Gisborne’s Ngareta Barbarich won the women’s left-arm open and was second in the right-arm open.
Her younger sister Tracy Barbarich won the women’s right-arm open and was second in the left-arm open.
Last year the placings were reversed, Ngareta winning the right-arm and placing second in the left-arm, and Tracy winning the left-arm and placing second in the right-arm.
Charmaine Henry won the women’s amateur contest.
Darlene Hohipa was third in the women’s right-arm open and Clarissa Poi was third in the left-arm open.
A feature of the competition was the performance of “The Beast”, Rotorua’s Maateiwarangi Heta-Morris. He claimed his eighth straight New Zealand heavyweight championship when he won the 100-kilogram-and-over left- and right-arm titles.
His next big event was to be a challenge match against Ryan Bowen, reputed to be the best pound-for-pound armwrestler in Australia. Bowen had challenged Heta-Morris and the six-round “super match” was being held today in Ipswich, Queensland.
Local armwrestlers were pleased with the feedback they received from competitors visiting Gisborne for the national championships.
Gizzy Lock N Drop member Darlene Hohipa was elected vice-president of the New Zealand Armwrestling Federation in January, and suggested the championships move out of Auckland for a change.
“We travel to every competition — usually they’re in Auckland — so we asked if we could have the champs in Gisborne,” she said.
“A few didn’t come; we were missing maybe six regulars.”
The timing of the event clashed with a netball tournament for one of the bigger clubs, so its members might have been absent anyway, she said.
About 25 people took part in the Gisborne event.
“We organised accommodation and food; all they had to do was get here,” Hohipa said.
Asked how visitors responded to the event, she said they were “happy as”.
Gisborne was not a new destination for most of the visitors.
“Every year Gisborne has to host a competition as part of the New Zealand Armwrestling Federation circuit,” Hohipa said.
“Last year’s competition was our biggest here because all the clubs were able to be present.”
Hohipa said the Gisborne club was fortunate to gain sponsorship from PetfoodNZ for the staging of the national championships.
Results of the New Zealand Armwrestling Federation national championships in Gisborne —Open women — Left arm: Ngareta Barbarich (Gisborne) 1, Tracy Barbarich (Gis) 2, Clarissa Poi (Gis) 3.
Right arm: Tracy Barbarich 1, Ngareta Barbarich 2, Darlene Hohipa (Gis) 3.
Women’s amateur contest: Charmaine Henry (Gis) 1.
Men, under 80 kilograms — Left arm: Zurab Kavtaradze 1, Kai Hoffman 2, Jack Lawrence 3.
Right arm: Jack Lawrence 1, Zurab Kavtaradze 2, Kai Hoffman 3.
U90kg — Left arm: Finn Leonard 1, James Wells 2, Anton West 3.
Right arm: James Wells 1, Finn Leonard 2, Levan Kavtaradze 3.
U100kg — Left arm: John Leach (Gis) 1, David Herbert 2, Malachai Jansen (Gis) 3.
Right arm: David Herbert 1, Charles Puiri 2, Levi Holley 3.
100kg and over — Left arm: Maateiwarangi Heta-Morris 1, Tom Skinner 2, Wairua Savage 3.
Right arm: Maateiwarangi Heta-Morris 1, Tom Skinner 2, Wairua Savage 3.
