Spectators got more than their money’s worth at Miami Beach on Sunday, as they witnessed exciting, down-to-the-wire races during both the men’s and women’s team competition at the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza.
- Heading into the final event, only 12 points separated both the top four men’s teams and the top two women’s teams in what had been a back-and-forth battle all weekend.
But after 150 ping-pong wall balls, 75 synchro toes-to-bar, and a 150-foot worm lunge, it was The Boys (Noah Ohlsen, Chandler Smith, and Travis Mayer) who reclaimed the title, their second career title together (the other being in 2022), while the YETI Outkasts (Danielle Brandon, Emma Lawson, and Shelby Neal) snagged the women’s title by just six points over Team NUSA (Astrid Tind, Mia Furu, and Frederikke Mollerup).
- “For those that happened to tag each of us [on social media] and say that we were washed up and didn’t stand a chance up here, [the] top of the podium speaks for itself, so how about that?” Mayer said facetiously in a post-competition interview.
The Boys have become the first team in history to repeat as TYR Wodpalooza champions with all three of the same athletes.
How They Did It
Chemistry and Experience Were the Name of the Game for The Boys
On paper, The Boys, who also finished in third place together as a team in 2023, weren’t the strongest team in the field.
After all, Ohlsen is allegedly retired from individual competition (although he did sign a contract with the World Fitness Project for 2025).
- Meanwhile, Mayer might be an eight-time Games athlete, but he has never placed better than 10th, and that was back in 2016, and Smith’s best Games finish was sixth at the most recent Games.
In contrast, for example, the PJ’s—Pat Vellner, Jeff Adler and Jayson Hopper—had a five-time Games medalist in Vellner, a Games champion in Adler, and an up-and-comer who was fourth at the 2024 Games in Hopper. And, Team GOWOD had a two-time Games champion in Justin Medeiros and the 2024 second-fittest man in the world in Dallin Pepper.
Still, The Boys managed to pull it off.
Their secret weapon: “chemistry,” according to Ohlsen.
- “These guys are my best buddies. Not only do we make a great team performatively when we’re out here on the floor, but we also get along really well…I think that’s actually our greatest strength,” Ohlsen said after their first event win on Saturday.
Their chemistry and experience together as a team undoubtedly helped them earn not one but three event wins out of six events, as well as second, third, and fifth-place finish.
- That being said, Mayhem Tres Leches—Gui Malheiros, Jorge Fernandez, and Saxon Panchik—didn’t make it easy on them, as it ultimately came down to a lunging foot race with the worm during the final movement of the final event for The Boys to solidify themselves as the top team.
The Boys finished with 579 points, Mayhem Tres Leches in second with 570, and GOWOD (Medeiros, Pepper, and Willy Georges) in third with 561.
Staying the Course Helps Yeti Outkasts Grind Out a Win
The YETI Outkasts took the lead in the women’s team competition after Day 1, but not by much. They were 12 points ahead of LittleMcDottir Coming in Hotter, a team made up of Lucy McGonigle, Reese Littlewood, and Bergros Bjornsdottir, heading into Sunday’s events.
- On Sunday morning, however, after a 21st-place finish on Event 4, they dropped from first into fourth overall and would need to climb back in the two final events.
They did themselves a favor on the next event, finishing a solid sixth and doing enough to pull them back into a podium position in third overall, behind Swedish House Mafia (Emma Tall, Lena Richter, and Emelie Lundberg) and the leaders at the time, Relyte Salt Baes (Emily Rolfe, Arielle Loewen, and Abigail Domit).
It would all come down to the final event.
- The Relyte Salt Baes finished the 75 toes-to-bar and got to the 150-foot walking lunge first, but the YETI Outkasts were close on their heels, and by the time they turned around at the 75-foot mark, the YETI Outkasts had taken over the lead.
They went on to lunge their way to an event win while the Relyte Salt Baes continued to be passed by more teams on their way to finish 12th overall in the event.
- When the final results were calculated, Brandon, Lawson, and Neal had done enough to take the top spot, while Relyte Salt Baes dropped into fourth.
Rounding out the podium were Team NUSA (Astrid Tind, Mia Furu, Frederikke Mollerup) and Swedish House Mafia in what can only be described as a dramatic finish to the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza.
The Bottom Line
After 13 years of Wodpalooza, the team competition has become almost as popular as the individual division, if nothing else but for the bragging rights it brings.
- For now, it’s Ohlsen, Smith, and Mayer, and Brandon, Lawson, and Neal who will hold those bragging rights, at least for the next 12 months.
More CrossFit Stories
- James Sprague Cruises to Victory, Lucy Campbell Tops Horvath for 2025 TYR Wodapalooza Title
- 2025 TYR Wodapalooza Day 2 Recap: Tight Races and Surprise Winners
- A Third Pathway to the 2025 CrossFit Games Leaked: Last-Chance Qualifier
Featured image: Scott Freymond
