She is a champion for students with special needs in her classroom at Mountain Ridge High School. Now, Sarah LaFond has risen to the top in something else she is passionate about. Sarah recently became the women’s world champion in arm wrestling during a competition in France.
On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Mountain Ridge High where we meet this dynamic educator and athlete who is a powerful force in and outside the classroom.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is a champion for students with special needs in her classroom at Mountain Ridge High School. Now, Sarah LaFond has risen to the top in something else she is passionate about. Sarah recently became the women's world champion in arm wrestling during a competition in France. On this episode of the Supercast, we head to Mountain Ridge High where we meet this dynamic educator and athlete who is a powerful force in and outside the classroom. Find out what it takes to make it to the top as a world champion for both right arm wrestling and left arm wrestling.
We're at Mountain Ridge High School with Sarah LaFond, world champion in left and right hand arm wrestling. Sarah, thanks for taking time to talk with us.
Sarah LaFond:
Thank you for having me.
Anthony Godfrey:
When you're not arm wrestling, you're also a special education teacher here at Mountain Ridge. Tell us about your career.
Sarah LaFond:
I've been teaching, this is my sixth year teaching. I've always done math resource at a secondary level. So I teach the kids with mild, moderate disabilities the high school math content.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what made you want to become a teacher?
Sarah LaFond:
I'm dyslexic. Had a hard time learning to read and so I guess I saw the difference a good teacher could make and wanted to be that teacher for some kids.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you ended up with math as the focus?
Sarah LaFond:
Yes, definitely. I have always preferred math to language arts.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Fair enough. Now let's talk about arm wrestling. First of all, what got you into arm wrestling in the first place?
Sarah LaFond:
Okay, so I've lifted a very long time. I started out lifting when I was a young teen with my dad and have lifted for most of my adult life. And it got to a point where I felt like I was strong enough and not doing anything with the strength that I was building. So I kind of started researching different options. My upper body's always been my strength and so I thought breaking into arm wrestling would be easy. There was a local team and so I just started going, that was only about a year and a half ago, so I'm pretty new to it.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you've only done it for a year and a half and you're world champion?
Sarah LaFond:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
That feels pretty awesome I’ll bet.
Sarah LaFond:
It's pretty good. Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So how did you find out there were teams to start with?
Sarah LaFond:
My dad really, cuz I was talking to him about different competitive outlets and he was like, you should look into arm wrestling. So I googled it, you know, found a Facebook group.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah. That's pretty much it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Are you generally a competitive person?
Sarah LaFond:
I'm very competitive.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Yeah. So you needed an outlet for that?
Sarah LaFonda:
Everything's a competition.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, you knew you had to compete somehow, somewhere.
Sarah LaFond:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the equipment that you, when you, if you walk into the club or the competition, what does the table look like? What does the equipment look like? I've pictured in the past someone, you know, having to hold a post with one hand and then wrestle with the other. So will you describe that?
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah. So you've got a table that's just, at least on me, just above hip height. There are certain requirements, but I actually don't know 'em off the top of my head. And then you've got these square pads that your elbow has to stay on at all times. So your elbow's always on the pad and then you've got a peg off to the side that your other hand has to be on. So, like the main rules, if you had to say what are the rules, is you have to have one foot on the ground and one hand on the peg, elbow on the pad. Right? And then you're just trying to pin the other person. There's a pad just next to you that you're trying to pin their hand to.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So are you sometimes trying to pull people off of those rules to get them to break the rules?
Sarah LaFond:
Oh yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Not necessarily just win, but disqualify them because they break the rules?
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah, so you can win based on elbow fouls, right? So if their elbow comes off the pad, they get an elbow foul. And if that happens twice, you win. So you can win with elbow fouls and you can definitely do that. I mean, it takes a lot of lat strength, but it's a strategy to just elbow foul 'em out. You just pull 'em off the pad.
Anthony Godfrey:
So do you do research on people as they come into this and now, okay, this is a person where lats are a strength and they may try to pull me off the pad. I'm gonna be ready for that.
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah, absolutely. Like you try to know your competition, right. And to see kind of, so there's different methods. The main two are top rolling and using a hook. Right? So you like to know if they're a top roller or use hooks and how you can combat that. So you go into it trying to know how they're gonna attack you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay now I instantly have to know what top rolling and using hooks are, so tell me about that.
Sarah LaFond:
Of course. Okay. So the top roll is what you would see in Over the Top, right? So you're kind of trying to pronate your hand and drag your elbow back to essentially attack their fingers and just win your hand straight.
Anthony Godfrey:
To attack their fingers? Can you show me kind of what that would look like?
Sarah LaFond:
Yes. So if I were to grip up with you, what I'm doing here is instead of just going sideways, I'm coming through here and attacking your fingers.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, so you're kind of pulling my arm and hand toward you. I see. I can see you’ve done that before.
