Midsummer Melee returns with four-level armwrestling format, June 20, 2026

Midsummer Melee returned for its second year on June 20 with a $35 entry fee, check-in by 9:30 a.m. and a 10 a.m. rules meeting, but the bigger change was in how athletes were sorted: four difficulty levels, no weight classes, and a meet director with the power to move competitors up a level for fairness.

Women’s Levels 1 and 2 were reserved for athletes assigned female at birth only, while Men’s/Open Levels 1 and 2 were open to anyone. Stronger female athletes were encouraged to enter the open levels if they wanted, and size, strength and experience were mixed more aggressively than in a traditional weight-class card.

The first event on the card was a Clean and Press Ladder, with 90 seconds to clean and press two axles and two logs in ascending, alternating order. The sequence was fixed, from light axle to light log to heavy axle to heavy log, and split times were taken after each down command. If an athlete cleared all four implements before the clock ran out, there was still a chance to repeat the final log until time expired. Strict press, push press, push jerk and split jerk were all allowed, giving athletes multiple technical paths through the opening test.

Event 2 was a Deep Dish Deadlift MAX with three attempts in a rising-bar format, using Rogue Deep Dish steel plates and an extra whippy 8-foot Kabuki deadlift bar. Event 3 was a Carry and Load Medley that gave athletes 90 seconds to front-carry and load a metal block, keg and sandbag over roughly 25 feet each. Cerberus Strength sponsored the meet, offered discount codes for athletes and supplied gift cards for each division winner.