The annual NPC Bodybuilding Championships had the Sheraton Hotel rocking for a third year in row with a big crowd once again filling out the always lively event. 2018 Bikini Overall Champ Jeralyn Mesa retained her Overall Title in 2019 and twin brothers Trevor and Travis Wolford each grabbed Overall winners in their divisions to highlight the night.
Fans of the event, and local fitness fans in general, are familiar with the Wolford twins how serious they approach their training. Trevor was able to climb back to the top in 2019 as an Overall Winner in Men’s Classic Physique after winner the award last year, but having Travis win Overall in Men’s Bodybuilding proved a special moment for the wins.
“It’s really an awesome moment. It’s probably the best feeling ever, not only to compete with your brother, but your twin at that,” said Trevor.
“It’s more motivational too, working, training and dieting with [Trevor] and he knows how it is to compete so it’s really good,” said first time competitor Travis.
The competition field gets tougher each year and the Wolford’s expected a challenge, but their training with the Next Level Fitness team had them in their best versions come show time.
“We put in the same length of training, but we put in a lot more hard work coming out knowing that there was more competitors coming out and giving their best too,” added Travis.
The Men’s Physique Division saw a new winner in the overall as Ian Milan was able to bring in his first ever Overall winning Medal.
“I wasn’t overly confident, but I did have tunnel vision. I didn’t overlook the competition. I knew I was going against the top guys in the class… I soaked it all in, kept my composure, remembered what I was here to do and followed through,” said Milan.
Overall Winners
Overall NPC Men’s Body Building – Travis Wolford
Overall Men’s Classic Physique – Trevor Wolford
Overall NPC Bikini – Jeralyn Mesa
Overall Men’s Physique – Ian Milan
Overall International Women’s Bikini – Muneka Taisipic
International Overall Women’s Figure – Jamie Mendiola
International Overall Men’s Physique – Takutoshi Saotome
Overall International – Takeshi Okumura
Mesa tops Bikini Division
It’s hard to believe that Jeralyn Mesa only started competing in this sport last year. In just her second year, she’s already gotten a tight hold of the always competitive Bikini Division by winning Overall for the second year in a row.
“As a returning competitor, I did feel a lot of pressure to look better than I did last year. But I did feel more mentally prepared as far as meal prepping, training and posing… I really try to train and prepare for the local level shows just as hard as I would for a stateside level show. My next goal is to try and achieve a Procard!,” said Mesa.
First year competitor Muneka Taisipic won her Division and Overall International, bringing her medal haul to two in her debut. Taisipic is no stranger to getting medals after winning Gold with the Guam National Volleyball Team last year in the Micro Games, but this sport did present challenges Taisipic wasn’t fully ready to handle at times. Regardless, she’s embraced the process and loves the reward.
“It’s a very rewarding experience given the time that I put into to working hard for this single goal and at the end, the reward is food so it’s even better… I don’t want to change anything as everything happens for a reason. I had to pull away from volleyball due to family reasons, but it opened up a new opportunity for me to start this new journey and I just went full force in it. And this process taught he a very big lesson which I’ll hold forever in my heart,” said Taisipic.