About Our Club

 Ulice earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Promotion from the University of St. Thomas in 2015 and has held a Personal Trainer certificate from the American Council of Exercise since 2013. Ulice has been a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor since 2014, working with youth as young as 8 years old to adults up to age 85! Ulice currently owns his own business, Payne Train Personal Training, which operates out of River City Ironworx in River Falls. Ulice started his Powerlifting career while in High School and has been competing since 2010. Ulice continues to compete in Powerlifting, Strongman, and MAS Wrestling as a sponsored athlete. In 2011, Ulice took 2nd Place at the WI High School USAPL contest and at the National USAPL contest. In the same year, Ulice’s High School team, Whitnall High School, also took 2nd Place at the WI High School USAPL contest and at the National USAPL contest. While at St. Thomas, Ulice played football and won the first team title for All Conference Offensive Guard. Ulice also competed in Track and Field in the Shot Put, Weight Throw and Hammer Throw events. In 2014, Ulice set a deadlift record in Strongman at 775 lbs. In 2018, Ulice earned a Silver Medal at the MAS Wrestling World Championship. Ulice has competed all over the US, Canada and Russia. Ulice lives by three principles that were taught to him as a young man: Work hard; Be humble; Be great. We are truly privileged and honored to have Ulice as our Head Coach. The athletes will work hard, be taught humility, and learn the importance of being great in everything that they strive to do in life. 

Soren Fuchs is a passionate strength athlete who graduated from River Falls High School in 2022 and has been lifting for over five years. During his high school career, Soren competed on the RF powerlifting team in his sophomore and senior years, achieving impressive results, including 9th place at state and 7th at nationals in his senior year. After graduating, Soren shifted his focus to strongman training and has since competed in USS nationals twice, securing 4th place in both appearances.

With a strong dedication to the sport, Soren is excited to bring his expertise and experience for a 2nd year to the next generation of powerlifters, working with high school students to help them reach their full potential.

 A 2008 Massage Therapy graduate of Northwestern Health Sciences University, Gary has been serving the River Falls community since 2009.  With an active background in sports, Gary worked his way through the years focusing on aspects of bodywork and manual therapy that would help people of all athletic levels perform, move better and balance muscles by identifying strengths and weaknesses in the body.  With that focus, Gary became a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine in 2014.  From there, continuing education including cupping, scraping, movement therapy, kinesiology taping and more has built an inclusive manual therapy approach to performance, movement, and pain relief.   

Megan Nekola graduated in 2019 and has been lifting for seven years. She competed for two years in high school during her junior and senior years and continued lifting in college, also competing in independent meets for a few years. Alongside her college studies, Megan has worked as a Food Service Leader at Kwik Trip.

This season, Megan is especially excited to see her athletes grow in confidence, both in themselves and in their lifting. Her favorite part of coaching is watching athletes set and achieve goals through hard work and dedication. She will be working with both middle and high school athletes.

Megan's primary goal for her athletes this season is for them to have fun. While earning medals and titles is rewarding, she believes that enjoying the experience is crucial. She emphasizes creating a positive, uplifting environment that supports everyone, which she sees as the key to a successful season.