"Mr. Brzenk, tell me about your matches with Cleve Dean. Also, there was a guy who played for the Orlando Renegades football team who almost beat Cleve in a tournament I was in, do you know who that was? Thanks for this forum!
I have known Cleve for about 15 years now. We have only pulled against each other at three different organized tournaments. The first in 1986. It was at an Over the Top qualifier event in Houston Texas. That was the first time I felt the awesome power of Cleve Dean. His hand to say the least felt very uncomfortable to me. We slipped grips on the first go, and after being put in the straps he beat me easily. Later that same year I got a chance to spend some time with Cleve in New York at a toy show that had to do with the dolls made of us for the movie Over The Top. During this time we spent a lot of time on the table and I soon realized what would work and what to avoid. I didn't pull Cleve for 10 years after my experience at the toy show, but I knew in my mind I would have a chance the next time we would meet. That next time would be in the finals of a Yukon Jack tournament in I believe 1994. My strategy was to grab him a little lower an the wrist and hope my hand strength was enough to turn him into a hook, forcing him to beat me inside with his Arm strength verses that incredible hand that he has. This worked, and I won that Tournament...Later that same year I pulled Cleve in a small tournament on the East Coast using the same strategy I beat him there also. They guy your thinking of, I think is Bobby Hopkins it was a Steve Simonds WPAA tournament with the two go system, there was no strap, and once the competitors slipped they were required to pull to the end in a hook. I also was at that same tournament. If I remember right, I think Cleve was fouled out for not staying in a hook and Bobby did win that tournament."