More than 300 competitors, from all over the world, will be at Kiggins Theater
Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com
An arm wrestling event with hundreds of competitors pretty much means non-stop action, according to those in the sport.
“It’s a high-quality, action-packed day,” said Tim Tallmadge, one of the top arm wrestlers in the country and the founder and president of ArmSports Entertainment.
Tallmadge described it as that feeling in a stadium at a baseball game when a player hits a home run from the home crowd.
“It’s a thrill,” Tallmadge said. “That’s how it is all day long (at an arm wrestling event). It’s just a big home run. Everybody is energetic.”
Match after match after match, a winner and a loser, one-on-one competition.
On Saturday, Kiggins Theater will flex its muscles as host of a sporting event:
The 2023 Washington State Arm Wrestling championships will be held, but it is much bigger than one state. This is an international event, with more than 300 competitors expected, including some from Australia, Canada, and Mexico.
Tallmadge is from Clark County, a 2007 graduate of Prairie High School. He loves being able to bring some of the most talented athletes in the sport to Vancouver.
His introduction to the sport came from an inquiry from one of his friends. As a teenager, Tallmadge said he was strong, and he and his friends would often arm wrestle each other.
“Someone said, ‘I wonder if there is a tournament for this?’” Tallmadge recalled.
A tournament was found, Tallmadge entered, and he went 27-0 in that event, winning the teenage, amateur, and open divisions.
“I was hooked,” Tallmadge said.
The sport has taken him all over the world, as a competitor and now as a referee. He started ArmSports Entertainment in 2016, and he hosts arm wrestling events all over the county.
“In the first tournament, I had maybe 90 entries,” Tallmadge said. “Now the average tournament is over 350 entries.”
Saturday’s event will feature professionals and amatuers, men and women, in several different classifications.
For spectators, it is an inexpensive cost to see action throughout the day: Just $5 for spectators at Kiggins Theater on Saturday. The tournament starts at 11 a.m.
For those just getting interested in the sport, many of the athletes hang around after the event to give instructions.
Tallmadge said all competitors are a family, just trying to grow the sport.For more information, go to: https://www.armsportsentertainment.com/
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