Photos: Flexing at the 2019 Northern Ontario Arm Wrestling Championship

Sudbury's strongest went palm to palm at Overtime Sports Bar and Grill Saturday, in the fourth annual Northern Ontario Arm Wrestling Championships.

The tournament was hosted by John and Rebecca Gould of Arm Fight Club, in partnership with a local club known as Arm Machine, for the benefit of amateurs, professionals and everyone in between.

The event attracted a wide range of competitors from Kapuskasing, Timmins, Toronto, Ottawa and beyond, as well as 16 athletes who call Greater Sudbury home.

Arm wrestling in the north has been championed in recent years by Brian Desormeaux and his teammates at Arm Machine, who established the club when North Bay stopped hosting their long-standing tournaments.

While Desormeaux said he enjoys seeing athletes come together from across the province to compete, the goal of this tournament and club events throughout the year is to give locals an opportunity to explore and develop their talent.

Desormeaux began arm wrestling in North Bay eleven years ago after being encouraged to do so by his daughter, who was nine years old at the time.

He said the two had been shopping through Walmart when they came across the Sylvester Stallone movie, Over the Top, in which main character Lincoln Hawk competes at the world arm wrestling championships.

"Dad, you're pretty strong – you should try," said his daughter after watching the film, which he credits as the start of his professional arm wrestling career.

Since then, touring the arm wrestling tournament circuit has become a beloved family tradition in their household said Desormeaux, made even more memorable by the fact that his 14-year-old son now joins him in the ring. This and the connection he feels to his teammates and competitors he said, is what has motivated his training and performance this past decade.

"It's like a second family, it's a brotherhood," he said.

"You're at the table, ready to rip their arm off and when that's done you're shaking hands and going from there."

Desormeaux chose to attend this particular tournament as a competitor rather than an organizer, although he did spend quite some time acting as a referee throughout the afternoon.

Arm Fight Club, formally known as Arm Melter, hosts tournaments across Ontario and the United States in addition to hosting a professional series on an annual basis.

The husband and wife duo behind the club are both well-respected arm wrestlers, with around 19 title wins between the two of them. But this world is nothing new for co-owner Joe, who said many in his family enjoy arm wrestling, including his brother who is a decorated champion in the sport.

"Get-togethers, Christmas, Thanksgiving – the table's up, we're arm wrestling and I've been doing that since I was 13 years old," he said.

Over the years, Joe said he has watched as more and more people begin to take arm wrestling seriously as a sport, but there is still much work to be done in that regard. One thing he hopes never changes is the respect he sees between competitors, which he said after more than 100 events, has prevented them from even one incident of violence.

NOVICE DIVISIONS:

Mens Right 165

1. Patrick Vallieres
2. Deano Laford
3. Jordan Morrow
4. Corey Lalaonde
5. David Peron
6. Ashton Desormeaux (Sudbury)

Mens Right 198

1. Sam Harvey
2. Sydney Gisbourne
3. Jeff Rochon
4. Luc Pilon

Mens Right 199+

1. Patrick Presseau
2. Marc Leclair
3. Robyn Getson
4. Al Strader (Sudbury)
5. Yohann Berube

Mens Left 165

1. Patrick Vallieres
2. Jordan Morrow
3. Corey Lalonde
4. Deano Lafond
5. Ashton Desormeaux (Sudbury)

Mens Left 198

1. Sydney Gisbourne
2. Johnathan Kulis

Mens Left 199+

1. Marc Leclair
2. Patrick Presseau
3. Robyn Getson
4. Al Strader (Sudbury)

GRAND MASTERS DIVISIONS:

Mens Right 199+

1. Dave Hall
2. Bill Larose (Sudbury)
3. Gabriel Pelltier
4. Attilia Brontin

Mens Left 199+

1. Jeff Dabe
2. Bill Larose (Sudbury)
3. Dave Hall
4. Attilia Brontin

OPEN DIVISIONS:

Womens Right 154

1. Patrina Brooks
2. Nicky Brooks
3. Jen Radford

Womens Right 155+

1. Patrina Brooks
2. Jen Radford
3. Natasha Millette

Mens Right 154

1. Matt Smith
2. Charles Antoine Chartrand-Lefarbre
3. Doug Weir (Sudbury)
4. Kevin Carriere
5. Deano Lafond

Mens Right 176

1. Brad Wade (Sudbury)
2. Cody Matte
3. Ken Hannah
4. Matt Carriere
5. Johnny MacLaughlin

Mens Right 198

1. John Therrien (Sudbury)
2. Shawn Emmorey
3. Richard Crockett
4. Marc Paradis
5. William Larose (Sudbury)
6. Sam Harvey
7. Luc Millette (Sudbury)
8. Luc Pilon
9. Adam Walker

Mens Right 242

1. John Therrien (Sudbury)
2. Dave Hall
3. Jean-Philippe Gosselin
4. Dexter Susteric (Sudbury)
5. Don Paquette (Sudbury)
6. Marc Leclair

Mens Right 243+

1. Brian Desormeaux (Sudbury)
2. Conrad Rousselle (Sudbury)
3. Nick Fortin
4. Robyn Getson

Womens Left 154

1. Patrina Brooks
2. Nicky Brooks
3. Jen Radford

Womens Left 155+

1. Patrina Brooks
2. Jen Radford
3. Natasha Millette

Mens Left 154

1. Matt Smith
2. Charles Antoine Chartrand-Lefevre
3. Doug Weir (Sudbury)
4. Kevin Carriere

Mens Left 176

1. Brad Wade (Sudbury)
2. Cody Matte
3. Johnny McLaughlin
4. Ken Hanah