Faribault bodybuilder invited to 'best of the best' Mr. America anniversary

Sheila Erickson has wanted to return to the stage for years, but she admits this time is even bigger than before.

Erickson, a trainer at Ignite Fitness of Faribault and 2021 Ms. Figure America, was invited to be among more than a thousand of the nation’s top bodybuilders competing in the 85th anniversary of the Mr. America competition in Atlantic City. The event will be available for viewing, starting at noon Oct. 12, as a pay-per-view livestream by visiting www.MrAmerica.com and buying a ticket for just over $40.

In addition to bringing home the gold in Pro Figure and Pro Figure Masters in 2021 at Mr. America, Erickson has won multiple categories in multiple divisions around the country. Still, she was shocked and honored to get the call in January.

“They want to make this year’s show really big with all the top competitors there,” she said. “It’s a big deal. So in January, they reached out and said, ‘Hey, we would love for you to be back on our stage, and we will pay for your entry fees.’ That doesn’t happen very often, especially being a natural athlete.”

Erickson said, while she’s wanted to return to the show for a while, those entry fees stack up.

“You don’t get any money, and it’s expensive already,” she said. “For them to say they’d pay for my entry fees is huge. So, I said yeah.”

The invite alone is an honor, Erickson said, but there’s other perks too.

“What makes it special is that they actually promote the athletes,” she said. “You don’t really get that a lot around local shows. This whole journey, they make it worth it, spending money, flying out. Because there’s tons of people interviewing everybody, and sometimes you might get in a magazine or something. So yeah, it’s a big deal.”

As much as she’s trained and even won past contests, she still feels nervous.

“I’m not gonna lie: I’m scared,” she said. “But it’s good to be scared, right? I don’t want to go in too confident. I never do. I mean, I take it all. But it’s gonna be tough. We’ll see. It truly is the best of the best there.”

Each category has 20 participants. Erickson will be on stage three times: Classic Figure, Open Figure and Figure Masters, each of which normally require their own entry fees.

This time around, Erickson’s trainer, Ignite Fitness Owner Corey Pedri will “finally” be joining her in Atlantic City, she said.

“Thank God,” she said. “He didn’t go last time and totally kept jinxing me. I couldn’t have done it without him. We’re a team.”

Pedri said it’s a big deal, especially as her trainer.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “For them to reach out and pay her way to be out there, obviously it’s a big deal.”

She said she’ll need someone in her corner this time, given the level of competition this year.

“Just to think: I’m going to be stepping on the Mr. America stage again,” she said. “But then also the fact that everybody on that stage has won before. It’s going to be a big battle. So it helps just knowing that somebody’s there helping me, no matter what.”

She said she “always” feels unprepared, but that it just puts pressure on her to be even better.

“So, am I ready?” she said. “Yeah, I’m ready. But I’m going to push as hard as I can until the day of.”