POCATELLO — A group of arm wrestlers from Southeast Idaho recently returned home with national accolades, and now a father and son are preparing to represent the United States in Japan later this year.

Kevin Buetts, a 45-year-old Pocatello resident and decorated competitive arm wrestling veteran, recently led his team, Mama’s Boys, to first place in the overall team event at the 2026 U.S. National Armwrestling Championship on April 25 and 26 at the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway in Dayton, Ohio.

Seventeen members of the group made the trip, competing against 11 other teams in a points-based standings system. It was the first time in the team’s history it had won the national team title.

“We went over there, a team from the middle of nowhere, and had a pretty good showing,” Buetts said. “Most of us were medaling. We had a very good day for our little group of rednecks over there. They trained very hard.”

The tournament doubled as an International Federation of Armwrestling, or IFA, qualifying event, with top-two finishers in each division earning the right to compete at the World Championships.

Buetts secured a silver medal on his right arm. His son Ty, an eighth-grader at Alpine Academy who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 pounds, won gold in the right-hand division and silver on the left in the heavyweight youth bracket for ages 13 to 15, qualifying in both arms. Both will represent the U.S. in Japan.

“My first World Championships was in 2005 in Tokyo,” Buetts said. “I was 25 years old. It’s cool, 20 years later, to take my youngest son. We get to go do it together.”

Buetts said Ty came to the sport after losing interest in football, and he told his son that if he had a good showing at the national championships, he would take him to Japan. Since then, Ty has accumulated six youth state titles. Two older siblings previously won Junior and Youth World Championship titles.

Buetts credits straightforward, old-school training methods for the team’s success. He coaches at his home four or five days a week and typically arm wrestles twice a day himself. His regimen includes daily rice bucket exercises — a grip and wrist-strengthening technique popular among rock climbers — and daily ice baths for recovery.

“If you want to get good at basketball, you play basketball,” Buetts said. “Really the only way to duplicate it is to get on there and arm wrestle. Arm wrestling really isn’t about how much you can bench press. It’s a lot of hand and wrist and forearm strength.”

The team’s name, Mama’s Boys, comes from a poster Buetts had above his bed growing up — a reference to a scripture story he admired. He founded the team 25 years ago and draws its membership from the surrounding region.

With 35 combined state titles, national titles and world medals across his career — including a world championship won in Greece in 2024 — Buetts said individual accolades have become secondary to mentorship and the team’s collective success.

“For me, it has very little to do with the medals anymore,” Buetts said. “Watching my son get up there, and watching the next generations come in and represent the area you’re from, that’s what it’s about.”

Buetts views the World Championships with the same gravity as any Olympic stage.

“At the end of the day, this is our version of the Olympics,” Buetts said. “It’s our opportunity to go over and represent our country. I think goals are good for you. There’s got to be more to life than death and taxes. It gives you something to shoot for and something to work for.”

The 2026 IFA World Armwrestling Championships are scheduled to be held in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.