It was great to see Hunter McNamara back on the table after his battle with cancer.

The Sackville Warriors won their 6th consecutive team trophy.

We’d like to wish Shelby Ring a speedy recovery.

Mark MacPhail vs Hunter McNamara
Picture compliments of Angela McNamara

2026 Nova Scotia Championships

Nova Scotia residents must be a member of the NSAWA to participate in Provincials, Atlantic Canadians and Nationals

Team New Brunswick – Junior and Senior Team Champions
Picture courtesy of Leanna Swift

Although the Atlantics weren’t quite as big as last year due to various reasons, the competition level was amongst the best ever. Only 3 of the 4 Atlantic provinces were present, however a strong team from Maine showed up and made their presence known winning 2 classes. New Brunswick has showed that last year was no fluke and captured not only the senior team trophy but the Junior one as well.

Results

As we do every year we hand out 3 awards. Rick Pinkney Dedication, The Sylvio Bourque Lifetime Achievement, and the Hall of Fame.

Pictures compliments of Angela McNamara

Newcomers to the sport, Samantha Belliveau and Joey Lavallee both won their respective right and left hand classes, leading New Brunswick to capture 5 of 6 Superman classes. Samantha who is a 5-time Canada’s strongest woman cruised to victory while Joey had to come back with his right hand and defeat Wayde Graves 5 times in the final. Nathan Guitard was the other NB’er who crushed his competition in the left hand lightweight class. Jim McGeoghegan of PEI was the lone winner not from NB.

This was the last Superman we will be running. Later this year we will start a new armwrestling series.

Results

October 19, 2025
Members present:
Rick Pinkney
Scott MacInnis
Paula O’Connell
Robert McNamara
Yaniev Vaida
Andrew Yakomovich
Madison Seely
Mark MacPhail via video conference
Pauline Surkan via video conference

Meeting called to order 5:42pm

Motion by Rick Pinkney, seconded by Rob McNamara
Motion passed Unanimously
Change Junior Classes to the following:
Mixed 6 & Under
Mixed 7-8
Mixed 9-10
Girls 11-12
Girls 13-15
Girls 16-18
Boys 11-12
Boys 13-15
Boys 16-18

Motion by Rick Pinkney, Seconded by Scott MacInnis
Passed Unanimously
Whereas the 2026 Provincials will be held more than 3 hours from Halifax, the NSAWA will cover 1 room night per referee for the event

Motion by Rick Pinkney, seconded by Chris Scott
Passed Unanimously
Add a 225lb class to Battle of the Atlantic for left and right arms
No more Elite 1, 2 and 3

Motion by Rick Pinkney, seconded by Scott MacInnis
Passed Unanimously
Whereas it takes considerable time to set up for the Atlantic Championships, the NSAWA will cover 1 night hotel room for Rick Pinkney.

Motion by Rob McNamara, seconded by Scott MacInnis
Passed Unanimously
Change Ladies classes for Atlantic Championships to 143, 170, 170+

Motion by Mark MacPhail, seconded by Andrew Yakomovich
Passed Unanimously
Change Provincial Classes to the following:
154, 176, 198, 220, 220+ for both left and right arms (165 class has been deleted)

New Business:
– Whereas 2026 will be the 40th Provincial Championships, the NSAWA will look at special awards for the the Championships
– The NSAWA will investigate having Team concept for Atlantic Canada much the same as what the Table Monkeys (Jason Costantini) are doing, whereby we have team captains and they draft their team.

Meeting adjourned at 7:12pm
–

Patrick MacKinnon showed that his right was just as deadly as his left at BOTA XXVIII on the weekend. In a stacked class Patrick came out on top in both the left and right hand classes. In the upset of the day 14yr old Thomas Dumas took the middleweight class defeating the favourite Ralphie Bayers.

In the Belt matches, 2 belts changed hands as challengers Aaron Smyth and Brett Landsburg won the respective divisions. Ralphie Bayers, Dylan Courier and Patrick MacKinnon held onto their belts.

Full Results: BOTA XXIII

Our newest club, the Hicktown High Risers, showed up to the New Ross Fair and dominated most of the classes. Both Slater Ring and Logan Ring captured both the right and left hand classes. The other double winner of the day was Laura Broome in the Ladies Open class. In the junior classes Garrison Frost won 4 classes in the Under 18. The Westcott brothers took a total of 6 Gold, with Jonah winning both the 8yr and 10yr old right and left hand classes while younger brother Linden won the 6yr old division. In the girl’s division, there was no stopping Noelle Harris as she won both hands and at 13 joined the ladies classes and took home a 3rd and a 4th.

Results

The 2025 provincial Championships took place at Weir Field in Upper Sackville. Although the number of entries were down from from previous years the competition was fierce. The much anticipated match-up between Brett Landsburg and Pat MacKinnon went off with Brett dominating the right hand and Pat doing the same with the left. Aaron Smyth and Angela McNamara were the only double winners in the senior classes. Phil Carty and Mark MacPhail had a couple great battles on their way to match of the day. The Sackville Warriors were the top team. However the young and fast growing team from Pictou is proving that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

We’d like to wish Hunter Elliott a speedy recovery.

Team New Brunswick broke Nova Scotia’s 21 year stranglehold on the Championship trophy. NB edged out NS by 8 points to capture the crown as the top team in Atlantic Canada. Mae Colpitts led the way for NB with 4 gold medals.

In the Juniors, 14yr old Thomas Dumas continues to dominate, winning both the 16 and 18yr old categories. However Nova Scotia captured the first ever junior. team trophy.