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       2026 AMERICAN CHALLENGE:  The American Challenge is a fantastic meet as there are meets spread all across the country.  Lifters simply have to compete at the closest meet and when all meets are finished, the results are compiled, and a national champion is crowned. 

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       THE TOP 10 AMERICAN CHALLENGE PREVIEW:  I am going to keep this write up short and simple.  I love to see consistency, so this write up will focus on lifters who have won five or more national titles AND to qualify the lifter must have won an American Challenge title between (2022-2025).   

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     (#10) NATASHA BEASLEY:  I broke my own rules, but I only had nine lifters who qualified based on my criteria.  This being the case, I went back to 2021 to see who the best of the rest was and that lifter was...Natasha Beasley.  Not only has Natasha won five national titles in the curl, but Natasha has also won five national titles in powerlifting.  'IF' Natasha comes back in 2026, competes and wins, Natasha will jump up quite a few notches for my 2027 preview.  

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      (#09) KRYSTAL BROWN:  Checking in at #9 is Krystal Brown.  Krystal is a 5x national champion in the curl and Krystal is a 6x world champion.  Krystal is also known as being one of the nicest lifters you will ever meet on and off the platform.  

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      (#08) MACKENZIE GRACE TAYLOR:  The youngest lifter on our list is Mackenzie Grace Taylor.  Despite being a teenager, Mackenzie has collected five national titles in powerlifting and five in the bench AND Mackenzie is also the defending national champion in the curl.  Mackenzie has been dealing with some injuries, but I suspect that she is still the lifter to beat and if she adds one more national title in the bench or the full meet, she will jump up a lot higher on next year's list.  

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      (#07) JOHN COOPER:  'IF' I was previewing the world meet John Cooper would check in at #1 or #2, but for the American Challenge John Cooper checks in at #7.  John is a 6x open national champion and as is the case for all of the lifters on this list, if John competes and wins this year (John always wins when he competes) John would move up a lot higher on the 2027 lifters to watch out for list.

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       (#06) BRUCE KNOX: (#3-#7) was a five-way tie with each lifter having won six national titles in one event.  Bruce would end up beating John Cooper for the sixth spot based on the tie breaking criteria.  The last time John competed (he won of course) was 2022 while Bruce last competed and won in 2024.  Bruce along with John are favorites if they compete.  Also, Bruce, like John will try to be win his tenth world curl title later this year.  

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       (#05) REBECCA TUCKER:  Rebecca Tucker is a six-time American Challenge champion in powerlifting, but I gave her the edge over John Cooper and Bruce Knox for fifth place as Rebecca also two American Challenge bench press titles.  

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      (#04) NAOIMI KUTIN GREEN: As I said before there was a five-way tie (each lifter holding six national titles), but in the end I gave Naomi the #4 spot as she is the defending national champion and the other three are not,  I do believe that Naomi is competing at the American Challenge this year so watch out as I would expect Naomi to add her seventh powerlifting title.  

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      (#03) JOHN AMMONS: This one was easy.  Technically (#3-#7) are each tied as each lifter has won 6 national titles, but John definitely has the advantage as John has won six powerlifting titles, six bench titles AND six curl titles for a total of 18 national titles.  John is arguably the most popular lifter in 100% RAW.  

 

      (#02) PEDRO MEJIAS: Pedro Mejias from New York checks in at (#2) with an incredible 9 national titles in the bench!!!  That's the good news.  The bad news, Pedro hasn't won a national title since 2022.  'If' Pedro competes this year he will hold on to the #2 spot, but if he doesn't, everyone below him will move up a spot in next year's preview.  

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       (#01) GARY TEETER: If you have followed the American Challenge for a year or more you already knew who #1 is.  Gary is an 11x national bench champion which is 2 more than any other lifter EVER in 100% RAW and if that's not enough, Gary is a 10x national curl champion which is 4 (yes 4!!!) more than any other lifter including the legends John Ammons, John Cooper and Bruce Knox.  Note, Gary is the defending champion in both events so even if he were to retire (which he isn't) Gary would still be at the top of this list for a long time!!!  

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