Local arm wrestler Tyler Robinson came within one victory of earning a world title at an international competition in Poland last week.
Robinson took part in the World Arm Wrestling Championships held in Poland from Sept. 1 to 8. Competing in the Disabled Men over 90kg category, Robinson finished in second place with his left arm on Sept. 4 and fifth place with his right on Sept. 5. Both categories were won by Russian arm wrestler Yusup Yusupaliev.
Robinson, who was born with cerebral palsy, qualified for the global event by winning the disabled division at the Canadian Arm Wrestling Championships in Timmins in June, placing first in both the left and right arm categories.
In Poland, Robinson said both left and right arm categories included about 10 competitors from Russia, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Brazil and Poland. To reach the final match in the left arm category he had to wrestle five times in a single day, against the stiffest competition he has ever faced.
“It was a lot tougher than any of the competition at the nationals,” he noted, adding, “It was a lot of fun.”
Adding to the difficulty was the need to quickly adjust to a new style of competition, as competitors were required to be seated, while Robinson normally wrestles standing up.
The World Championships were held in a huge venue called the Sports Hall.
“It was a pretty big arena,” said Robinson, adding that about 1,200 competitors were involved in total. Crowds were also much larger than Robinson was used to.
“I’ve never wrestled in front of crowds like that before,” he said.
Robinson said most of his time was spent at the competition, so he didn’t get out to see much of the country. However, with his appetite for international competition whetted, he’s already setting his sites on qualifying for the 2014 world competition to be held in Lithuania.
To make it, Robinson knows he will have to “train, train, train.” For that, he’s thinking about acquiring an arm-wrestling machine, something he saw while in Poland, which allows wrestlers to train without the need of a partner.
“There’s not a lot of people around Moorefield who want to arm wrestle me anymore,” he quipped.
