"Travis [Ortmayer] is definitely hungry for the America's Strongest Man® title," American Strongman Corporation (ASC) president Dione Wessels told IronMind®, and this past weekend he took another step toward that goal when he won in Orlando.

Along with Travis Ortmayer winning in the pro class, "Andy Vincent out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana won his pro card in the open class and Elliot Hulse out of Florida won in the 105-kg class," Wessels told IronMind®.

With eyes focused on the big men, Wessels said that Ortmayer "went through the events with ease and also loaded a 360-pound stone to a 74-inch platform on the 'stone for height' event." At the same time, though, Wessels added, "not to take anything away from Marshall White since he just recently moved to Colorado and has not been able to train for contests. Marshall was definitely a crowd favorite and I think he has a lot more in him for Nationals."

"There is one more qualifier left on May 16, 2009 in Battle Creek, Michigan. All of the former America's Strongest Man winners since 1997 have an open invite to Nationals," said Wessels. "To keep it fair for all of the athletes, we are even having a qualifier for those that are on the injured list later this season. So no one will have a reason to say they did not have the opportunity. I think with all of the best athletes there, we will truly see who is America's Strongest Man®."

For full details on ASC contests, please check the ASC website.