Dugdale Takes USA Title, Harris Nabs Second Pro Card

Reported July 19, 2004

Dugdale Takes USA Title, Harris Nabs Second Pro Card

A dude I told you to watch out for in the latest News and Views column, and a guy I didn’t know would even be qualified, walked away with the two pro cards when the judging was finalized at the 2004 NPC USA Championships, held on July 16-17 at the Artemus Ham Auditorium on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Mark Dugdale, a 29-year-old father of three girls, more than grabbed my attention last season when he finished third in the Lightheavyweight class, losing only to eventual Overall champ Richard Jones and Kris Dim. So, how good was that division? Well, both Jones and Dim qualified for the Mr. Olympia in their first attempt in the pro ranks. And, I had the 5’6", 198-pounder Dugdale in second, for what it’s worth.

Thus, I warned of his ability to win the whole thing this time around, even though most of the pre-contest hype centered around Chris Cook. The "New Blond Bomber" had a tremendous 2003, both on and off the stage. First, he took the Superheavyweight class at the USA, then inked lucrative contract endorsements with MRM and Weider.

A fave of magazine editor’s as well as the fans, Cook landed on the cover of five books. He had the hype, and the might. The 5’10 1/2" Cook, who weighed 246 a year ago, stepped on the scale at 251 this time around and said he was ready to go.

However, although it was clear Cook would take his division again, he was not any sharper than he was in ’03 when he hit the pre-judging stage on Friday night; a film of water appeared to be blurring the definition and separation necessary to topple the field, or at least walk away with one of the two pro cards being handed out.

Dugdale appeared to have it in the bag as soon as he took off his sweats in the pump up room. He had the total package: muscularity, definition, perfect skin tone, poise and an all-around professional look in every sense of the word.

Will Harris, a Los Angeles-based chap with great potential but a guy who could never peak come contest time, gave notice of great things to come with a victory in the Superheavyweight class and Overall at the highly regarded Los Angeles Championships, held a week earlier.

Harris, who weighed 226 in his victory, dropped down to the Heavyweight class in ‘Vegas when he tipped the scales at 223. Harris held off the challenge of Florida star Markus Haley to take his class, then lost only to Dugdale in the battle for the Overall to join the Woodinville, Washington resident as the two newest members of the IFBB.

In addition to Cook, the other class winners who did battle with Dugdale and Harris in the Overall posedown were Middleweight winner Garrett Allin, a homeboy from ‘Vegas who looked terrific, "Ripped" Ralph Gaxiola, the Lightweight champion, and Bantamweight victor Steven Burke.

Visit the IRON MAN Contest Site for the USA photos.

’04 NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships
Overall: Mark Dugdale

Bantamweight
1) Steven Burke
2) Jose Vargas
3) George Gibson
4) John Ligsay, Jr
5) Richie Langit
6) Mike Palanca

Lightweight
1) Ralph Gaxiola
2) Brant Arelliano
3) Howard Steffensmeier
4) Allan Terrell
5) William Slater
6) Narciso NOS Racoma, Jr
7)Ron Marshall
8) Ramon Valasquez, Jr

Middleweight
1) Garrett Allin
2) Eryk Bui
3) Saman Bakhtiar
4) Jorge Betancourt
5) Hector Cruz
6) James Allen
7) Tom Jimenez
8) Jerry Serna
9) Robert Kreider
10) Peter Hennessy
11) Leon Harrison, Jr
12) Jolanda Martinez
12) Kaleo Timas
13) Chris Cianciulli
14) Sheldon Staggers
15) Brien Dawson
16) Eric Plair
16) Jeff Baldicanas

Light Heavyweight
1) Mark Dugdale*
2) Randolph Chaney II
3) Nathan Wonsley
4) Joe Ament
5) Curtis Bryant
6) Dale Hicks
7) Tito Raymond
8) Mark Anthony Christianson
9) T.J. Schoenborn
10) Tad Inoue
11) Edgar Cabrera
12) Michael Broadway
13) Patrick Franks
14) Sam Urbach
15) William Zamot
16) Darrell Williams
16) Allen Sarkiszadeh
16) Zubevi Khalfani
16) Lee Walker
16) Jean Claude Desardouin
)16 Clyde Norris
16) Erich Blancaflo
16) Daniel Rocha
16) Pax Monstein
16) John Ellins
16) Joseph Perroni

Heavyweight
1) Will Harris*
2) Marcus Haley
3) Faramarz Aghazadeh
4) Grigori Atoyan
5) Michael Ergas
6) Capriese Murray
7) Charles Ray Arde
8) Lionel Brown
9) Jonathan Rowe
10) Sonny Thomason
11) Damon Island
12) Gus Carter
13) Rick Sosias
14) Quintin Pullen
15) Darrell Terrell
16) Ernesto Osorio
16) Darin Dudash
16) Ryan Foxx
16) Eric Shannon
16) David Johnson
16) Dylan Armbrust
16) Clay Awishes
16) Terry Hariston
16) Randy Moore
16) Shawn McKinney
16) Tab Hunter
16) Doug Burnett
16) Mike Horn
16) Richard Butler
16) Chris Dodson
16) Kevin Reeves
16) Matthew Simpson

Super Heavyweight
1) Chris Cook
2) Rusty Jeffers
3) Omar Deckard
4) Rodney Davis
5) Abbas Khatami
6) David Palumbo
7) Chris Bennett
8) Rudy Richards
9) Jason Bard
10) Kike Gutierrez
11) Milton James
12) Jason Dayberry
13) Wondell LeFlore
14) Brian Davies
15) Joseph Patterson
16) Jim Reyes
16) Adam Hlas
16) Stephen Collier
16) John DiLauro
16) BJ Harrison
16) Paul Pfeifer
16) Korbie Ntiforo
16) Matthew Sequeira
16) Sean Calder

*Earns pro card

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