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Grid League – Breakers vs Venom | Vegas Matches 2024
In a pivotal matchup with playoff implications, the Palm Beach Breakers and Daytona Beach Venom faced off in the regular season finale. With double points on the line, both teams arrived ready for battle in a contest that would significantly impact postseason positioning.
The atmosphere was electric as Coach Paul Bear, notably dressed in formal attire, watched from the sidelines while his Breakers squad took to the grid against their rivals.
The Breakers established momentum early in the Partner Forward race, where married couple Joshua and Shay Newell displayed remarkable coordination with their dumbbells and pistol thrusters. Despite Savannah Redding competing through a torn bicep for the Venom, the Breakers secured a 3-1 lead to open the match.
Daytona Beach responded forcefully in Race 2’s Mirror challenge, showcasing improved barbell transitions compared to previous performances. As athletes moved 215-pound barbells for men and 140-pound barbells for women across the grid using “human racks,” the Venom women finished first, followed quickly by their male counterparts, evening the score at 3-3.
The competition intensified during the Ringer Point races, with momentum swinging dramatically. Dylan Fullwood secured a victory for Venom in the Burpee to Ring race, but a critical judging decision in the Ring Muscle Ups contest changed the match trajectory. Alex Oliveras, Venom’s bodyweight specialist, was called for not locking out his elbows on the final repetition, giving Reece Lyons and the Breakers not just the race win but also stealing Venom’s bonus flag.
“Those transition moments are where matches are won and lost,” noted one observer as the Clean Ladder race saw athletes strategically selecting which weights to attempt. Although Venom outscored the Breakers 69-65 in total ladder points, the narrow margin kept both teams within striking distance.
The middle portion of the match featured technical prowess across handstand push-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups, and overhead squats, with the Breakers’ experience showing through in efficient movement patterns.
The Jack and Jill race highlighted team dynamics as Venom’s athletes executed perfect “waterfalling” techniques on toes-to-bar and muscle ups, with Alex Oliveras displaying particularly crisp butterfly muscle ups. Their cohesion gave them a commanding victory in the eighth race.
Both Women’s and Men’s Triad races delivered exceptional moments of athleticism. In the women’s contest, competitors cycled through dumbbell burpee clusters, box jump overs, pistol stick jumps, rope climbs, and barbell cleans. The Breakers fell behind early but surged ahead when Venom athletes couldn’t maintain touch-and-go efficiency on the final clean station.
The men’s competition featured a similar pattern but with heavier weights. Despite fielding three athletes who had never completed a male Triad before, the Venom remained competitive throughout before the Breakers pulled away thanks to superior organization during transitions.
With everything on the line in the Sprint Relay final race, the Breakers deployed their bonus flag, making the contest worth four points. The eight-element relay featured increasingly challenging movements from deck pistols to 275-pound clean and jerks.
Through well-executed transitions and strategic athlete positioning, the Breakers built an early advantage. A costly fault on the overhead lunges by Venom’s Mike Andre created separation, while Dakota Shackleton’s lightning-fast rope climbs for the Breakers extended their lead.
When Joshua Newell completed the final clean and jerks and crossed the finish line, the Palm Beach Breakers had secured not just the race but the entire match, finishing with a commanding 23-16 victory over Daytona Beach Venom.
The win marks only the second in Palm Beach Breakers franchise history and concludes the regular season. Both teams will now prepare for the playoffs, which are set to begin in November in Fort Lauderdale, where the stakes will be even higher.
The Breakers are the official Palm Beach team of the United Grid League.
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