: 1989 Niagara Pro                                   Never competed
1989   Eddie Robinson      (L/HW)          1^st: 1990 Niagara Pro                                     10^th: 1990
1990   Aaron Baker           (H/W)             2^nd: 1995 Ironman & Florida Pro                   9^th: 1995
1991   Mike Matarazzo      (H/W)             2^nd: 1993 Pitt Pro & 1997 Canada Pro           9^th: 1998
1992   Flex Wheeler          (H/W)             1^st: in 17 pro contests                                   2^nd: 1993, ’98, ’99.
1993   Chris Cormier         (H/W)            1^st: in 11 pro contests                                   3^rd: 1999, ‘02
1994   Dennis Newman      (H/W)            7^th: 1998 Ironman                                         Never competed
1995   Phil Hernon             (H/W)            8^th: 1996 San Jose Pro                                  Never competed
1996   Craig Titus              (H/W)             2^nd: 2001 San Fran Pro                                11^th: 2002
1997   Ken Brown             (H/W)             15^th: 1999 Toronto Pro                                Never competed
1998   Dennis James          (S/HW)           1^st: in 3 pro contests                                    4^th: 2003
1999   Melvin Anthony      (S/HW)            1^st: in 3 pro contests                                    5^th: 2006
2000   Bob Cicherillo        (S/HW)            1^st: 2006 Masters World                              18^th: 2002
2001   Quincy Taylor        (S/HW)            2^nd: 2006 Europa & 2007 Montreal Pro        16^th: 2005, ‘07
2002   Idrise Ward-El        (S/HW)            9^th: 2004 Ironman                                        Never competed
2003   Richard Jones        (L/HW)            3^rd: 2004 Night of Champs                           18^th: 2004
2004   Mark Dugdale        (L/HW)            2^nd: in 4 pro contests                                    16^th: 2007
2005   Phil Heath              (HW)               1^st: in 9 pro contests                                    1^st: 2011, ’12, ‘13
2006   Omar Deckard       (S/HW)            3^rd: 2012 Aussie G. Prix                               Never competed
2007   Ben White              (S/HW)           1^st: 2010 Tampa Pro                                     16^th: 2011
2008   Brandon Curry       (H/W)             1^st: 2013 Arnold, Brazil                                  8^th: 2011
2009   Mark Alvisi            (H/W)             2^nd: 2010) Europa                                         Never competed
2010   Jason Huh              (/HW)             7^th: 2011 & ’12 Tampa Pro                           Never competed
2011   Steve Kuclo            (S/HW)          1st: 2013 Europa & 2014 Arnold Brazil           14^th: 2013
2012   Darron Glenn          (L/HW)          8^th: 2013 NY Pro (212s)                                Never competed
2013   Max Charles           (S/HW)          5^th: 2014 NY Pro                                           Never competed

Mike Quinn took top honors in 1987.

THE BODIES IN QUESTION  In 1982 the Championships had just under 100 competitors.
 In 2014 nearly 1,000 competitors will contest the Championships.
 In 1982 there was only two classes: men and women’s bodybuilding.
 In 2014 there are six divisions: men and women’s bodybuilding, men and women’s physique, figure and bikini.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS ….
 In 1982 the event was held in Las Vegas.
 In 2014 Jon “I never saw a ticket I couldn’t sell” Lindsay will be promoting his 19th straight USA Championships. His first was in Long Beach in 1996, and it has been held in Vegas every year since, apart from 1999 when it took place in Santa Monica.

Winning the 1992 USA was Flex Wheeler’s gateway to 17 pro victories.

 In 1982 no IFBB pro cards were given out. In those days you had to win a World Amateur Championship to earn recruitment to the pros. First overall champ Dale Ruplinger duly accomplished that in late 1982. It wasn’t until the 1987 USAs that an overall win (and only an overall win) carried the reward of a pro card. In this year’s Men’s Bodybuilding Championships each of the seven class winners will get to turn pro.
 In 2013 across all classes 53 cards will be distributed. With so many cards being dealt its is rumored Jon Lindsay is hiring a local croupier to issue them.

GAME FOR BIG BOYS
 Of the 32 overall champs 20 came from the heaviest division. (From 1982 through 1997 the top division was heavyweight with the super heavyweight class being introduced in 1998.) Since the introduction of the super heavyweights, ten super heavies have won the overall, while three heavyweights and three light heavies have also won the overall. Of the 32 overall champs, seven titles have been won by light heavyweights and two by middleweights (1982 & ’83).

PHIL ALONE
 Only one Mr. Olympia, the present incumbent Phil Heath, has gained pro status through the USA Championships. If that is surprising the fact is that only one Mr. Olympia won a pro card via the NPC Nationals. That was Jay Cutler by virtue of winning the 1996 heavyweight division: He lost the overall to light heavy champ Willie Stallings. Eight-time Olympia champ Lee Haney, although winner of the first ever NPC Nationals in 1982, didn’t receive a pro card for his efforts. At that time the route to the pros was achieved by winning an IFBB Amateur World title which Haney duly did a couple of months after

A 210 pound Phil Heath dominated the 2005 event. Forty pounds later, he’s going for a fourth Sandow in September.

his Nationals triumph. Likewise Ronnie Coleman, possessor of eight Sandows, joined the pro ranks by winning the 1991 Amateur World’s shortly after finishing fourth at that year’s Nationals. In regard to the other two Mr. Olympias of the past thirty years, Dorian Yates and Dexter Jackson, the former became pro by winning the 1988 British Championships and the latter by annexing the 1998 North American overall title.
ROLL OF HONOR
 Here’s a list of overall winners who have gone on to record pro victories.
 Flex Wheeler (1992): 17 pro wins
 Chris Cormier (1993): 11 pro wins
 Phil Heath (2005): 9 pro wins
 Melvin Anthony (1999): 3 pro wins
 Dennis James (1998): 3 pro wins
 Steve Kuclo (2011): 2 pro wins
 J.J. Marsh (1986): 2 pro wins
 Bob Cicherillo (2000): 1 pro win
 Eddie Robinson (1989): 1 pro win

Steve Kuclo, winner of this year’s Arnold Brazil, was USA overall champ in 2011.