Butler graduate Alex Truman puts some of his strength of display during a recent Strongman contest. Truman recently became the first person to ever win the lightweight and heavyweight titles in consecutive years at the North American Strongman Teen Championships.

BUTLER TWP — Showing off his strength has become commonplace for Alex Truman — and nobody is doing it better.

The 2009 Butler High School graduate recently won the heavyweight division of the North American Strongman Teen Championships in Allentown.

Last year, he won the lightweight division — competitors weighing 200 pounds or less — at the same competition.

"No one's ever won both divisions in back to back years," Truman said. "I'm pretty proud of that.

"I weighed exactly 200 pounds when I competed last year. I had to cut 30 pounds to qualify as a lightweight. This year, I weighed 244."

There is no weight limit for the heavyweight division. Truman was the second smallest man, in fact, among the top 10 finishers.

Truman was a wrestler at Butler, finishing 22-18 with 13 pins his senior year. He qualified for the WPIAL Tournament that year.

He's since participated in numerous Strongman shows and has won his division in most of them.

"I was going to try to turn pro this year, but the (pro) competition they had in Connecticut was only five days after I competed in (teen) nationals," Truman said. "There was no time for me to recover physically."

To earn a pro card in Strongman, one must win one of three such designated shows in a given year. Truman plans to compete in at least one of those shows next year.

"As long as I'm healthy, I want to go as far as I can in this sport," he said. "Getting to the World's Strongest Man competition is the ultimate. That would depend on sponsorship because that event is held in Europe."

Truman won the teen heavyweight Strongman title by posting the following numbers:

n Pressing a 12-inch thick steel log weighing 250 pounds 12 times in a minute.

• Dead-lifting 500 pounds 12 times in a minute.

• Going 100 feet in 12 seconds in the "Farmer's Walk," carrying 275 pounds worth of weight in each arm.

• Pulling a 20,000-pound truck 50 feet in 12 seconds.

• Lifting stones weighing 230, 280, 310 and 330 pounds, respectively, and placing them on a platform in 17 seconds.

"There's a 60-second time limit on every event you do," Truman said.

A student at Sli[ppery Rocvk University, Truman is serving as a mentor at the Broad Street playground this summer. He goes to the park each day "to play with the kids, keep them oyut of trouble, try to be a role model.

"My job is mainly to make it safe for young kids to play there," he said.

Truman clearly knows how to pick out a goal and go after it.

"If you really want it, go after it," he said. "I know I' ve learned that."