Grip and Grit: Keene Local Forms Arm Wrestling Competitions

Jeremy Dear, a Keene local, joined an arm-wrestling tournament at Bender's on a whim — and won. Since that unexpected victory, he has found renewed drive and motivation to continue in the sport. Growing up, Dear's father was deeply involved in arm wrestling and passed that passion on to Dear. "I lost my dad to back cancer last year, and whatever it was, I had just been in a really bad space for a long time, and had not gotten out of my house, had been in a lot of depression," Dear explained. "For whatever reason, I've always been pretty good at arm wrestling. I just thought I'd try the Bender's tournament and see. I ended up winning the whole thing and it just gave me a reason to be proud of myself." After winning the tournament at Bender's, Dear began searching online for additional arm-wrestling competitions in the region and discovered the Neal Origins Tournament near Boston. He entered the pro class, where he was quickly humbled, but still walked away with a third-place bronze medal. From there, Dear was introduced to Badger Drewes and the Granite Arms team based out of Manchester. Drewes is now Dear's coach, and Dear has been a member of Granite Arms for 10 months. "Since being on the team, it's given me a sense of purpose and has really been something positive in my life," Dear said. During that time, he has earned five silver medals and one bronze medal. "It would not have been possible for me if my coach, Badger Drewes, hadn't given me a chance." But, traveling to tournaments with his team has proven to be financially challenging. "I had a couple of heart attacks and since then I have been unable to work. It's been a real struggle for me financially because everything is like two hours away," Dear explained. Drewes suggested that Dear find some local sponsors to help with the cost, and one of them, Red House Irons, suggested Dear try to organize some tournaments locally. So Dear did just that. "I have managed to put together the tools and resources to host my own events here in this area." He will host four events this year at the ELMM Community Center in Winchester. "I am genuinely trying to give people the opportunity to come and watch arm-wrestling to see if they like it and enjoy it. I am trying to be different from the other tournaments because they are charging the athletes to be in the events, charging the public and charging athletes for their shirts at the events. Most of the time you have to be a really popular elite arm-wrestler to be considered (for) these events. For me, I wanted to be different. For my events, we do all classes: amateurs, semi pros, pros," explained Dear. "We won't be charging the public or the athletes, and we will provide athletes with t-shirts for free." Dear has been able to offer free events by securing support from local sponsors. "It's a lot of just me going around my community and doing a lot of networking and finding local businesses that are willing to sponsor these events to help it come to life," he said. "Thankfully we have a good network of people who are supportive of trying to put something together that is positive in the community." Sponsors for the events include DeLeo'n Designs, Steve Wilder Automotive, Corner News, The Vacuum Store, Urban Styles, Red House Irons Tattoo Shop, ELMM Community Center, New Hampshire Restaurant Equipment, Sunrise Nutrition, B.S. Smoking Sauces and BBQ, Pour House and Classy Clip Dog Boarding and Grooming. The first Rising Stars Arm Battle will take place on March 21 from noon to 5 p.m., at the ELMM Community Center, located at 21 Durkee Center in Winchester. The remaining three events are scheduled for June 27, Aug. 22 and Dec. 5. For more details and to sign up, visit the Rising Stars Arm Battles event pages on Facebook. Dear also hopes to record the events and post them online for those unable to attend. All events are free and open to the public.