Sarah LaFond:
Uh huh, and then a hook you want to go ahead and you're gonna actually hook your wrist together and then you're just trying to drive them that way. So they're almost opposite.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Hook the hand again, because when you hook it, you're kind of pulling toward me a little bit, aren’t you?
Sarah LaFond:
Yes, uh huh. And then I'm just gonna drive my bone into your bone there.
Anthony Godfrey:
I can see that that would be very effective. So because they're opposites, you kind of have to think what are they gonna try to do? And if you're defending for one, you're actually opening yourself up to the other.
Sarah LaFond:
Definitely. Yep. And you have to kind of know, cuz I mean, speed is huge. So if you're a top roller and they use hooks, if you're faster than them, you'll probably beat 'em. But if you're not, a hook's gonna beat a top roll. Right.
Anthony Godfrey:
So, how much of the competition is about matchup then? Is there, if you top roll and they hook, does that make that more difficult or?
Sarah LaFond:
It really, at that point, it's just gonna depend usually on speed. Right. Whoever hits first is probably gonna win. If you're going a top roll against a hook.
Anthony Godfrey:
So I have so many questions. So do you go fast and hard or, I mean, is that the strategy?
Sarah LaFond:
Almost always. Right. Unless you're significantly stronger than your opponent and you kind of just wanna get a feel for 'em, otherwise you wanna hit. so it's called the ready go. Right. You can go as soon as they say go, right, but you get a warning if you go before the go. So, ready go, you wanna hit, you wanna make sure you get the advantage because as soon as someone's wrist breaks, not breaks, but just like cracks so to speak, that person's probably gonna win, right?
Anthony Godfrey:
So when the wrist gives, they’re gonna lose.
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah, you've got 'em. Almost always, almost always. I did that in the finals on left hand. I came back from a bad wrist position and won. But it doesn't happen very often.
Anthony Godfrey:
Have you experienced injuries over the last year and a half as you've been arm wrestling? And what kind of injuries are possible?
Sarah LaFond:
Okay, so I mean, I just have basic like tendon pain, right? Like, and that's super common. Just your elbow's not really meant to go that direction, right? It's a hinge joint and you're trying to make it go every which direction. So that's just tendon pain. But that's just, if you just rest it, usually it gets better. And your tendons get better at enduring it so that I don't get a lot of pain anymore. But I've seen spiral fractures. So if you aren't good, you gotta be careful, right? I've seen guys have, so that's just up here in their humerus. It's just they're pushing one way and the other person's pushing the other way and their humerus just is a spiral fracture. So just twists in the two different directions and snaps. It's a loud noise.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'll bet it is. Yeah. Is that kind of a stubbornness, like it's not going your way? Or does it just happen out of nowhere?
Sarah LaFond:
No, you know, if you're, if you're doing it right, it won't happen. So you have to just look at your hand. That's like the first rule. Like you pretend there's a pencil from your thumb to your nose, and if you stay there, you're never gonna get a spiral fracture. But if you let your shoulder get in front of your arm like that, then it can twist. If your technique's good, it shouldn't happen.
Anthony Godfrey:
So do those who are just starting out sometimes do that and pull their shoulder to try to get a little more leverage?
Sarah LaFond:
Definitely, yeah. They think that it's gonna make 'em stronger. It gets you in a weaker position, but it's just natural to try to pull your whole body to try to win, you know, so you just have to practice it.
Anthony Godfrey:
I feel like I do that with a golf swing. I do things that feel better, but actually make my swing worse.
Sarah LaFond:
Yep. We all do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
So do your students know about your arm wrestling and does the faculty know?
Sarah LaFond:
Yes. I'm somewhat prideful about it. I have my arm wrestling awards displayed in my classroom, so my students know it's a point of pride for me.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, that's fantastic. You should show it off. Absolutely.
Sarah LaFond:
I do, all the time.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what is their reaction?
Sarah LaFond:
Well, when I get new students, they're always like, what are those for? And I say, arm wrestling. And usually they don't believe me. Right. And then I'm like, no, go read 'em. You know, and they say arm wrestling all over 'em. And then their immediate reaction is, will you arm wrestle me?
Anthony Godfrey:
So what does an arm wrestling trophy look like?
Sarah LaFond:
Oh, most of the time they're medals. I do have a couple belts in my closet but I don't know how to display those so they just stay in my closet.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. Stay with us when we come back. Sarah LaFond helps me up my arm wrestling game.
Break:
In Jordan School District, we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in, offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families, free of charge. You can take a class called Blues Busters for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends. There are also support groups and free counseling, all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists and counselors. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about coaching. Who's your coach? How does that work? And what are some of the things you've learned from them that you can share? Don't share any secrets.
