Steve Schmidt didn’t just close the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper with complete domination last night at the Mohegan Sun - he did it three times.


Steve Schmidt nailed the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper last night at the Mohegan Sun. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.


Yesterday morning, Steve Schmidt mentioned to Randall Strossen that he had just closed a No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper and was interested in possibly trying an official attempt for certification - which then took place right after the Rolling Thunder® competition last night.

Kidding Steve before his attempt, Strossen said, “You have the easy part - you just have to close the gripper . . . I have to get the picture.” It turned out to be no joke because Steve Schmidt walked through the gripper with complete command, while Strossen only managed to get a crummy, out-of-focus picture. Strossen asked Schmidt if he were willing to try it again, just for the photo, and they moved to the side where the light looked a little better.

Schmidt did the same thing again with the gripper - destroyed it - and Strossen did the same thing again with the photo - fumbled it. So, once again they moved and once again Schmidt slammed the No. 3 shut - with two warmups under his belt, this time Strossen managed to get a sharp photo documenting Steve Schmidt’s third successful close in a matter of a minutes.

Many thanks for your patience, Steve and welcome to the club: you have just been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper. Congratulations!