Welcome back to the final night of the 2022 Arnold Classic bodybuilding show. Here are a few of fun facts: This is the 34th edition of the contest, it has only ever taken place in Columbus, OH, and no one named Arnold has ever won the title — ever.
During the last night of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s namesake show, five more champions were crowned. The contest was held at the Battelle Grand Ballroom in the Greater Columbus Convention Center. In total, there was $799,000 on the line across all eight divisions — three of which already had wrapped as of March 4 — and qualifications to the prestigious Mr. Olympia.
Alright, here are the Saturday night results.
Saturday Night Results
The Battle Grand Ballroom in the Greater Columbia Convention Center was buzzing with excitement for the Saturday night finals of the 2022 Arnold Classic on Mar. 5. After rock legend Dee Snider kicked off the evening, it was time to crown champions.
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Pro Wheelchair
After a long and exciting Friday night, Saturday, March 5 kicked off with the Pro Wheelchair division, where Gabriele Andriulli upset four-time Olympia champion and five-time Arnold winner Harold Kelley to take home the Pro Wheelchair win.
- Gabriele Andriulli, $4,000
- Harold Kelley, $2,500
- Bradley Betts, $1,500
- Chad McCrary
Bikini International
This contest included former Olympia champions Ashley Kaltwasser and Elisa Pecini, as well as 2021 Olympia runner-up Lauralie Chapados.
Those three were facing the challenge of Maureen Blanquisco, who jumped both Olympia winners to second place. Chapados won her first Bikini International title, and is the clear number one contender to Olympia champ Jennifer Dorie, who was watching from the side of the stage.
- Lauralie Chapados, $10,000
- Maureen Blanquisco, $6,000
- Ashley Kaltwasser, $4,000
- Elisa Pecini, $3,000
- Jourdanne Lee, $1,500
- Alessia Facchin, $1,500
- Lucia Malavaze
- Lauren Dannenmiller
- Phoebe Hagan
- Allison Testu
Men’s Physique
The favorite in this division was Erin Banks, who finished second at the 2021 Olympia to champion Brandon Hendrickson. He was joined in the center of the final callout with Emanuel Hunter, who may be the best he has ever been.
- Erin Banks, $10,000
- Emanuel Hunter, $6,000
- Diogo Montenegro, $4,000
- Antoine Weatherspoon, $3,000
- Choi Bong Seok, $1,500
- Terrence Teo Kok Hua, $1,500
Wellness International
Thanks to the Wellness Interational division being so new, the winner of this contest is making IFBB Pro League history by becoming first Wellness International Champion.
Angela Borges had a lot of support in the crowd, which was amplified when she was in the center of the comparison with Julia Chitarra. Both competitors impressed the judges. So, it was a tough decision for them. Ultimately, the judges rules in favor of Nunes, who is now the answer to the trivia question of who took home the crown of the first Wellness International champ.
- Isabelle Nunes, $7,000
- Angela Borges , $4,000
- Sunny Andrews, $3,000
- Julia Chitarra, $2,000
- Yarishna Ayala, $1,000
- Kassandra Gillis, $1,000
- Barbara Cesar
- Lorena Ragusa
- Devyn Cambre
- Casey DeLong
Arnold Classic
Former Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry and former two-time Arnold Classic champ William Bonac had their own callout for the judges to determine the winner. Head judge Steven Weinberger put the past champions through two complete rounds of posing to get the fans even more excited.
Before placings were announced, Curry brought home an extra 10 grand for receiving the Ed Corney Best Posing award. The Franco Columbu Most Muscular award, and another $10,000, went home with William Bonac.
The trophy that mattered most was the Arnold Classic itself, which would go back to Tennessee with Curry, who is now a two-time Arnold Classic Champion. Bonac took the runner-up slot, while Steve Kuclo finished in third for the second straight year.
- Brandon Curry, $200,000
- William Bonac, $120,000
- Steve Kuclo, $70,000
- Samson Dauda, $37,500
- Justin Rodriguez, $20,000
- Brett Wilkin, $12,500
- Regan Grimes, $2,000
- Maxx Charles, $2,000
- Fabio Giga Rezende, $2,000
Friday Night Results
The Battelle Grand Ballroom during night one of the Arnold Classic — taking place March 4-5 — was buzzing. Three divisions saw their champions crowned and pre-judging for the historic Men’s Open contest commenced.
To probably no one’s surprise, five-time Figure Olympia winner Cydney Gillion secured her second Arnold Classic Figure International title against a competitive field. As she’s already qualified for the Olympia, no other competitor gets her qualification and she walks away $16,000 richer.
[Related: 2022 Arnold Classic Friday Night Finals — Fitness, Figure & Classic Physique]
To the surprise of many, Missy Truscott — who won the 2020 Fitness International and Fitness Olympia titles — lost her title to 29-year old Ariel Kadhr. Fans sounded audibly shocked as MC Bob Cicherillo announced the decision. Kadhr performed an electrifying Arnold-inspired routine that contained elements from The Terminator and Predator.
Lastly, Terrence “Ruff Diesel” Ruffin made history as the first Classic Physique competitor to win two Arnold Classic titles. And with it, he earned $60,000, which is $10,000 more than the prize at the Olympia. (He also bagged another 10 grand for winning Best Poser.)
Check out the complete results below.
Figure International
- Cydney Gillon, $16,000
- Jessica Reyes-Padilla, $10,000
- Lola Montez, $8,000
- Nicole Zenobia Graham, $5,000
- Natalya Soltero, $3,000
- Bojana Vasiljevic, $2,000
- Latoya Farley
- Larhannah Robinson
- An Da Jeong
- Wendy Fortino
Fitness International
- Ariel Kadhr, $25,000
- Missy Truscott, $13,000
- Jaclyn Baker, $8,000
- Kate Errington, $5,000
- Tamara Vahn, $3,000
- Allison Kramer
- Minna Pajulahti
- Aurika Tyrgale
- Sara Kovack
- Amanda Ciani
Classic Physique
- Terrence Ruffin, $60,000*
- Roman Rocha Queiroz, $30,000
- Urs Kalecinski, $20,000
- Breon Ansley, $7,000
- Michael Daboul, $4,000
- Peter Molnar, $2,000
- Divine Wilson
- Darwin Uribe
- Lenny Wicks
Men’s Open Pre-Judging Report
Pre-judging refers to the series of eight mandatory poses that competitors perform, standing next to each other, in front of the judges. The judges assess each competitor compared to the others and then move them into different groupings (“callouts”).
The bodybuilder in the center of a callout is “top dog,” and who the judges want to most compare to the rest of the field. The closer one is to the center, the more “competitive” they are.
However, as you’ll notice below, there’s more than one callout. To make their assessment easier, the judges look at athletes in a series of groupings. Generally, the first callout contains the top athletes; the second callout is for the rest of the field (places fifth through ninth in this case); callout three is used to narrow down the top three to five; and the last two callouts shore up the bottom half of the roster.
Note: The order below is left to right, as if you were looking at the stage straight-on.
Callout #1
- Brett Wilkin
- Steve Kuclo
- Brandon Curry
- William Bonac
- Justin Rodriguez
- Samson Dauda
Callout #2
- Maxx Charles
- Brett Wilkin
- Samson Dauda
- Regan Grimes
- Fabio Giga Rezende
Callout #3
- Steve Kuclo
- William Bonac
- Brandon Curry
- Justin Rodriguez
Callout #4
- Brett Wilkin
- Samson Dauda
Callout #5
- Justin Rodriguez
- William Bonac
- Brandon Curry
- Steve Kuclo
Featured Image: @arnoldsports on Instagram
