WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — In a musty, dungeonlike basement here, more than a dozen sweaty men and women descend the steep steps every Thursday night to grunt and groan while they work on their arm-wrestling techniques.

A first-time visitor might write off Norm Devio, 75. At his age, the 5-foot-7, 155-pound Devio, of Hopkinton, Mass., does not look like the godfather of arm-wrestling. But he has dominated the sport for much of the past 40 years.

In the cramped basement, the arm wrestlers jostle among tables. Someone bumps into Devio.

“Hey, watch it; that’s abuse of the elderly,” he shouts, and everyone laughs. They know it is a joke because, on the table, Devio transcends his age, defeating opponents twice his size and 50 years younger.