Sarah LaFond:
Okay. Yeah. So I kind of have three coaches I would say. Bob Brown, he's really big in the arm wrestling community, trained for a very long time with Brzenk, which is what over the top is based off of. Brzenk's like the goat. Right. So, they're good friends. And so I train with Bob Brown and he's really well known in the community. I train at his house. And then I have Craig Tullier and he's now back in, I think Louisiana, I can't remember. He was out here for a while and he trained me. And also Luke Pulscher and he's in ooh, Minnesota maybe? And so those are more like remote, you know, they'll give me tips and stuff like that as they're watching live streams. They can text me and stuff like that. Bob, I train with all the time.
Anthony Godfrey:
What percentage of success is based on strength versus technique? I know, I know it's a 100% mental also.
Sarah LaFond:
Right, right. Oh, there's lots. But I would say if I were to say a percentage probably 30/70. 30% to strength and 70% to technique. Cuz I think I'm, and not to be boastful, I think I'm stronger than most of my opponents, but my technique's not as good because I'm new. And so they can sometimes beat me out in that way. So I think usually technique's gonna win. If you're even in strength, even if you're a little stronger than someone, but their technique is better, they'll probably beat you.
Anthony Godfrey:
But with your level of strength and the focus you've had on lifting for a long time, over time you're going to continue to hone that technique so you are going to get the full benefit of your strength at a certain point.
Sarah LaFond:
Yes. Eventually, hopefully. They say usually kind of around two to three years is when you really kind of hit your stride. So we're getting closer.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Yeah. That's fantastic. Now let's talk specifically about the national competition. Where was this held and how many rounds did it take to get to the finals?
Sarah LaFond:
Okay, so Nationals was in Texas over the summer. Dallas. And I went there and I was uncontested, meaning there was no one else in my weight class. So it's a weight class sport, just like wrestling is. So I was 57 kilograms, which is around 125 pounds. And so there was just no one else in my weight class. It's a small sport, not a lot of women in it. And then, you know, if you get down into the really finite weight categories, there wasn't anyone. So I was by default the state's 57 kilogram female arm wrestler.
And so then I went to this past September, end of September, beginning of October was Worlds and that was in Dieppe, France which is like an hour outside of Normandy, off the coast. Super pretty area. So I went there, got to explore Paris a little bit, and then went down to Dieppe and there we had a more sizable pool of females. It's a double round elimination tournament. So if you lose twice, you're out. So left hand, I lost to the first girl, her name was Fia. So I was on the B side of the bracket cuz I had lost once and beat everybody else. So then you come back for finals and she hasn't lost any. So in order to beat her, I have to beat her twice. Because she's beat me once, so I have to beat her twice to be better than her. So I did, I came back, I beat her twice. That was left hand, and then right hand, I stayed on the A side of the bracket. So I didn't lose any, I was just won 'em all.
Anthony Godfrey:
So let's talk more about left hand. You have to come from the B bracket and come back and beat the person twice.
Sarah LaFond:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
That you'd lost to. How many matches is that, and in what period of time are you doing that?
Sarah LaFond:
So at worlds, it was very fast just cuz they're efficient, they've gotta get through a lot of people. Right. And so I had to go and win three matches in between to get to her. Which sounds like not much cuz they're so fast. But you'd be surprised by the adrenaline and how exhausted you are. And then sometimes it's an immediate turnaround. You do a pull and then you're the next person up at the next one. So you get one minute, you know, they give you 60 seconds.
Anthony Godfrey:
How can you do that with the same arm? It does not sound easy at all.
Sarah LaFond:
No, it's exhausting. It's exhausting.
Anthony Godfrey:
It sounds, it sounds absolutely draining.
Sarah LaFond:
It is. And it can be frustrating sometimes, you know, you go and you have a really big battle with someone and then you're up next on the bracket again and then you lose to someone who you might not have just cuz you're totally beat. Right. So sometimes it's luck of the draw with the bracket. That's just how it goes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it's a little bit about how much energy you have to expend to get to the finals so that you're as fresh as possible against your most difficult opponent. Tell me about the right hand in this competition.
Sarah LaFond:
Yep. Right hand. So I actually didn't go up against the girl who gave me more trouble left-handed. She elbow fouled out with one of her first opponents. And so she got eliminated before I ever pulled against her. She was from Sweden, so left hand, the final was against Sweden and then right hand my final was against a woman from Poland. And she was a battle too, but I always felt in control of that one. The one left hand, I wasn't sure how it was gonna go for me. I was surprised by the outcome. Right hand went a little bit smoother for me. I think just confidence was boosted, maybe by left hand, I was able to keep my calm.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it was maybe good to do left hand first, maybe.
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Which hand do you prefer?
Sarah LaFond:
Usually I'm more confident left hand. I'm right hand dominant, but my strength is pretty even and most people are weaker left hand, so I just tend to perform a little bit better left, but right went well. So I won't complain about it.
