Three years ago, fresh off his fourth-place finish at the USAF
Unified National Arm Wrestling Championships, Hollister’s John Dabo
was considered an up-and-coming name in the wrist-wrestling
world.
Despite an unorthodox style and lack of technique, Dabo’s
fourth-place finish left him just two spots shy of advancing to the
WAF World Championships in 2007, not to mention a chance at
representing his country. Perhaps more surprising, he was
considered a novice, having only arm-wrestled for two years.
HOLLISTER
Three years ago, fresh off his fourth-place finish at the USAF Unified National Arm Wrestling Championships, Hollister’s John Dabo was considered an up-and-coming name in the wrist-wrestling world.
Despite an unorthodox style and lack of technique, Dabo’s fourth-place finish left him just two spots shy of advancing to the WAF World Championships in 2007, not to mention a chance at representing his country. Perhaps more surprising, he was considered a novice, having only arm-wrestled for two years.
“I was just starting out,” Dabo recalled.
To some, like Los Banos’ Bill Collins, who is the president of Arm World Promotions, Dabo’s development and rise was contingent upon gaining experience and learning proper technique.
But finances put a stunt in the Hollister resident’s growth. Traveling expenses kept Dabo close to home, and even then, first- and second-place payouts were meager, or at least not enough to offset other costs.
“Before, it wasn’t worth it to me because I was paying for everything,” said Dabo, who was either breaking even or coming out behind after arm-wrestling tournaments.
“Is it worth to train for the sport when I’m losing money?” Dabo asked.
The arm-wrestling career understandably took a backseat. Dabo still lifted in the time being, and competed at local tournaments in Los Banos, but any sort of development was halted.
So what brought Dabo back?
“There’s more motivation now,” he said, motivation most notably in the form of four sponsorships he picked up, including Gavilan Mechanical, Hollister Paint, Rianda Air Conditioning and San Benito Drywall.
“They want me to go,” Dabo added. “Now that I’m sponsored, I’m gonna train more.”
Dabo trained for a month and a half with Collins in Los Banos — he said he couldn’t lift his left arm for a week — before heading north to Klamath Falls, Ore., to compete in the Oregon state championships.
Still using his unorthodox style — Dabo literally comes to the moment of losing before mounting an all-out comeback on his opponent — the local arm-wrestler scored a 4-0 record in Oregon, and won the title at 155 pounds.
And again, perhaps more surprising, Dabo earned the 155-pound title despite weighing in at 148 pounds. He even defeated his opponent in the championship round in approximately 2.5 seconds.
“I hadn’t arm-wrestled in a year, so it was kind of my return to the sport,” he said. “Nobody really knows me because I went to two tournaments a year.”
Normally, Dabo was only competing at the tournaments Collins puts on in Los Banos. But with a little financial backing, Dabo now has his sights set on the Ryan Sheets Memorial Arm Wrestling Tournament in Bakersfield on April 10, the U.S. Open in Florence, Ore., on April 17, and the Unified Nationals in Billings, Mont., during the first week of August.
Dabo is normally a 143-pound arm wrestler, though, which he considers to be the toughest class in the sport, as two of his competitors in the weight division are two of the best in the world.
The logjam near the top of the weight class has Dabo thinking a move up to 155 pounds, however, which may supply him with a leg up on the competition.
“I’m thinking about doing 155 when I go to the Unified Nationals,” Dabo said. “I do have a little bit of time to train.”
And perhaps a little time to work on technique. Dabo says he has no technique in the sport, but instead is able to defeat opponents with sheer power and strength.
In the later rounds of a tournament and up against stronger opponents, however, power and strength can be a little bit more difficult to come by, at least when compared to the earlier rounds.
“The only technique I have is grabbing hold, letting them hit me and them pulling them back over. I’m always in a losing position,” Dabo said. “What [Collins] wants me to do is to be in the winning position.”
Dabo is now eyeing a return to the up-and-coming status that labeled his career at the start. He realizes training and learning proper technique is what will push him over the top and into a top-two spot at Unified Nationals, and now, he has the sponsorships to do it.
“Now that I have the sponsorships,” Dabo said, “it’s gonna be a whole different story.”
