Portage la Prairie will be a stop for world class armwrestling come March.

A World Armwrestling League (WAL) local qualifier will take place at the PCU Centre March 4. Event coordinator Ryan Espey says it will attract competitors from across Canada and the northern U.S., all of whom will look secure a spot in a WAL major.

Espey calls it the biggest armwrestling event Portage has hosted since the Canadian Armwrestling Federation national championship in 2004.

“While it's a local qualifier, it's the gateway to the bigger tournaments,” he explains. “It could draw a pretty good amount of people.”

Espey finished second-place with his left arm at the WAL championships in Las Vegas in August 2016. He will be competing like anyone else at the Portage qualifier to try to get back to the finals. And he expects there will be more local competitors.

“I run a practice here once a week and there's a bunch of guys who take part,” Espey says. “I'm hoping a few of them will jump in there.”

Espey adds, WAL rules were designed to make the event as spectator friendly as possible, minimizing down-time and stoppages due to fouls. It will be free of charge for spectator viewing.

“Give it a try. It's exciting and it's going to be quite intense,” he says.

There's a wide range of male and female weight classes for the qualifier. Those who finish in the top-2 in their division advance to one of four WAL major tournaments held in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Philidelphia and Chicago.

More information about the event is available here.