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The combined eight area lifters will compete for the state championship in their weight class at the Jackson Coliseum on April 4. The top three from each weight class qualified for the state meet.
The Vikings
The North Pontotoc Vikings held on to finish third overall in the Class 3A North Half meet Saturday at Lewisburg High School.
Charleston won the overall Class 3A North Half team championship with 42 points. McClain took second place with 39 points and the Vikings were third with 27.
Three of the four North Pontotoc lifters that qualified for the state meet did so by recording personal best efforts at the North Half meet.
Junior Joe Robbins won the 148-pound weight class with a personal-best total lift of 1,085 pounds for the bench press, dead lift and squat.
At 132 pounds, senior Tyler Hudgins also finished with a personal best. Hudgins totalled 955 pounds, good for second in the class.
Junior Storm Weeks briefly held a new record in the North Half meet at 242 pounds when he deadlifted 620 pounds. Weeks’ mark was quickly broken by a lifter from McClain with a 625-pound effort, but Weeks still finished second in his weight class.
In the 220-pound class, sophomore James Kirkwood didn’t record a personal best, but did qualify for the state meet with a total lift of 1,190 pounds, good for third place.
North Pontotoc head coach Steve Brown said he was pleased with his team’s overall performance.
“With the exception of a couple guys,” Brown said, “we lifted more than ever. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Brown said the Vikings showed a drastic improvement from the regional meet after a minor adjustment.
“We worked very hard on our squat technique,” he said. “We went back to the fundamentals and did things correctly.
“It wasn’t about if we could lift the weight,” Brown added. “Our technique was keeping us from getting to the next level. We went back and looked at the film and our problem was pretty evident. There were some small things we weren’t doing well and we felt we had to change.”
Along with the four Vikings that will go to state, four other North Pontotoc powerlifters just missed qualifying for the state meet.
At 114 pounds, sophomore Drew Burcham finished fourth with a personal-best lift of 655 pounds, just 10 pounds behind the third-place finisher.
Senior Josh Mattox also had a personal best, lifting 1,060 pounds to finish fourth in the 165-pound class. Mattox missed going to state by just 15 pounds.
Also in the 165-pound bracket, sophomore Brandon Webber had a personal-best lift of 1,055. But Webber finished fifth after missing his final deadlift. The miss left him 20 pounds away from qualifying for state.
The biggest heartache came in the 275-pound competition, where sophomore Dee Senter recorded a personal best of 1,280 pounds for his three lifts, but missed out on the state meet by just five pounds. Brown said Senter was eliminated after being beaten on his last deadlift.
The Warriors
In the class 4A North Half meet held at Itawamba High School on Friday, Pearl edged out Itawamba to claim the overall team title. Pearl finished with 36 points, followed by Itawamba with 32. Lafayette County (31) placed third, while Vicksburg (24) and Pontotoc (17) rounded out the top five.
Pontotoc eighth grader Kyle White pulled off the surprise of the meet, rallying to take second in the 114-pound weight class.
White was in fifth place entering the dead lift competition, which he won with a pull of 290 pounds. His 635 total pounds for the meet was 60 pounds more that he lifted at the region, according to Pontotoc head coach Brian Kelly.
“If he does that again,” Kelly said, “I think he could finish third at state.”
Eighth grader Deonte Dilworth continued his surprising run to the state meet with a third-place finish in the 132-pound weight class. Dillworth’s lifts totalled 885 pounds at the North Half meet.
Kosciusko’s Jake Cummins is the defending champion at 132, and Kelly said Cummins will be tough to beat.
“Deonte will have a tough time winning at state,” Kelly said. “But you never know what can happen at a meet.”
Junior Brandon Warren also qualified for the Class 4A state meet at 148 pounds. Warren finished second in the weight class with a total lift of 1,165 pounds.
Warren’s field of competitors will include defending state champion Jamal Woolfolk of Yazoo County.
Kelly said Warren finished five pounds behind Woolfolk in the squats at the North Half meet. Warren lifted 465 pounds in the squats to Woolfolk’s 470 pounds.
“Brandon left a little on the table in the squats,” Kelly said.
Junior Kelsey Traylor lifted a personal best 565 pounds in the squats to finish third at 225 pounds. Traylor totalled 1,335 pounds for the meet, including 295 on the bench press and 475 on the dead lift.
“He left about 60 pounds on the table,” Kelly said of Traylor. “I’d like to try and get him up around 1,400 or 1,415 pounds. That’ll compete for the (state) championship.”
Just missing on going to state for the Warriors was Tyler Witcher at 198 pounds. Witcher lifted a total of 1,225 pounds, good for fifth in the weight class.
Kelly said he was proud that four lifters will represent the Warriors at the state meet. He added that Pontotoc should compete for the overall title in 2010.
“We’ll get our chance next year,” he said. “Especially with Vicksburg and Pearl going to (Class) 5A.”
The Cougars
The South Pontotoc Cougars did not qualify any powerlifters for the Class 3A state meet and, according to head coach Roger Chism, did not place in the top five teams overall.
The young Cougars, however, did have some bright spots in the North Half meet at Lewisburg High School on Saturday.
Junior Marshall Williams finished fourth at 308 pounds, missing the state meet by just 40 pounds. His total lift for the meet was 550 pounds.
Freshman James Aston put in a respectable effort at 114 pounds. While Chism did not have Aston total lift amount, he did say Aston recorded a personal best.
Freshman Matt Bailey also recorded a personal best lift in the 132-pound division, but his numbers also were not available.
“We competed very well,” Chism said. “We’re going to be pretty good in a couple of years. It’ll just take getting some experience.”
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