Anthony Godfrey:
That makes sense. Well, congratulations again. That's awesome. Let's talk about this video. This is your left hand video?
Sarah LaFond:
Yeah, this is the final.
Anthony Godfrey:?
Can we start this over?
Sarah LaFond:
This is Fia from Sweden, so she slips, right.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, okay.
Sarah LaFond:
That was an intentional slip because, you see, I was in a winning position, so then our hands get strapped. Right. If you slip, you get strapped. And then she beat me in the strap.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh yeah.
Sarah LaFond:
And this is just another girl from Sweden. So that was my first loss, my first pull. Then I beat this girl from Sweden.
Anthony Godfrey:
Is it harder when it's strapped?
Sarah LaFond:
It depends. Some people are really good in the strap. I'm usually good in the strap, but I did not get it that time. So then here we come back, this is finals. We actually slipped and got into the strap. And so I beat her in the strap this first round. So now we're even, she's won one, I've won one, and I have to win one more to beat her. And so this is our last pull here. And you can see she definitely gets me right there.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, it looks like she's got you. She's leaning way in.
Sarah LaFond:
And like coming back from something like that. It's a, I mean.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right here. Did you think you had a chance to come back?
Sarah LaFond:
I didn't, but I just was gonna give it my all the whole time.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh that is so cool. That is so cool. She is leaning in, she's got her whole body going. She's got one foot down, one foot down.
Sarah LaFond:
You’ve got one foot up, one foot down. Lots of people ask me about that. So, but I was able to yeah pull her back from that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow. You just crank, crank, crank. It's like three cranks and she's down.
Sarah LaFond:
Yep.
Anthony Godfrey:
What did it feel like to win two world championships left and right?
Sarah LaFond:
It was amazing. I did not go into it expecting that. I went in expecting to go two and out, especially being that I didn't have anyone to compete against at nationals. I was just like, I was the default person, you know? So I didn't feel like I had really a, and being new to the sport, I just thought, well, this will be a good experience. I won't win. I didn't even think I'd win a single match, you know? And so then once I saw, you know, I stood a chance, it changed my mindset a little bit after pulling a couple girls and then that left hand win, that was, that was an unparalleled feeling cuz I came back from the B side. I came back from a losing position. It was my, you know, first world's champion win. It was, yeah, it was unreal. Definitely. Like, just the adrenaline was unbelievable. And then obviously right hand was great too. It was just that left hand. Yeah. That was an unparalleled moment.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that's pretty remarkable. Congratulations again. Maybe we need to submit a request to the state to start an arm wrestling class here at Mountain Ridge.
Sarah LaFond:
In Sweden they have an arm wrestling high school so…
Anthony Godfrey:
An arm wrestling high school? Oh my.
Sarah LaFond:
We're way far behind in the States compared to Europe.
Anthony Godfrey:
We are behind the Swedes once again. In another area. Oh wow. Okay. That's something. I'm looking that up. That's incredible. I know that you don't arm wrestle students, do you arm wrestle superintendents?
Sarah LaFond:
Ooh, I don't know.
Anthony Godfrey:
Not with full intensity, but just kind of show me. Let's do a reenactment. Let's do a reenactment. So show me how it felt when you, on the left hand when you were back. So first of all I'm not gonna give a spinal or a spiral?
Sarah LaFond:
A spiral fracture?
Anthony Godfrey:
First of all, I'm not gonna get a spiral fracture, am I?
Sarah LaFond:
No. Nope. Keep your eyes on your hand and you're good.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right.
Sarah LaFond:
Okay. So you just wanna feel kind of how I do it?
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Sarah LaFond:
Slow motion. Okay. Yeah. So I'm gonna go like this.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh wow.
Sarah LaFond:
And then I would come down here. Okay.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. I instantly had no ability to stop you.
Sarah LaFond:
Right, with the top roll, cuz I'm attacking your fingers, you can't use hardly anything up there. It's all about your hand strength and I’ve got you in an amazing position right there.
Anthony Godfrey:
Right, it’s hand strength only and I have no strength whatsoever. Wow. Yeah. I was going down, you were taking me down. There is no question about that. So what was the other move? That was the top roll. Sarah LaFond:
That's the top roll. And so the other one's a hook. So that'd be, I'd go in here and then the goal would be to just push against your bone. Right? With my bone.
Anthony Godfrey:
I could feel, that does not feel great. That's like I am going down again. That's incredible. Well, congratulations. I know you've got some secrets too.
Sarah LaFond:
Of course.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's very, very cool. Very cool. So, well thank you for taking the time and for explaining all this to us. It's fascinating. Congratulations on your success and thanks for being a great teacher here at Mountain Ridge.
Sarah LaFond:
Thank you. I enjoyed talking with you guys and I love being a teacher here at Mountain Ridge.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.