Cutler Repeats as Schwarzenegger Classic Champion

Cutler Repeats as Schwarzenegger Classic Champion

Jay Cutler made it back to back wins in 2003, and back to back victories at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic with a repeat unanimous triumph over runner-up Chris Cormier on Saturday, March 1 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio.

The 5’9", 257-pound Cutler, who opened the new contest season with a dominating victory at the IRONMAN Pro Invitational on February 15, garnered first place votes in all four rounds to once again fight off the challenge of Cormier, who finished in second for the fourth consecutive time at the ASC.

For his victory Cutler, 29, picked up $100,000, a new Hummer and a $20,000 Gold Rolex watch. As he did at the IRONMAN, Cutler also was named as the winner of the Most Muscular Man award.

Cormier, who recently relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada (as Cutler did in the summer of 2000), earned $50,000 for his Silver Medal performance. The 5’11" Cormier looked much lighter than normal—probably in the 240-242 pound area—but his symmetrical physique resulted in a unanimous selection for that slot.

The best battle of the evening came in the fight for third, fourth and fifth place. At the end of the pre-judging, Kevin Levrone and Dexter Jackson were tied, and Markus Ruhl was one point in back of them.

Jackson moved out in front after the posing round by three points over Ruhl and 10 over Levrone, but Markus, the 5’11", 280-pound German Beast, outscored Jackson by five points in round four (posedown) to edge Jackson, last year’s third place finisher, by a single digit. Levrone, with two fifth place showings in the final two rounds, ended up a distant fifth, 14 points behind Jackson.

Darrem Charles (6th), Ahmad Haidar (7th), Melvin Anthony (8th), Quincy Taylor (9th) and Troy Alves (10th) rounded out the top 10 in the 14-man field. Flex Wheeler, third in the Ironman and originally scheduled to compete, had to drop out of the event due to illness.

Many of the same contestants in Columbus, including Cutler, will be moving on to Berkeley, California this Saturday, March 8, for the San Francisco Grand Prix. The event, held in San Francisco the past two years under the direction of Giorgio Tsoukalos, moves to the Zellerbach Theater on the campus of UC Berkeley this year. Again, Tsoukalos will run an NPC Figure competition in conjunction with the pro men’s show. For more information, contact Tsoukalos at (415) 332-2014.