Guam is sending 7 athletes to compete in the Barbell Brigade Open in Los Angeles California. The Powerlifting Team AKA Gorilla Boiz includes 5 men and 2 women competing. The team leaves July 27th and competes on July 30th & 31st. 

Kayla Anderson with Team Guam said, "To be able to represent Guam it means a lot to all of us. Just because we’re a small island doesn’t mean that Powerlifting doesn’t exist here. So this is why we compete off Island to show that island strength. We hope that other Islanders will see what we’re doing and want to join us or just show their Islander spirit by competing outside of Guam and show how strong we are here."

Morgan Acfalle added, "This is my first meet. I’ve just been really goal focused. I’ve been taking the advice of my other fellow lifters who have been there. They’ve just been helping me work on my mindset since this is my first one. Just staying positive and before going onto the platform thinking about the lift. Thinking about the technique and making sure that I go on there and do it correctly." 

Teammate Mikel Nicolas said, "Our lifts are based on 5 training days per week. Monday is usually Squat. Tuesday is Bench and Thursday is Deadlift. The other two are just more of a volume training. Trying to incorporate that every week and trying to be consistent and trying to get that training mindset also is very important, not just training physically."

Christian Duenas said, "So everyone is near weight or they already made weight going into this competition. There will be a lot of time for sleep and rest. We have a lot of experience. This is our 3rd meet going in. We’ve been doing this since 2017 so I feel like that gives us an advantage with weight cutting, sleep and meal preparation. I think that will be effective in our game plan when it comes to lifting."

And Anthony “Big Tone” Salas from Team Guam said, "So the goal for the team is to represent the island of course. But we all want to come back home with medals. A lot of us hold records for the island. So we want to go out and represent our in Cali. This is going to be our first California meet. In like 4 years it’s our first team meet. Shout to Paradise Fitness for taking care of us since day one. Without these guys we wouldn’t be able to represent the island the way we are. But Team Guam Powerlifting, we’re going to go out and represent and make you all proud."