Continued from Front Page

About 75% of Team Wisconsin was able to train together, at Gym NASA in Sheboygan, at the Sheboygan Falls YMCA, and in the gym at Concordia College.  8 Team Members, along with 5 family members, will be flying together on the same Flight out of Milwaukee, to Denver.  We continue here this month, with more Team Member Profiles.  Jon Rigg's profile is on page 4 of the July Wisconsin Powerlifting News.

Nicole Bielecki - Team Wisconsin
One of the 2 Ladies on Team Wisconsin is Nicole Bielecki.  Born in Chicago, IL, she now lives in Thiensville, where she works and also attends Concordia University. 

She is presently studying for her MA in Occupational Therapy, but has also led quite an athletic life.  Nicole took dance lessons for 17 years, played softball as a catcher in high school from 2002 to 2006,

and also from 2006 to 2008 in college.  She started training for bodybuilding in 2006.

"When cutting weight a little over a month before my first bodybuilding completion I tore my achillies tendon . This injury put quite a setback on me but not enough to turn me away from physical fitness . Slowly getting back to a normal workout routine , I continued with the weights. It took about a year for my body to fully recover and return to the physical shape I was in prior to my injury," Bielecki said.

Continuing to spend time in the weight room at school, she was informed of a powerlifting team forming. Not knowing much about the sport, nevertheless, she still joined. The team formed 12 weeks before a competition. Competition wasn’t mandatory but she committed to it.  She was given a 10 week lifting cycle and that’s how she prepared for her first competition.   " Each week of the 10 week cycle was closer to competition and although my numbers were going up I felt I had no clue what I was doing or what to expect," Nicole said, "May 1, 2010… the Chippewa Classic. I could not have asked for a better meet to be my first. Not knowing what to expect, I went in with an open positive attitude and came out with first in my weight class. At this meet I was also asked and accepted to be part of the Wisconsin State Team! After a week off from the May 1 ^st meet, I’ve been training for the World Cup which is just around the corner!"

She has trained at Concordia University Wisconsin and Elite Sports Clubs, but  prefers to train at Concordia because other members of the team can join her.  "Being able to lift with the team has been such a benefit for me. I’ve learned more in the few weeks we have lifted together than in the 10 weeks I prepared for my first meet. The team has such an influence on me; they are dedicated, supportive and determined," Bielecki said, "There is no doubt in my mind that Team Wisconsin ’s name will be known at competition!"

Samson Hou-Seye - Team Wisconsin
Samson will make his Powerlifting Debut at the 2010 NASA World Cup Meet, as a Member of Team Wisconsin in the 114 Lbs. Class.  Although Hou-Seye has lifted in 73 Meets, and 18 different States, all of those competitions were in Power Sports, Bench Only, or Push/Pull.  This will be the first time he has stepped onto the Platform for the Squat Event.

Samson is a mutliple State Recordholder, and has been named NASA's Youth Athlete of the Year in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009.  He holds 3rd place in the most NASA Meets competed in, in a single year, at 18, behind Earl Eavitt, 19, and Henry Thomason, at 20 Meets in 1 year.

Hou-Seye now hits longer training cycles, and so, the World Cup will only be his 4th Meet in 2010.  He spends more time Loading the Bar at Meets, now, than he does competing.

Samson is entering the 5th Grade this fall, has started practicing for full tackle football, and will be part of the Lutheran-Kohler-Christian Youth Football Team in September.

An interviewer from ABC's "Wife Swap," reality series once asked Samson whether his parents "made him" compete in weightlifting, to which Samson replied, "Why would they have to make me, I mean, I'm good at it!"

 Matt Glenzer - Team Wisconsin
Matt was born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin,  where he attended Lutheran High and just recently finished his first year of college at UW-Sheboygan where he also works as a library intern.

In high school, Glenzer was interested in trapshooting and was on the trap team all four years. Then around his second year of high school he started weight lifting non-competitively. "The summer before my first year at UW Sheboygan my dad introduced me to Steve Korf who offered to help me train and to start competing in NASA. My first experience at a NASA meet was in Waukesha, Wisconsin not as a lifter but helping in the warm-up area loading weights and listening to Steve talk about how important form  is," Matt said, "A few days later I started training with Steve at the Sheboygan Falls YMCA and I have been training there with him ever since."  The first meet Glenzer competed in was Brad Aldag's push/pull meet at MSOE in September of 2009. He took first place in his division and got