A longtime Portage la Prairie armwrestler has been recognized for his contribution to the sport in Manitoba.

Ryan Espey, a Portage la Prairie city councillor, was bestowed the Danny Altenburg Memorial Award on April 1 at the 2017 Manitoba Provincial Armwrestling Championships in Winnipeg. The award is given to an individual each year who is determined by the Manitoba Armwrestling Association (MAWA) executive branch as a lifetime contributor to the sport in Manitoba.

"It's a pretty big honour to get it," Espey says, noting he was attending the tournament to act as head referee. "There's been a lot of guys that have been around long than I have ... (It's) validation. I'm not done by any means. But it's nice to know that your efforts are recognized and people are thankful for that."

Espey has been involved in armwrestling since 1997. As a competitor, he's a two-time armwrestling world champion, a two-time World Police and Fire Games armwrestling champion and A 14-time Canadian Armwrestling champion.

"And hopefully the 2017 World Armwrestling League champion," Espey laughs.

When he's not competing, Espey's worked to organize more than 10 provincial championships and countless smaller tournaments across Manitoba. He is a past president of MAWA and has also run two national armwrestling tournaments in Manitoba -- in Portage la Prairie in 2004 and in Winnipeg in 2010.